Misery meat: Do you care how cattle (pigs, chickens) are treated?
By Gina Spadafori
January 30, 2008
I do. And I put my money where my mouth is.
Before the pet-food recall, I was “concerned” but really “too busy” to worry myself too much about what I was eating and my pets were eating, too. Nobody was starving, everyone was pretty healthy, and although I knew about factory farms I honestly spent more time worrying about puppy-mills, which are, after all, cruel factory farms for dogs.
But then, the pet-food recall changed everything, and I started questioning it all. As I’ve written before, I’m not a vegetarian, and I am comfortable with my position in the circle of life. I am an omnivore, and my dogs and cat are carnivores. I’m not opposed to meat, dairy or eggs, but I will no longer buy those products from outfits that torture animals to get them. I’m also not opposed to hunting, and consider the life of a duck killed in mid-air after a life of freedom considerably preferable to that of chickens spending their lives crammed two to a battery cage little bigger than a sheet of paper.
What do I do about it? I seek out sources of local (and preferably organic) meat, dairy and eggs run by people who care about the animals and the land, and practice good stewardship of both. When I cannot know the source of what I’m eating, as in a restaurant, I order a veggie dish. And because humane and sustainably raised and killed animals are more expensive, I make do with less meat.
By choosing the path I have, I am supporting small, local family farms (as opposed to massive factory farms, including those in China!) and the towns that they in turn support. And I never have to look at a picture like the one (above) in last Sunday’s New York Times of a massive feedlot and know that I am responsible for the horrid life within. I’m also not supporting the fuel-wasting ways of this style of “production” as well as the massively negative environmental impact not only of that fuel-guzzling but also the waste produced by intensive lifestock practices and the creation of superbugs aided by the overuse of antibiotics.
Animal-rights activists may sneer that what I buy is “happy meat,” but no matter. It’s a place where I can live, where I can support sustainable agriculture and those who care enough to ensure that the animals can be treated with respect until they are humanely slaughtered.
My pets don’t care, but I do. And I’m the one with the checkbook.
In the previous post I gave a passing reference to the New York Times piece, but honestly, it’s a must read. And following on the heels of that piece, the Washington Post is reporting on the results of an HSUS investigation of illegal actions and cruelty at a California slaughterhouse that provides meat for the nation’s school lunch program:
Video footage being released today shows workers at a California slaughterhouse delivering repeated electric shocks to cows too sick or weak to stand on their own; drivers using forklifts to roll the “downer” cows on the ground in efforts to get them to stand up for inspection; and even a veterinary version of waterboarding in which high-intensity water sprays are shot up animals’ noses — all violations of state and federal laws designed to prevent animal cruelty and to keep unhealthy animals, such as those with mad cow disease, out of the food supply.
Moreover, the companies where these practices allegedly occurred are major suppliers of meat for the nation’s school lunch programs, including in Maryland, according to a company official and federal documents.
The footage was taken by an undercover investigator for an animal welfare group, who wore a customized video camera under his clothes while working at the facility last year. [ Warning - Graphic Video: View the video on the Humane Society Web site ] It is evidence that anti-cruelty and food safety rules are inadequate, and that Agriculture Department inspection and enforcement need to be enhanced, said officials with the Humane Society of the United States, which coordinated the project.
“These were not rogue employees secretly doing these things,” the investigator said in a telephone interview on the condition of anonymity because he hopes to infiltrate other slaughterhouses. “This is the pen manager and his assistant doing this right in the open.”
Here’s the rest. Buy with conscience. It’s not difficult to find sources that believe in caring for the land and for their animals. Seek them out, for you and for your pets.
And for those in industry who dismiss us as nutty do-gooders, beware: I remember when “organic” was considered something only a few aging hippies cared about. Now the demand is so widespread that Wal-Mart is in on the action.
Update: Sen. Dick Durbin, one of the few in Congress who consistently understands these issues and gives a damn about what we (and our pets) eat, issued a letter to the U.S.D.A:
It is troubling to hear that this California facility is the second largest supplier of ground beef to the School Lunch Program. More than 30 million meals per day are served to our nation’s schoolchildren through this program. Because children are more susceptible to food borne illness than other segments of the population, it is vitally important that USDA take every step necessary to ensure the safety and nutritional quality of food procured for the program.
Fully understanding that USDA clearly has enforcement authority of the relevant statutes, I believe it is my responsibility to alert you to this matter. In this case, I believe it would be appropriate for USDA personnel to review the video footage from this investigation and take further action if it is determined that there were violations of the law. Apart from this request, I understand that the matter will be decided on its merits by the appropriate personnel.
I’ll link to the entire letter when it’s up on Sen. Durbin’s Web site.
This is a FUN little site to learn about factory farms. http://themeatrix.com/
Comment by Erich Riesenberg — January 30, 2008 @ 10:00 am
Grass fed beef and bison and lamb are becoming more commonly available in co-ops and natural food stores and some mainstream markets. Not only are they sustainably and humanely raised, they help save family farms and also help keep weeds and underbrush cleared, a big advantage for those of us living in fire country.
The biggest frustration and headache for many of these small producers is finding local and humane slaughter facilities. Raising meat locally then having to put the animals on a truck and send them hundreds of miles to a mass processing facility is counter-productive and stressful to the animals, a waste of fuel and a big expense to the niche producers raising the sheep, cattle etc…
Unfortunately attempts to build small scale local USDA qualified facilities (vital and required by law if humanely reared and slaughtered and above all local meat is to make it to the mainstream) always meet the NIMBY crowd (silly because in rural counties there are many places to put small facilities well away from residential or tourist areas) and huge opposition from hard core ARs who want all meat, happy or no, off the menu and making it too expensive to process helps their cause.
Comment by JenniferJ — January 30, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
I watched the footage of the slaughterhouse on Inside Edition this afternoon and I cried. It is heart-rendering. Those animals have feelings. You could see their pain and distress. I’m crying now. Lord, I am ashamed to be considered as part of the “Human Race” when I see atrocities such as this and of the animals abandoned because of foreclosures. One bright spot was a lady who took two abandoned dogs left in a house and just took them to care for them. Hooray for her.
Comment by VJ — January 30, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
Thanks for bringing attention to such an important subject Gina. Like you mentioned, not only is eating humanely more kind for the animals, it is also good for the planet.
I too wanted to feed my “kids” humanely raised foods but (obviously) could not find a source for such on the market. This led me to making my own food for my dog and cats (boy did people think me nuts pre-recall!) and then later making it for friends and family once the recall happened. (They don’t think me so crazy anymore. ha!) The demand has grown so naturally that I have started Circle of Life Pet Foods, a division of Pay It Forward Pets, LLC and though we are still very small and local we hope to create a trend in the market that shifts pet foods throughout the country to humanely raised.
I feel confident that this is possible when I see large, public chains such as Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants http://youtube.com/watch?v=YJd8_TYPu5Y and Chipotle’s Gourmet Burrito’s shifting to humanely raised meats. We’re off to a good start and it’s inspiring to know you are helping to spread the word. Thanks for all you do for the animals everyday.
Comment by Shelly — January 30, 2008 @ 4:43 pm
I very much care about the source of my meat. I grew up eating steers that we raised, and when I went to college I stopped eating meat for years because none of it was worth putting in my mouth.
Don’t forget 4-H auctions as a source of local, humanely raised meat. They are lovely animals, the meat tastes wonderful, and it’s good for the kids (for some here it means college or not). Several of us get together to buy animals at the 4-H auction at the county fair in the fall, and I end up with a quarter steer, half a pig and a lamb in the freezer to get me (and the Dog) through the year. Watching while they are shown tells you how cosseted most of them have been; they have ribbons in their tails, polish on their hooves and some are tastefully glittered. We have a local custom butcher and get exactly the cuts we want.
Some may find it hard to look at and touch the animal they will be eating, but I’m used to knowing exactly whom I am eating and appreciate it all the more. Although when you buy the 1,000+ pound gorgeous and extraordinarily docile steer trailing a crying kid, it’s hard to know what to say when they come and thank you (they often give you home-made cookies and/or write thank-you notes too).
Comment by Carol PW — January 30, 2008 @ 6:37 pm
I first saw this footage on CNN this afternoon, and like VJ, I felt distressed - those animals had feelings. I am afraid for the society around us, more and more we read of animal abuse. Yes, I eat meat, but expect it to be humanely euthanized. And, why are sick “downer” animals being put into the food supply?? USDA should be ashamed of itself.
Katie
Comment by Katie — January 30, 2008 @ 7:17 pm
I watched the piece on Inside EditionIt was so sad.I have been researching rendering plants in my state of North Carolina. Is it possible
to get the truth. A worker at a plant said dead cows, pigs, road kill, dogs & cats from
animal shelters, basically anything dead no
matter what condition. The use of dogs and
cats from shelters was denied by one rendering plant and the NCDA. This is a well kept secret by the NCDA. These dead animals could
still have pesticides,insecticides, euthanasia
drugs,and who knows what else. Was the real cause told, what was killing. I would like to
find out the truth and I would like my fellow
pet lover’s to know too. This would include a lot of residents of NC. I would welcome some input.
Comment by Brenda Kirby — January 30, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
Correction to previous comment:
Third sentence from the end: Was the real
cause told, what was killing our pets?
Comment by Brenda Kirby — January 30, 2008 @ 9:03 pm
I second the comment from Carol PW about buying at the 4H auction.
We did that for the first time this year — a lamb. I watched the kids and bid on an animal whose young owner showed good husbandry and handling skills, and I took some care in designating the custom butcher who would pick it up at the end of the fair. It is the best lamb I’ve ever had.
We want to get a bunch of families together next year and do the steer/pig/lamb group buying thing.
The 4H and FFA kids are great; I’d rather be putting my consumer money into their college funds than ADM’s bottom line.
I’m getting most of my dog meat from a local custom butcher who grinds the “other” for dog food. The animals come from small local farmers, and are mostly ones raised for home consumption.
Still hunting for a steady source of local small-farm humanely-raised poultry. The way things look, it may end up being … us.
Comment by H. Houlahan — January 30, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
I recommend reading “Dominion” by Matthew Scully for anyone who cares about animal welfare. The chapters on factory farming will leave you never looking at a pork chop the same way again. Should be on everyone’s bookshelf right next to “Redemption”.
Comment by Susan Fox — January 30, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
Poor animals!!!! Later when i grow up i’m gonna stop them from beinh killed that way I PROMISE !!!!!
Comment by Lara — March 14, 2009 @ 8:14 am