Kitchen

[terrier3]

On 3/22/2015 Hooty said:

The Smithfield ham I buy is from Smithfield, VA .............. not China, thank you very much!!!

Chickenbutt, we will just have to agree to disagree!

You DO now that is was bought out by a Chinese company???? Smithfield is now owned by a Chinese company since 2013...

I doubt it was done to raise their standards...

I do everything I can to keep money out of the hands of the Chinese.

[nun ya]

On 3/22/2015 chickenbutt said:

So true. There are also videos out there of some of the cruelty. I clicked on one, once and couldn't finish watching. It made me so sad and mad! The employees, including supervisory staff were doing horrible, hideous, cruel, torturous things to the animals and thought it was just hilarious. It was so far beyond sickening and made me ashamed to be considered a human, along with people like that.

I saw that, it was disturbing to say the least. Nothing funny about it

[KYToby]

I stopped eating Smithfield and its associated brands (e.g. Gwaltney) years ago because of the way its employees are treated.

[terrier3]

On 3/22/2015 Cinder63 said:

I was just thinking the same thing; how can the hosts live with themselves???

Imagine if QVC would do the responsible thing like selling humanely raised meat and poultry?

A friend of mine raised pigs for the first time last year. When the pigs were being placed in the van to go to slaughter, a worker punched one in the nose, giving the pig a bloody snout.

My friend took the pig back - and he's keeping that pig forever... he was screaming at the guy not to treat his animals that way. When he told the butcher about it, the guy was fired....it was a very responsible processor. He sold most of his pigs to a gourmet chef who uses every part of the animal...noting is wasted...he even serves pigs trotters!

I eat some meat, but really try to have locally sourced meat from people I personally know.

[Sunshine Kate]

I don't buy ham too much, but if I do what is a good brand other then Smithfield? Maybe Hormel?

[NYwoman]

I have given up eating pork at all. And I agree that Smithfield is a company with bad practices. I also understood that the pigs are raised here and slaughtered (God knows how!) in China. Disgusting!

[Sunshine Kate]

On 3/22/2015 NYwoman said:

I have given up eating pork at all. And I agree that Smithfield is a company with bad practices. I also understood that the pigs are raised here and slaughtered (God knows how!) in China. Disgusting!

It's hard to believe the U. S. would raise pigs here and ship them to China to be slaughtered and processed, then ship the hams over here to sell.

[Dishy]

Check out the latest on how our chicken is being processed IN CHINA. Yes, it is cheaper to raise them here and PROCESS it over there and then, send it BACK HERE.

Sounds nuts but it's true.

And ~~ Just because an animal is raised to be eaten does not mean you should kill it any old way. There is a way to do it and a way not to do it. Also, the conditions the animals are in BEFORE they are killed is pretty important to the health and quality of what WE eat.

[rosehill]

Animal cruelty in the U.S. is terrible. I am so disappointed in hearing this, Terrier, but not surprised. My son owns a food safety microbiology testing lab which does work for cheese producers, produce packers, and meat processors, large and small. He used to have an account which processed veal calves, and said that the brutality in the slaughter area was terrible. He said the people who worked in there didn't look or act right in the head. He used to have to go there sometimes, when they asked him for a consult. Animals all deserve to be humanely slaughtered. When I think about that place, and their practices, I get weak in the knees. Terrible.

[Sunshine Kate]

On 3/22/2015 Dishy said:

Check out the latest on how our chicken is being processed IN CHINA. Yes, it is cheaper to raise them here and PROCESS it over there and then, send it BACK HERE.

Sounds nuts but it's true.

I wasn't aware of that; ridiculous.