topic Re: Support your local slaughterhouse... in Community Chat

Support your local slaughterhouse...

terrier3 — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 15:05:43 GMT

An interesting article in the NYT.

I like her idea that video cameras be running tape at all places and phases in the process, like they do in England.

Her husband or a staff member accompanies each animal, to make sure the animal is calm.

I only eat local grass fed beef (which is so expensive, I eat very little now!) from a farm where I have visited and know the owners.

This farmer has some commonsense ideas to protect our food chain -

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/opinion/sunday/support-your-local-slaughterhouse.html?hp&rref=opinion

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

Moons in Leo — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 16:32:10 GMT

I stopped eating red meat eight years ago and gave up poultry over a year ago and I have never felt better.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

pinkskates4 — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 16:40:26 GMT

Ever read Temple Grandin's book or see the movie.

She's awesome in her understanding of cattle and other animals.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

Qwackertoo — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 17:01:19 GMT

I bought some ground meat this summer . . . from local sources @ 9.50 a pound . . . I wish they were closer so I could buy more often . . . about 60-70 miles away. I should try to just buy 1/2 a side of beef or go in with somebody for a 1/4 each.

I worked in the office of a feedlot operation years ago . . . a temporary job thank goodness . . . while waiting to get my ideal position in the law dept. at the best employer in town . . . and that temporary job was one of the worst in my life . . . IF the office jobs were that bad I can't imagine how much worse it was in the actual day-to-day operations of the feedlots in Western Nebraska and Colorado.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

sidsmom — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:14:17 GMT

Qwackertoo: I live in west Nebraska & drive from Denver thru east Colorado to get home. There's a HUGE feedlot in Yuma that close to 110,000 head of cattle...goes on for miles! So many semis on the road transporting these animals...poor things. And the smell...my dad used to roll down the windows & say "that's the smell of money!" It's definitely quite a production.

If you want a mind-bender...Google Earth...address: 38002 County Rd N yuma colorado ...and just see large mammoth that feedlot is!!! Crazy stuff.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

Qwackertoo — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:25:52 GMT

I worked at the temporary job in the office in Omaha . . . this one has several feedlot locations . . . just reading the reports and seeing all the documentation was about enough to turn me into a vegetarian. They don't let one single aspect of the operation go to waste . . . no pun intended.

edit typo

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

croemer — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:32:58 GMT

I was taking Psychology classes in college. It was film day and the Professor put in a film for our class,by accident it was a tape of what happens when they slaughter an animal. We were all horrified. She had left the room and we all sat there stunned wondering if this was she intended for us to see? She came back to the room and she herself was frozen...she then tried quickly to stop the film. Too late...we had seen enough that we all sat there in stunned silence. I couldn't eat meat for a month after that. I can still replay what I saw in my mind when I think of it.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

LilacTree — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:35:02 GMT

Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

Qwackertoo — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:43:02 GMT

On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said: Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I don't know. Remember the Mad Cow . . . where they tracked down that cow, to the ranch/feedlot, to the original cow that gave birth to it . . . from birth to your dinner plate . . . don't know how true it is.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

HisElk — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:48:31 GMT

On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

Ford1224, hope you don't mind my bolding part of your post. This is so true IMO. It's everyone's choice as to what they eat/don't eat. I abhor factory farming, but I admit to eating fish/seafood twice a week.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

LilacTree — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:56:39 GMT

On 3/2/2014 HisElk said:
On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

Ford1224, hope you don't mind my bolding part of your post. This is so true IMO. It's everyone's choice as to what they eat/don't eat. I abhor factory farming, but I admit to eating fish/seafood twice a week.

I eat seafood as well, HisElk, mostly frozen salmon. However, I do feel that most fish die quickly, the process is not as torturous as it is with livestock. We are carnivores, as are almost all animals. Living things cannot survive without food. We are just lucky that we are at the top of the food chain.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

Qwackertoo — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:01:23 GMT

On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
I eat seafood as well, HisElk, mostly frozen salmon. However, I do feel that most fish die quickly, the process is not as torturous as it is with livestock. We are carnivores, as are almost all animals. Living things cannot survive without food. We are just lucky that we are at the top of the food chain.

You should maybe look for "wild caught" instead of farmed salmon . . . same for catfish or any others, tilapia . . .

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

HisElk — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:03:53 GMT

On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
On 3/2/2014 HisElk said:
On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

Ford1224, hope you don't mind my bolding part of your post. This is so true IMO. It's everyone's choice as to what they eat/don't eat. I abhor factory farming, but I admit to eating fish/seafood twice a week.

I eat seafood as well, HisElk, mostly frozen salmon. However, I do feel that most fish die quickly, the process is not as torturous as it is with livestock. We are carnivores, as are almost all animals. Living things cannot survive without food. We are just lucky that we are at the top of the food chain.

Same here, Ford1224. Have you ever tried tilapia? DH makes it with just a few Panka bread crumbs on it and bakes in the oven. It's a very mild fish and we enjoy it. We also use the Boca crumbles to make chili along with a lot of kidney beans and he uses it in his taco recipe. They are very good as well.

As for your last sentence, yes, I agree 100%.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

sidsmom — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:36:14 GMT

On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
On 3/2/2014 HisElk said:
On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

Ford1224, hope you don't mind my bolding part of your post. This is so true IMO. It's everyone's choice as to what they eat/don't eat. I abhor factory farming, but I admit to eating fish/seafood twice a week.

I eat seafood as well, HisElk, mostly frozen salmon. However, I do feel that most fish die quickly, the process is not as torturous as it is with livestock. We are carnivores, as are almost all animals. Living things cannot survive without food. We are just lucky that we are at the top of the food chain.

Unfortunately we are not carnivores. "....almost all animals"...cows, horses, gorilla, monkey, goats, sheep...on & on. Our long intestinal tract, no claws or poison allows us to kill our prey..again in & on. Just for the simple fact...man was a TRUE carnivore & you saw road kill, you would stop your car immediately & see that as food. That's what carnivores do. You don't see an outside cat killing a mouse then grabbing his George Foreman grill & spices to cook it up....no, a carnivore will eat flesh raw...right there. CULTURES might be carnivores but HUMAN...nope. Here's a wiki definition:

Characteristics commonly associated with carnivores include organs for capturing and disarticulating prey (teeth and claws serve these functions in many vertebrates) and status as a predator. In truth, these assumptions may be misleading, as some carnivores do not hunt and are scavengers (though most hunting carnivores will scavenge when the opportunity exists). Thus they do not have the characteristics associated with hunting carnivores. Carnivores have comparatively short digestive systems, as they are not required to break down tough cellulose found in plants. Many animals that hunt other animals have evolved eyes that face forward, thus making depth perception possible. This is almost universal among mammalian predators. Other predators, like crocodiles, have sideways facing eyes and hunt by ambush rather than pursuit. Characteristics commonly associated with carnivores include organs for capturing and disarticulating prey (teeth and claws serve these functions in many vertebrates) and status as a predator. In truth, these assumptions may be misleading, as some carnivores do not hunt and are scavengers (though most hunting carnivores will scavenge when the opportunity exists). Thus they do not have the characteristics associated with hunting carnivores. Carnivores have comparatively short digestive systems, as they are not required to break down tough cellulose found in plants. Many animals that hunt other animals have evolved eyes that face forward, thus making depth perception possible. This is almost universal among mammalian predators. Other predators, like crocodiles, have sideways facing eyes and hunt by ambush rather than pursuit.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

terrier3 — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:39:47 GMT

On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

I believe her because I have met a local rancher who is the same. He knows all his cattle, they are grass fed 100% and range freely and they actually play classical music in the slaughterhouse to calm the cows before they are stunned. They try to make the whole process as dignified as possible. I have visited his ranch and have seen the way he raises his steer myself. I have also met a local pork farmer that has similar practices.

This woman spoke up because her family's cattle business is almost destroyed. They have to ditch all the meat they have that is frozen due to the practices at the slaughterhouse they used. I guess she feels she has nothing to lose.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

pinkskates4 — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:53:43 GMT

On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
On 3/2/2014 HisElk said:
On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

Ford1224, hope you don't mind my bolding part of your post. This is so true IMO. It's everyone's choice as to what they eat/don't eat. I abhor factory farming, but I admit to eating fish/seafood twice a week.

I eat seafood as well, HisElk, mostly frozen salmon. However, I do feel that most fish die quickly, the process is not as torturous as it is with livestock. We are carnivores, as are almost all animals. Living things cannot survive without food. We are just lucky that we are at the top of the food chain.

In the United States, there are no regulations to ensure the humane treatment of fish.

As many as 40 percent of farmed fish die before the aquafarm operator is ready to slaughter them. Fish who survive are starved before they are sent to slaughter in order to reduce waste contamination of the water during transport. Salmon, for example, are starved for 10 full days.

Fish slaughter plants in the U.S. make no effort to stun the fish, who are completely conscious when they start down the slaughter line. Their gills are cut, and they are left to bleed to death, convulsing in pain.

Large fish, such as salmon, are sometimes bashed on the head with a wooden bat called a “priest,” and many are seriously injured but still alive and suffering when they are cut open. Smaller fish, such as trout, are often killed by simply draining water away and leaving them to slowly suffocate or by packing them in ice while they are still completely conscious.

Because fish are coldblooded, allowing them to suffocate on ice prolongs their suffering, leaving them to experience excruciating pain for as long as 15 minutes before they die.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

LilacTree — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:54:55 GMT

On 3/2/2014 HisElk said:
On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
On 3/2/2014 HisElk said:
On 3/2/2014 Ford1224 said:
Wish I could believe her. What I have seen on TV is that all farmers are afraid to talk because the meat companies have a strong hold over them. If they talk, their business is over. The meat distributors will blackball them in the meat industry. The goal is to produce the meat as cheaply as possible, period. Her story about how they accompany each animal to slaughter and know their history, and how regulated it all is, is implausible and fictional. IMO.

I'm not saying don't eat beef/chicken/pork/lamb . . . etc. I'm just saying accept what it is and don't try to somehow dignify it. [I say this to society, not personally to the people on this BB.]

Ford1224, hope you don't mind my bolding part of your post. This is so true IMO. It's everyone's choice as to what they eat/don't eat. I abhor factory farming, but I admit to eating fish/seafood twice a week.

I eat seafood as well, HisElk, mostly frozen salmon. However, I do feel that most fish die quickly, the process is not as torturous as it is with livestock. We are carnivores, as are almost all animals. Living things cannot survive without food. We are just lucky that we are at the top of the food chain.

Same here, Ford1224. Have you ever tried tilapia? DH makes it with just a few Panka bread crumbs on it and bakes in the oven. It's a very mild fish and we enjoy it. We also use the Boca crumbles to make chili along with a lot of kidney beans and he uses it in his taco recipe. They are very good as well.

As for your last sentence, yes, I agree 100%.

Yes, I have eaten tilapia. I am not that fond of it, so if I have to buy frozen fish, I would rather have the salmon, which I love. I also buy the Alaskan frozen salmon burgers. They are delicious. However, both are very expensive.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

LilacTree — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:59:39 GMT

Thanks to the usual suspects on the education of what a carnivore is and how fish are tortured. I learn something new every day.

Bye now.

Re: Support your local slaughterhouse...

FlowershopGirl — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 20:06:45 GMT

For health reasons as well as allergies, I have learned to eat a vegetarian diet that is as much organic as possible. I have a debilitating disease and I find that if I eat close to nature and leave out meat and wheat and corn, I feel better and am staying stronger longer. Free range eggs and occasional free range chicken are okay for me too. Though I'm half Japanese, I really don't like any fish! I will take fish oil for health reasons but I don't eat the stuff!!