The most miserable job that I ever had was picking eggs at Decosters. I left the job before the day was out and came home to find chicken feces and feathers in everything, from my socks to my underwear.

From that experience, I gained respect for individuals who do that thankless job day after day so that we my sit in the comfort of our homes and pay $1.50 or less for a dozen eggs.

I accept that humans are higher on the food chain, and that the reality for the chicken, at the other end of the food chain, is never glorious.

When I looked at the two pictures on the front page of the Sun Journal, showing the two different farming methods, I saw crowding in both environments that reminded me of images from Auschwitz. In short, those chickens are living a miserable life so that people may enjoy eating them or their offspring.

The ugly truth is that even in a “free to move” farming environment, as promoted by Radlo Foods, Mike Rowe of the show “Dirtiest Jobs” filled two large garbage bags with dead chickens that died from sickness, overcrowding, simple hierarchal discrimination or some other unknown cause.

It seems doubtful to me that the marginally better conditions at Radlo plants somehow translate into chicken happiness, but it is clear to me that Radlo thinks that people should be willing to pay higher prices for a less efficiently harvested product.

Alan Whitman, Auburn