Squeezed by strict regulations in The Netherlands, Dutch chicken giant Plukon took their model of industrialised poultry farming to France. It means less autonomy for French farmers, a full-stop to organic production methods & increasing local resistance
Following the acquisition of French poultry firm DUC by Plukon, @LHreports together w/ @Mediapart & @FTM_nl investigated how the drive for mass-produced chicken, has impacted the farmers and citizens around #Chailley in northern France
Plukon is reshaping the poultry industry in the area, doubling the capacity of the slaughterhouse in #Chailley to 265,000 chickens (113 daily truckloads). It aims for 80 new mega-farms in a region that already hosted 120
Analysing paper trails, like building licenses, our investigation found five sites that have either been established or are on the point of being established, while two others have been suspended due to local opposition Image
Part of the Plukon approach: standardisation. No certified or organic production. Just the fast growing Ross 308 chickens. It caught organic farmer Mathilde Godard by surprise & she rejected the new chickens. But she still has to see out the remaining 8 yrs of her 15 yr contract
Another farmer growing free-range chickens until recently accepted the Ross 308 as the new standard, but told @AmeliePoinssot he “would never eat that type of chicken”
“Farmers are at the mercy of the market, and therefore what the industry wants," said Den Herder, secretary of the Dutch Union of Poultry Producers (NVP). "Between the big corporations, slaughterhouses and feed companies, poultry farmers have few alternatives to fall back on”
The expansion has raised concerns locally over its environmental impact. “The Netherlands is now subject to stricter standards, while Plukon comes to do its dirty stuff here,” commented Catherine Schmitt, president of the association Yonne Nature Environnement
A @LHreports Food Systems newsroom investigation with @AmeliePoinssot @LukasKotkamp @LudoHekman @LiseWitteman
At @Mediapart: “Faced with these projects, fear and resistance set in,” writes @AmeliePoinssot who spoke to dozens of farmers and residents of the Yonne region.
mediapart.fr/journal/france…
At @FTM_nl: Consolidation in focus: Plukons compulsory Ross 308 is developed by EW group and poultry company De Heus is upping capacity in nearby region with 1.8 million chickens - to be slaughtered in #Chailley. Both have minority shares in Plukon ftm.nl/artikelen/holl…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Lighthouse Reports

Lighthouse Reports Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @LHreports

Mar 1
The leadership of @Frontex faces the most serious fallout to date from @LHreports investigations, as we can reveal the findings of a damning report from the EU anti-fraud watchdog OLAF, confirming they covered up pushbacks
spiegel.de/ausland/eu-ant…
The 200-page OLAF report, based on the testimony of 20 witnesses incl. multiple staff from Frontex, is considered so sensitive that it has only been shared with the agency’s Management Board & a committee of MEPs
In it, staff members testified that senior leadership at the multi-billion euro agency harassed staff & covered up multiple rights abuses including the common practice of leaving refugees adrift at sea in life rafts
Read 6 tweets
Feb 28
1/ "They're not letting the black girl go." This video captures a disturbing scene at a railway station in Ukraine as a young woman is prevented from boarding an evacuation train. @LHreports investigates this case & others
2/ The video appears to be a case of racial discrimination & taking place at Lviv station 🇺🇦

Captions on some versions of this video say that a white girl was let on but this isn't clearly shown in the video

3/ In an Instagram post from foreigners in Ukraine discussing the video someone who claims to be a friend of the woman pictured says the woman was hurt in the incident but ultimately able to board an evacuation train.

instagram.com/p/CaeVUvOop2Z/… Image
Read 30 tweets
Feb 17
Last Sept 2 bodies washed up on Turkey's Aegean coast. Witnesses & open source evidence confirm that the drowned men, one from Ivory Coast, the other Cameroonian, had been on the Greek island of Samos only days before.
As part of a European media consortium, we investigated, finding evidence to suggest that the pair drowned after being thrown overboard near the Turkish coast, in a new tactic from the Greek coastguard
Greece has rescued tens of 1000s of asylum seekers in the Aegean & claims its recent tough stance saves live. But the drop in crossings was achieved by detaining arrivals & pushing them back on engine-less life rafts
Read 16 tweets
Oct 14, 2021
Fear, racism and exploitation: In a new investigation @LHreports reveals how pork companies subsidised by Spain and the EU have been responsible for abusive labour practices in the country’s slaughterhouses
In a joint investigation @LHreports with @lamarea_com & @eldiarioes interviewed dozens of current & former employees from Catalunya to Andalucía, union reps, legal experts, doctors & health & safety inspectors to reconstruct live inside the abbattoirs
A former employee of “Le Porc Gourmet” slaughterhouse, owned by Grupo Jorge, one of the biggest conglomerates in Spain’s meat sector, told us of ‘slavery’ conditions migrant workers were submitted to: “I feared for my live and for that of my family”
Read 20 tweets
Oct 13, 2021
España vive un desastre ecológico en el lago salado más grande de Europa. Una investigación revela el rol de la huidiza industria porcina y las granjas de cerdos, y la miopía y negligencias de las autoridades para evitar el desastre. #MarMenor Image
Usando técnicas forenses, fotos de drones e imágenes de satélite, combinadas con peticiones de información, reporterismo en terreno y entrevistas, aparece la panorámica de polución a gran escala, crímenes medioambientales y fallos de las autoridades a todos los niveles
.@LHreports, junto con @guardian, @eldiarioes y @lamarea_com examinan hasta qué punto la demanda de carne barata –con granjas porcinas intensivas– contribuyeron a este desastre en la Región de #Murcia
Read 19 tweets
Oct 13, 2021
Spain has been gripped by the eco-disaster in Europe’s largest salt lagoon. In a new investigation we reveal the role played by runaway industrial pork farming & the repeated refusal by authorities to tackle it #MarMenor Image
Using forensic techniques like drone photography to satellite imagery in tandem with FOIA requests & ground reporting a disturbing picture emerges of large-scale pollution, environmental crimes & official failures at all levels
@LHreports in a joint investigation w/@guardian, @eldiarioes & @lamarea_com examines the extent to which the drive for cheap meat through intensive pork farming contributed to the disaster in #Murcia
Read 22 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(