Well, nearly… Supplier of KFC and the largest chicken producer in the US, Pilgrim’s Pride, have announced that high animal feed costs have resulted in significant losses in their fourth quarter.

Pilgrim’s Pride share price dropped by 38% earlier in the week but then plummetted another 40% - to prices lower than 2002. They are now attempting to negotiate new terms with their lenders - with the current credit crunch they’ll need a miracle to pull that off  (good luck with that then!!).

Pilgrim’s Pride chickens are fed on soy and corn. Yes, the very same soy that is the cause of rainforest destruction (just ask Greenpeace, who exposed KFC’s secret recipe of ‘of illegal deforestation, land clearing and slavery’ and renamed them Klearing Forest for Chickens).

This is a good example of how unsustainable business practices do not make good business sense. Cheap meat means cheap animal feed and intensive farming which means environmental destruction and human rights abuses and there’s a limit to how long this can go on until the resources run out and more funds are needed to repair the damage and keep the system going. Sustainable business practices, where resources are used efficiently and waste and emissions are reduced, results in lower costs and a far more viable future.

Morningstar equity analyst, Ann Gilpin, pointed out that the entire meat industry is suffering.  She said of Pilgrim’s Pride, Tyson and Smithfield Foods, “”if we liken this to a sickness, they’re all sick.”

Well, she got that right. They are all sick. Sick animals, sick people. I hope they are all closed down and replaced with sustainable, ethical and environmentally responsible businesses.