US chicken companies pioneered restricting sleep to keep birds eating around the clock.
A new study (Li et al., 2026) recommends giving chickens just 2 hours of darkness nightly to maximize the time they spend eating. The study and photo are Chinese.
We know chickens have far better hapiness with 7–8 hours of darkness to sleep.
But they eat more when they are sleep restricted.
I generally find it exasperating to discuss matters within this topic with Americans, as there is a lack of acknowledgement regarding class issues. I’m sorry for the generalization, but I just don’t have the energy.
Socio-economic and class issues are more than the price of ingredients. But you are right that buying ingredients to cook a plant-based meal can be low cost.