mac, in principle I agree with you, but there are a few things that continue to confuse me. I'm not directing my comments at you or any other individuals, just venting some frustrated confusion...
All the animals we eat today are fed growth hormones.
I call BS. 75 - 95% of the meat my family eats 0 growth hormones. I know because I know where it came from. Exactly. (The remaining 5-25% I'm not sure about, and yes I'm concerned.) I do agree there is a problem with what I call "city supermarket plasticized food," but the root of the problem IMO is that people choose to buy it. the choice is there, most people are not willing to pay the difference. So... if you think its a bad thing, why do you buy it?
a chicken is ready for consumption in mere weeks. A turkey in about a year.
Have you ever raised chickens or turkeys?
I have for years, in fact I'm looking out my office window at a couple dozen chickens right now... Yes there are a couple breeds that grow incredibly fast, they've been genetically selected for rapid growth; much like dogs, cats, horses, etc, they're selected for specific purposes. But it's not days compared to months like your comment implies, its more like 8-12 weeks (depending on breed & size) as opposed to 16-24 weeks. And of the dozens of people I know who raise chickens/turkeys for meat & eggs, none of use use any hormones. In fact I dont think I've even used any antibiotics in the last 8-10 years.
Yes I've "heard" horror stories about commercial poultry farms, I cant really say whats true there and whats not. BUT I do have personal experience with one poultry farm. Its not as organic as my chickens, but it is nothing at all like you might think. It is clean, well run, humane, and uses the bare minimum of antibiotics and no hormones that I know of.