Oprah Winfrey in hot water with animal activists over KFC coupons

When Oprah Winfrey partnered with fast-food giant KFC to offer coupons for free Kentucky Grilled Chicken meals, many chicken fans (as in fans of the food) cheered. But many chicken fans (as in fans of the animals) were outraged.

Winfrey said the offer was simply a gesture to help her viewers struggling with the effects of recession. (The downloadable coupons were available for a short time and have since been removed from her website. The offer was so popular that it overwhelmed KFC, causing the company to begin offering "rain-check forms" to customers instead of free food.  However, widespread reports of a "chicken riot" at a New York KFC franchise were exaggerated, the company says.)

But was the talk-show diva wrong to offer this particular gesture?  After all, Winfrey was named PETA's Person of the Year just last year because, the group said, she "used her show to uncover horrific cases of cruelty to animals in puppy mills and on factory farms, and Oprah even used the show to highlight the cruelty-free vegan diet that she tried!" 

Winfrey's exposé showed the conditions in which factory farm-raised animals live. The connection?  Many animal advocates believe Tyson Foods, KFC's supplier, is among the worst offenders. (For its part, PETA even maintains an entire website devoted to its opposition to the fried-chicken chain, which states that "KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can’t even walk, and often break their wings and legs.")

As one might imagine, the Internet is abuzz. Treehugger writes that "it definitely feels curmudgeonly to cry foul at the person who wants to give everyone free food — but it must be pointed out that the free food comes from inhumane, and potentially dangerous, environments." 

Blogger Paula Crossfield of CivilEats concurs. "If I were Oprah, I’d have struck a better deal with the fried chicken hawking establishment: She could have told KFC to change their buying practices, and only serve free-range chicken, and THEN give away free chicken," she says. "Had she done that, producers would start to see the value in letting their chickens outside to scratch the soil, eat grubs and peck grass."

Some folks on Twitter are stating their objections using the hashtag #oprahkfc.  Many link to a new video on UndergroundWellness' YouTube channel that decries what it says are unhealthy ingredients in KFC's new, supposedly-healthier grilled chicken.  The video's narrator references the restaurant's marketing campaign, calling on Winfrey herself to rethink KFC. "[We] cannot get health from sick animals," he adds. It's been viewed nearly 30,000 times.

When Ecorazzi pondered the lack of public outcry from normally vocal PETA, a rep wrote in. "Seeing how strongly Oprah had publicly criticized cruelty to chickens in the food industry, PETA believes that Oprah was likely the victim of the very consumer-deception practices that PETA cited in its recent complaint to the FTC about KFC," the unnamed PETA staffer said.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast / Associated Press

Comments

[Willie Austin]

KFC Riots -

Do a search for KFC Riots on YouTube and you will find 3.

[Janee]

I think you should do more give aways, It certainly helped my family a single mom of three(3). so thank you for the love and it was(FINGER LICKING GOOD).

[Tula]

I tend to agree with PETA I think her producers got it wrong although I'm surprised she didn't know about PETA's huge anti KFC campaign and how terrible the chickens are treated.

[Fige Bornu]

Not only is supporting KFC a stupid, backwards and pathetic gesture by Oprah, it shows her support for the racist and stereotyping of Black people who have been associated with eating chicken "all the time." And to think that Oprah is having another weight problem - then she turns around and support high-fat, unhealthy food?

Oprah must be experiencing yet another episode of mental illness.

[TechBro]

Not really sure if I have a final opinion on this yet, but if I was tryng to feed my family, I might feel bad about some of KFC's farming practices, but I'd feel worse about letting my kids go hungry. I'm not saying that it makes it right; I'm just saying that there are some real, non-theoretical choices that some folks have to make and I'd be slow to speak ill of their decisions.

[Mike]

What Oprah did was great. It is people who are hurting and, ultimately, they count most.

[Holly]

I encourage anyone on the internet who currently eats animal products to: Google Factory Farm. Please do this before making a comment. I have read so many ignorant statements since this whole Oprah/KFC thing started. Inform yourself before stating an opinion, please!

Ignorance isn't bliss when our health is failing, our environment is being destroyed and animals are being tortured beyond belief.

Rethink your eating habits.

[Mitleid]

I'm against animals being treated badly just like pretty much everyone else, but not all of us have the luxury to spend that much time and money to maintain a veggie lifestyle. When the head of household works three jobs, they don't have the time or energy to worry about whether or not the chicken the family is about to eat was treated ethically.

What should Oprah have handed out - coupons for free celery? Yeah, that's some good nutrition.

[Ely]

Why doesn't Oprah do a show touting the rewards (both dietary and spiritually) of growing your own food in your own garden (or in a community co-op garden)?

[Holly]

Is Oprah going to feed America's hungry people by giving them ONE MEAL - for the entire year!? And then, only the ones who have a computer with internet access?

An estimated 80% of all U.S. farmland is used to grow animals for food. If this same amount of land was used to grow food for direct consumption - we wouldn't have a world hunger problem.

I am a single vegan mother. I save money by not buying flesh. I buy in bulk, in season, and locally as much as possible. I am also growing my own food this year - I live in an apartment and it can be done.

[meat free for 11 years]

Oprah meant well, but she was not really THINKING about what those animals go through to end up on a person's plate. Most who support this giveaway have never witnessed factory farming practices and aren't equipped with enough empathy to see how their palate contributes to animal suffering.

[jessica]

This is the point of contention I have with gastro-politics. The complaint smacks of snobbery. It is entirely a first world luxury to be concerned about where your food comes from. And I have nothing against that, I don't buy cheap meat and I grow produce, it's my choice and I can afford it. However, when people are broke and hungry, if you're complaining about where the chicken comes from, you're missing the point.

[Environmental Justice]

It's great what Oprah did, but what about the people without the resources of a computer to download the coupon for the free meals; let alone, she could have used the money instead to help the homeless in this country rather than offer free KFC meals to people who can actually afford it themselves. GREAT JOB OPRAH! It's all tax duduction!!!

[Dave]

Did you design the poll with two "Not fine" results and one "It's fine" result do give the illusion of more people voting that everything was "It's fine"? My first impression was that more people voted that "it's fine" when in fact there were more "not fine" votes when the two other options were added. Kinda sneeky, eh?

[Mrs.Bergeron]

Give me a break. If you don't like how chickens are treated by KFC, then YOU should not spend your money there. I'm sick and tired of sanctimonious do-gooders with too much time and money on their hands telling everyone else how to eat, what to eat, etc.

And you wonder why most people think of PETA and their ilk as a bunch of wacko clowns. I can't believe people give them much credence. This is a group that doesn't believe in pet ownership for chrissakes.

If you all could see how smug you really sound. Reading your comments makes me want to go out and eat a big, juicy steak!

[Regina]

To Fige Bornu: If the 1st thing that pops in your mind when you thnk about fried chicken is black people, then I think you're the one with the problem.

To Ely: Why don't you do a show on growing vegetables? Why can't Oprah present the topics SHE wants on HER own show.

[witty name not composed]

PETA apparently didn't read the results of Oprah's vegan week - she came out of it wanting a cheese sandwich, didn't she? Yes, KFC could treat their animals a little better, but I'm not going to stop eating there if they don't. As comedian Ron White said, "I didn't climb to the top of the food chain to eat carrots."

[Holly]

It still amazes me how many people choose to remain ignorant about what is going on around them. No matter how many facts are put before them, they ignore each and every one of them, refusing to acknowledge the truth. They want to remain the same and be like everyone else. A follower. They refuse to question their beliefs.

People who care for animals, their health and the environment are called smug? Oh, do explain! We must be rich because we can afford vegetables and beans? Oh, yes, especially if we buy them in bulk - oh my!

If we choose to grow our own organic food and buy locally like people have always done until industrialization took over 100 years ago - we must be hippies, huh? Oh yes, we are a sorry lot indeed!

[yet another example]

another example of oprah's deeply flawed and piecemeal approach to, well, everything... i mean, come on! she is unashamedly 'for everything', punting mass consumption, this 'personal' mastery quackery and the like. she is really 'for nothing.' using her money in the most ridiculous and superficial of ways. case in point....her elitist girls school in south africa....complete mess!! this latest KFC escapade doesnt surpise me. its about money, advertising and publicity pure and simple. there aint nothing deeper with ms winfrey.

[Kevin]

Do these people need outrage to fill the empty place inside where meat used to be?

[JMG]

Mike wrote: "What Oprah did was great. It is people who are hurting and, ultimately, they count most."

It's a shame Mike thinks it's ok o torture animals just so people can have one free meal. I think it's horribly sad that all these animals are giving their lives - through a painful prolonged death - only to be eaten and not even appreciated. Mike - imagine a world where we eat animals and they are also treated well and provided a humane death. Go ahead MIke - imagine it. Because it's possible if you change your barbaric way of thinking.

[jeff jones]

I get sooo tired of people treating animals in the same regard with humans. Even God said that man has dominion over the Earth and everything in it. Animals were created in part for nourishment of our bodies and they were offered up as sweet sacrifices in Biblical times. People: get off of it!!!! It is not that serious. It is survival of the fittest, the natural processes of life!

[Not eating American thanks]

Jeff Jones: firstly, not all of us believe in 'God', therefore what 'God' supposedly said is not the be all and end all. Secondly, humans have also been offered up as sacrifices to gods throughout the ages, but I don't see you suggesting that people should be treated as animals too often are.

Even if you don't care about the health and wellbeing of the animal that has died to provide your meal - and you clearly don't - you should care about the actual nutrition that animal will provide to you, and what effect that will have on your health. And badly raised animals (e.g. cows raised unnaturally on corn, being dosed with antibiotics and spending all day standing around in a concrete feedlot with just rivers of their own urine and manure to cushion it) will have a very bad impact on your health - a steak from a badly raised cow has less nutrition, and more risks from dangerous bacteria, than one from a properly raised cow allowed to graze on natural pasture.

Studies have also shown that crops grown in an artificial manner - such as the petrochemically fertilised corn that is fed to the aforementioned cows - have less nutrition in them than naturally grown crops.

But to finish, I want to get back to your God point - I'm pretty sure God didn't intend for the Earth and everything in it to be abused in the manner in which it is being abused. And regardless of what he intended, the bible was written by a human a couple of millenia ago - of course it's going to say everything was created for us! If you want to have a crack at survival of the fittest, go one on one with any of the big cats, then come and tell us all about natural processes of life.

[Holly]

I guess god was just kidding when he said Thou shalt not Kill. Right Jeff? Please quote from the bible where it says man has dominion over the earth and everything in it. I think this is just wishful thinking on your part.

Why don't you wander around in the African Savannah with no weapon and see who is the dominant one. It won't be you.

[Lindycat]

Give away tasty food and the whole world will show up! Duh! Ever been to a free pancake breakfast?

As far as veganism, PETA and animal cruelty,
- I have never seen a healthy looking Vegan...they all look pallid and weak to me...and they usually can't sustain the diet for long without serious illness resulting.
-The old fashioned way of killing animals was never pretty...they 'stuck' pigs, cut free range chickens heads off with an axe and slit the throats of beef to bleed out. As Clint Eastwood says " Dieing ain't much of a living". Ever seen one of our beloved wolves or eagles make a kill? It's gruesome. Get over it. We're omnivores.
-The vegan claim that most farm/ranch land is used to produce food for animals and could be used to produce vegetables for people instead is just plain wrong. Most beef is raised on country that cannot be farmed. Bovines take fibrous grasses that are undigestible to humans and turn it into nutrient rich, highly digestible protein while leaving behind nutrient rich fertilizer and removing unhealthy ground cover. Compare ungrazed pasture to properly grazed pasture and see that the latter is much healthier and productive for the many species that survive on it.
-We should obviously be against chronic inhumane practices in animal husbandry...we should always respect what we eat and be thankful.
WAKE UP!

[Harmony Cox]

I agree with Trent Loos when he said, "I believe Man has dominion over animal. It is our moral and ethical obligation to provide daily care and in turn respectfully harvest for essentials of human life. Whether a soybean plant or a pig the death of one leads to life of another. Everything lives, everything dies, death with a purpose gives full meaning to life." Please before you judge farmers and ranchers visit their farms. See for yourself. The media only shows you the most extreme cases of unethical treatment of animals- which are few are very hard to find. There is a reason for everything the farmer does. You have the option to buy free range chicken. But do not force legislation upon others who can't aford it. It will literally raise the cost of your chicken to outragous amounts. Not to mention that disease and preditors will be a huge problem. Don't ask PETA for your information. Go to a farm and see for yourself. And don't be surprised if they ask you to shower at their facility as you go in so that you won't infect their facility with outside germs.

[Crystal]

Those that encourage others to google animal cruelty and see the truth...have you ever actually stepped foot on a farm? Have you ever asked a farmer or rancher in your state how they raise their animals? Well I have stepped foot on farms, both family and corporate, and I can tell you it is NOTHING like I have seen on the PETA and HSUS Websites. They are Here is a FYI: of course PETA and HSUS put the worst case senario on their websites. They are not only trying to get rid of so called "Factory Farming" but also Family Farming and all livestock in general. Do you even know if KFC raises their own animals? My guess is no. Most all food chains purchase their products from other retailers. Everytime you buy groceries at the store do you make sure all of the products were all "humanely raised?" Don't be so quick to judge others!

[Charlie]

It is difficult to give away anything, just read some of the difficulties of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has had where there is careful scientific research and still there are ugly incidents. I do not think Oprah or perhaps it is her staff is as reasoned in her giving. Also, Oprah is a public figure which leads to "wow" type giving which is not as effective. When it comes to feeding the hungry, how the food was procuced is far less a consideration than how to distibute the food and keep it preserved. When fighting hunger, calories win.

[witty name not composed]

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" Genesis 1:26 (NIV)

[Holly]

I wonder who god is referring to when he says 'us' and 'our'. Anyway, just another reason I don't believe in a god.

I am for small family farms. I wish everyone could live on one. But as long as we rely on industrialized agribusiness, this will never happen.

I live in a 'farming' community. I am surrounded by cattle fattening lots and chicken 'farms' where you never ever see a chicken because they are raised in buildings. Wheat goes on like an ocean - as far as the eye can see - most of fed to animals and to ship overseas.

On the few local farms in my area, I see chickens roaming around and gardens and fruit trees growing. This is ideal. Everyone should be able to have enough land to be self sufficient and free from government interference.

[Not eating American thanks]

Harmony Cox: actually, 'intensively farmed' animals are very prone to diseases, because they're being kept in unnatural conditions. Animals kept properly rarely get sick - they've evolved to NOT get sick when living normally, that's the whole point!

And you're right that properly raised meat costs more than 'intensively farmed', but if you can't afford to eat meat as often as you'd like - tough luck. None of us needs to eat meat multiple times a day. We don't even need to eat meat every day. And most importantly, none of us has the right to eat meat whenever we want. If the budget is tight, bulk buy lentils, beans, and other grains (quinoa is good - it's a complete protein, meaning it's a perfect meat substitute - boil it and have it with a thick tomato based vegetable sauce, which can be cooked in bulk and frozen for quick meals), and have them for most meals, making a treat of meat meals every now and then, by buying decent meat and cooking it at home. Get into cuisines from world regions where not as much meat is eaten - Indian is fantastic for vegetarian meal suggestions for example - whole regions of the country are basically vegetarian, without the health problems some might expect.

And remember this - your cheap fast food takeaway meal is NOT good meat, and NOT a good meal. You're much better off with something you've put together at home - given health costs in the US, the home cooked meals will be much cheaper in the long run.

[kendra]

i work at kfc and it was horrific the first couple days we were giving out the free food.
let me just say, kfc employees are no fan of oprah. and i hate when i tell people there is a "shortage of chicken" and they look at me and say "but i see you still have some in your warmers"
i have been flipped off, called names, and yelled at for not giving out a free meal.
im so sick of it!!

[lkjoy]

To Holly:
Just so you know, when you see "wheat like an ocean" it has grain heads and will never end up inside any farm animal. (The grain heads have "whiskers" and will get stuck in the throats of livestock.) That grain is harvested to make wheat products for human consumption and other uses. The stalks remaining after harvest MAY be cut and baled for use as animal bedding, but it has no real nutritional value and they won't eat it.
Now, the great fields of corn are, in part, another story....

[Not eating American thanks]

This didn't get posted earlier because I used a 'bad' word, so here's an editted take-two - I was originally prompted to comment by Janee at 1.53pm, May 11:

I've been reading the Omnivore's Dilemma lately courtesy of my local library). The first section made me particularly glad to not be living in America with your choice of food - unless you specifically track down pasture fed meats, then the meats you're eating from the supermarkets (beef, chicken, pork...) have come from animals raised eating corn and waste from the other animals (it's illegal to feed cow leftovers from the slaughterhouse to cows, so they feed them to chickens. They then feed the chicken 'leftovers' - from feathers to used bedding, i.e. manure - to the cows). And the corn was grown with fertilisers made from petrochemicals, i.e. oil (gasoline/petrol variety). The kicker is that cows' stomachs are naturally neutral pH, so any bacteria/bugs that survive in their stomachs and go into their flesh/steaks are rapidly killed in our acid pH stomachs; but feeding cows with corn and chicken effluent/sewage makes their stomachs acid, just like ours, thus breeding bacteria/bugs that can survive our stomachs. Good, huh?

So Janee, that finger licking good 'chicken' meal of yours? Mostly corn and oil (of the petrol/gasolinevariety) actually. And really not good for your kids.

If anyone's struggling for money to feed their family, my advice is to get to your local library, borrow a book on vegetarian cooking - Indian is a particularly good cuisine for great veggie dishes - and buy yourself some super cheap lentils and/or beans. Even without worrying about properly balancing the meal you'll be better off with a proper home cooked meal than with the empty corn&gasoline-calories of fast food.

Disclaimer: I'm an omnivore. I do love the taste of meat. But I don't believe that we have a right to, nor should we be, eating meat as much as we do. I know some people who eat meat three meals a day! Further disclaimer, I live in Melbourne, Australia, where we have good markets, good farmers' markets, and proximity to all sorts of free range/organic smaller farms - it's fairly easy to eat well here. I eat meat most days, but in fairly small quantities, meaning I can afford to buy better quality / more ethically raised, and I'm cutting back further as I expand my vegetarian repertoire, I eat lots of fresh fruit & veg, and I cook most of my own meals (I prioritise the time for this, then listen to music / talk to my partner / just chill out whilst cooking). I can't remember the last 'fast food' I had, unless we're going to count Vietnamese pho soup (it's served quickly!).

[shaun]

wow, i never thought about free food like have since this. i think what is more apparent from this article is oprah's influence. now she tells people this and they do that, then she tells them that and they do this. amazing! i want to be like oprah!