Capturing The Personal History of 13 Billion Chickens

This ever happen to you? You're starving and you're halfway through a piece of steak or chicken when your mind wanders too far into what it is you're chewing... it used to be alive... you start wondering what's really in it... something had to bleed bad in advance of this thing's arrival on your bone china (or paper plate in my case)... and you just can't go on.

This article about RFIDing 13 billion chickens in China informs me, at least theoretically, that someday soon when I sit down to enjoy my chicken chow mein, someone will know -- maybe even me -- that I am about to devour Mr. Lee's chick that was born in a Beijing backyard, transported to the processing plant in a 1976 Mazda pick-up truck, met its untimely demise on Valentine's Day, was sliced and diced by Bruno the Butcher, wrapped by Maggie, frozen by Fred, stocked on the shelves by Steve and, at long last, consumed by... Nope. Can't eat it.

Don't believe me? Here's what it says:

Information about the production cycle of each specific flock is captured and recorded at the chick producer, growing farm and processing plant. The RTAC-PM system can also track the movements of containers, cages, and trucks used to transport poultry among the various facilities involved in the production process.... Finally, it can track the finished product (both for domestic and export consumption) all the way to the consumer, providing complete traceability from egg to supermarket.

From egg to my mouth; cradle to grave. Do we have any bananas in the house?