Cluck, cluck, cluck: A spokesman for Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. says the Texas-based company is moving ahead with plans to idle its chicken processing plant in north Louisiana, even as negotiations for a sale continue. Ray Atkinson says May 8 will be the last day of work for most salaried and hourly employees at Farmerville. Atkinson says the company is going ahead with its previously announced plans to idle the facility since it’s not known if or when a final sale agreement will be completed. Pilgrim’s Pride in December filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Last month, it said it had agreed to sell the facility to California-based Foster Farms. The agreement is subject to conditions and various approvals.
Losing my religion: The U.S. is a nation of religious drifters, with about half of adults restlessly switching faith affiliation at least once during their lives, a new survey has found. And the reasons behind all the swapping depend greatly on whether one grows up kneeling at Roman Catholic Mass, praying in a Protestant pew or occupied with nonreligious pursuits, according to a report issued today by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. While Catholics are more likely to leave the church because they stopped believing its teachings, many Protestants are driven to trade one Protestant denomination or affiliation for another because of changed life circumstances, the survey found. The ranks of those unaffiliated with any religion, meanwhile, are growing not so much because of a lack of religious belief but because of disenchantment with religious leaders and institutions. The report estimates that between 47% and 59% of U.S. adults have changed affiliation at least once. Most described just gradually drifting away from their childhood faith.
