The people decrying the attack on others' traditions are sort of off the issue, here--snake-bitten chicken isn't some traditional dish, it's new. It's simply an inhumane way to slaughter a chicken. I'm not sure the venom can survive the cooking process, but if so, then it also poses a hazard to the person consuming it.

The fact that factory farming is inhumane does not somehow excuse a different inhumane slaughter practice. It's also a sure bet that very few people actually approve of factory-farming practices...but chicken not raised that way is more expensive, and our pocketbooks are often the bottom line. If the USDA revised its guidelines, everyone would applaud (save perhaps the factory-farmers). The issue here, though, is inhumane slaughter, not inhumane husbandry.

Factory-processed chickens are generally killed in a relatively humane fashion. It's quick, if not painless. A snake bitten chicken would take longer to die, and would be in agony the entire time.

Tradition is not some sacred, inviolable thing. Traditions are not automatically valuable--they aren't something that automatically has to be preserved. Cultures evolve as people learn. Those that don't change will ineviteably die. Ethics change over time as well--as they should. In 100 years, the way we treat livestock now will probably be condemned as very cruel, and it won't be a practice that deserves to be maintained. (I am not a PETA-person...PETA is an extremely stupid and hypocritical organization. Humans are omnivores, and livestock can be raised in a fashion which actually benefits the enviroment more than raising crops alone. Few people realize that prairie land can be managed properly with cattle-grazing to preserve it as an ecosystem for wildlife--but if it's turned over to raising crops, the ecosystem is destroyed).