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Sangbin Park
Professor Gillespie
Honors 231 A: Animals, Environment, Food & Justice
25 January 2015
Final Project Proposal
Topic
The topic of my final project will be about looking at the economic feasibility or cost of
running a humane and environment-friendly chicken farm. It is often argued by the poultry
industry that running a humane and environment-friendly chicken farm is too expensive. It is
logical that businesses would not be able to operate unless their economic benefits outweigh the
costs in the long run. However, I believe that poultry, as a commodity, is relatively inelastic and a
little change in prices would not dramatically affect its sales. It is my belief that consumers
would buy chicken meat and eggs from a humane and environment-friendly chicken farm if the
prices of such products are not too high compared to that of regular chicken farms. So, this is
what I want to explore. Is it economically feasible to run such chicken farms? In other words,
will there be a big enough market to sell and earn profit? How much more expensive is it to run
such a farm?
The importance of this topic is to discover and learn about the poultry industry in specific
and the factory farming industry in general. This project will aim to uncover industry practices
driven by economic benefits. Learning about how much more it actually cost to run a humane
and environment-friendly chicken farm compared to a regular factory chicken farm is crucial in
understanding whether such practices are borne out of industry greed to squeeze every cent out

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its business, consumers unwillingness to pay more for a better product, or economic necessity to
run such farms.
This project can go in three different directions: (1) comparing economic cost of running
a humane and environment-friendly chicken farm versus a regular industrialized chicken farm,
(2) setting up a hypothetical a humane and environment-friendly chicken farm on paper and
calculating how much it would cost to run it, or (3) researching about economic cost of running a
humane and environment-friendly chicken farm. It will be hard to address every component of
such a broad topic as the chicken farm in this project. As I continue with my research, I will
narrow down the research areas to cover specific aspects of economic cost of operating a chicken
farm.

Project Format
My research project will be presented in a research paper format. Currently, I am thinking
of including many financial data in the paper as well. If I do decide to take the direction of
setting up a hypothetical chicken farm to calculate its profitability, then I will have to create and
include some financial information that will be presented in tables, graphs, or financial
statements. In addition, I will also use a website to publish some of my work on the research. The
address of my course website is http://honors231a.weebly.com/.

Scholarly Resources
1) Hamra, C.F. "An Assessment of the Potential Profitability of Poultry Farms: A Broiler Farm
Feasibility Case Study." (n.d.): n. pag. The University of Tennessee at Martin. The
University of Tennessee at Martin Master of Science Agriculture and Natural Resources

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Systems Management, May 2010. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.utm.edu/departments/msanr/_pdfs/hamra%20research%20project
%20final.pdf>.
2) "Large-scale Pastured Poultry Farming in the U.S. (Research Brief #63) | Center for Integrated
Agricultural Systems." Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. The University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Jan. 2003. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://www.cias.wisc.edu/largescale-pastured-poultry-farming-in-the-us/>.
3) "Annual Reports." Tyson Foods Inc. Tyson Foods Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://ir.tyson.com/investor-relations/financial-reports/annual-reports/>.
4) Darre, Michael J. "Everything You Need to Know About Raising Broiler Chickens." (n.d.): n.
pag. New Farmer Project. The University of Vermont. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.uvm.edu/newfarmer/production/livestock/Growing%20Broilers-Darre.pdf>.
5) "Animal Welfare for Broiler Chickens - The National Chicken Council." The National
Chicken Council. The National Chicken Council, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/industry-issues/animal-welfare-for-broilerchickens/>.
6) "Factory Farming." Chickens on the Factory Farm. Massachusetts Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to AnimalsAngell Animal Medical Center, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.mspca.org/programs/animal-protection-legislation/animal-welfare/farmanimal-welfare/factory-farming/chicken/chickens-on-the-factory-farm.html>.
7) "Livestock Environmental Stewardship Brochures." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency,
n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/anafobrochure.html>.

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8) "Industry Economic Data, Consumption, Exports, Processing, Production: Uspoultry.org."
Industry Economic Data, Consumption, Exports, Processing, Production: Uspoultry.org.
Industry Economic Data, Consumption, Exports, Processing, Production: Uspoultry.org,
n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://www.uspoultry.org/economic_data/>.
9) Jenner, Andrew. "Chicken Farming and Its Discontents - Modern Farmer." Modern Farmer.
Modern Farmer, 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://modernfarmer.com/2014/02/chicken-farming-discontents/>.
Modern Farmer (magazine): It is an American magazine that covers topics of agriculture and
food. It will be a good source to look for the real voices of farmers through their interviews.
10) "White Oak Pastures." White Oak Pastures. White Oak Pastures, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.whiteoakpastures.com/page.asp?
p_key=A2F06DECB89B4D82B6F4275788FBA635>.
White Oak Pastures (a family farm), http://www.whiteoakpastures.com/: This farms claims to
raise chickens with awareness in animal welfare and environmental sustainability. I will contact
them through email to see if they can answer some questions for me.

Timeline and Work to Complete the Project

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January 5
to
January
23:
Preliminary
Research
on
potential
topics

January
26 to
February
25:
Research

Monday,
January
26th:
Proposal is
complete

Wednesd
ay, March
4th:
Presentatio
n

March
1st: Finish
Rough
Draft

Wednesd
ay, March
11th:
Finalize
Research
and Submit
it

January 5th to January 23

During this time, I did a preliminary research on the topic of animals, environment, food,
and justice to find my interest. After many considerations, I have decided to do my final project
on researching about the economic cost of running a humane and environment-friendly chicken
farm.
January 26th
The final project proposal is due on this date. I am going to be proposing to do a research
on a humane and environment-friendly chicken farm. By this time, I have drafted the proposal
and submitted it to my instructor.
January 26th to February 25th
This is the time that most of my research work will take place. I am going to start out my
research broad to make sure that I cover all the major aspects of my topic. Once I have a better
picture of my research topic, I will be narrowing it down to focus on certain aspects of it. I will
also decide on which direction (as discussed above in the Topic section) to take for my project.

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March 1st
I will draft a rough draft of my research paper by this date. Contents for my course
website will be updated as well.
March 4th
On this date, I will be presenting my final project to my class. I will be using PowerPoint
slides. I may also consider using my website along with the slides.
March 11th
By this time, I have looked over my rough draft and made final changes. I will be turning
in my final draft of my final project to my instructor.