kill it, cook it, eat it? - Page 2

cashman · 11-01-2008, 23:39

dont bother me at all, me first job, at 15 yrs was a butcher.

Lilly · 12-01-2008, 23:01

Didn't see this one but I did watch the programme presented by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall with Jamie Oliver .....did anyone else watch that?

He was highlighting the case of battery chickens. 2500 live chickens were crammed into a shed for 39 days and fed constantly to reach target weight. The ones that failed to reach target weight were killed even though there was nothing wrong with them.

Male chicks, which are not profitable because they do not lay eggs, were put into a chamber and gassed.....quite unpleasant to watch but interesting to learn what goes on.

The shed stank of wee and poo and the chickens had what were referred to as 'hock burns' on their legs. This happens when the bird cannot bear the weight of its own body due to overfeeding so sits down with no room to move. The bird is sitting in wee and poo all the time and this burns through the flesh leaving these red burn marks....all so the supermarkets can sell chickens at two for a fiver.

I'm not vegetarian but I do like to know that the animal produce that I consume has been treated humanely whilst alive, even though they are bred for slaughter if you know what I mean.

I buy free range eggs and free range chicken. The programme said that battery eggs and anything using battery eggs as an ingredient would be banned by 2012 and I hope they are.

cherokee · 13-01-2008, 00:48

watched the last series of this and caught the last ten mins of the piglets other night
Dont know why but i couldnt have watched the piglet one from the start cus they were only 6 weeks . but the others ... cow , pigs , sheep , chickens etc have never bothered me . but when i tuned in other night and discovered the piglets i just couldnt watch .
dunno why

Must say though we do have a very humane way and if every slaughter house lives by the law then our animals feel very little . compared to other countries and the old days even in this country

James1234 · 13-01-2008, 04:25

I saw the program and having worked in an abattoir in before now packing meat the sight of blood in general didn't bother me, although I did find it an intresting programme

It was the slitting of the throat that got me though and the look of the animals head as it was hanging, but apparently once stuned they can't feel a thing thats it nowt, which is obviously a relief.

It hasn't put me off eating meat as I like it, but I was glad to hear that in Britain they are looked after properly as was said on the programme as I wouldn't like to see an animal suffer just for the sake of it.

glasgow guy · 13-01-2008, 06:56

thought it was a fascinating programme to watch, from the first stage to the dinner plate...I dont know why folk get sqeemish about it all - how many folk on here eat meat ?..where did they think it all comes from ? - its not born in a wrapper...I dont have any problem with it..

pipinfort · 13-01-2008, 08:15

i`ve been finding all the recent programmes that have gone behind the scenes of food produce very interesting and enlightening, i`ve been a veggie for 18 years but the wife will be buying organic chicken from now on! one thing i never thought about was the use of battery eggs as in gredients, suppose its all down to cost, at least hellmans mayonaise are starting using free range eggs in the products from february.

blazey · 13-01-2008, 14:44

I watch it often, so far ive watched the young pigs, veal, kid goat. I wouldn't eat meat if I couldn't accept the way it was killed, but the only thing I found hard to see was how far they hacked into the calves neck, but at the end of the day, I enjoy eating it and I'd be a hypocrite if I couldn't bear watching how it was killed and complain about it.

If there werent butchers and slaughtermen and women to do it for us then we'd have to do it ourselves. All I have got out of the programme is a great appreciation for those people, because its quite a gruesome job, particularly the actually slitting of the throat anyway.

Nothing that I didn't expect on the show, nothing that I could say made me want to cry or be upset, just the throat slashing that I find a bit stomach churning, but I think after several viewings of the show I'm getting used to it, so its not that bad.

blazey · 13-01-2008, 14:52

I have no problem with buying the 'cheaper' products either, although if I have enough money whilst I'm shopping I tend to opt for the free range. Being a student I am on a tight budget, but I dont mind paying a bit more for eggs, and meat I tend to get from the butchers as its local produce as are alot of the eggs in the local spar, plus the markets here tend to use local produce aswell thats been kept well, as alot of people tend to ask now.

I think the government is changing its attitude towards battery farming as the publics attitude is changing and there is a greater demand for free range. Hopefully the laws will continue to change and eventually outlaw battery farming and the government will give greater consideration to free range farmers. I think economic values are what has kept the laws from changing, but as people are buying their food with ethical values in mind now instead, the government will hopefully take that into consideration.

katex · 13-01-2008, 18:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by blazey

I think the government is changing its attitude towards battery farming as the publics attitude is changing and there is a greater demand for free range. Hopefully the laws will continue to change and eventually outlaw battery farming and the government will give greater consideration to free range farmers. I think economic values are what has kept the laws from changing, but as people are buying their food with ethical values in mind now instead, the government will hopefully take that into consideration.

Thing is Blazey, if we all went for free range, the production could not keep up with the demand, due to lack of land.

Same with vegetarianism, if we all suddenly became vegetarian, again, there would be a shortage of land suitable for growing crops to feed us all.

MargaretR · 13-01-2008, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by katex

Thing is Blazey, if we all went for free range, the production could not keep up with the demand, due to lack of land.

Same with vegetarianism, if we all suddenly became vegetarian, again, there would be a shortage of land suitable for growing crops to feed us all.

It takes more land to feed animals than it does to raise crops of equivalent food value. I have read somewhere (will find it if you require me to) that if all pasture land was used for food crops - no-one in the world would starve

blazey · 13-01-2008, 19:37

There is alot of land wasted in the world aswell, and I dont believe for a second that there isn't a way to produce enough food to feed everyone without battery farms, because battery farms can't have been existance for that long, from what I can find they are a 20th century creation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7180018.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7180018.stm

Theres the ban on battery eggs that is going to eventually happen across the EU.

It is 1 step towards many so I guess if you are right katex we should prepare to starve. Or move out of the EU countries, i'm sure america would never outlaw it.

Reidy · 14-01-2008, 06:28

Did anyone watch the baby lambs getting slaughtered and the first one that they tried to shock it didnt work and the slaughterman turned his back to the camera and used the stun gun instead (and they used it there after) but why did that happen in the first place??? Are there no pre checks done on the equipment to make sure its working correctly?

panther · 14-01-2008, 09:42

what i would like to know is how do they know they cant feel anything after being stunned!, have they tested it on themselves.....?, i think not

and why is there different killing methods for different animals?

cashman · 14-01-2008, 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by panther

what i would like to know is how do they know they cant feel anything after being stunned!, have they tested it on themselves.....?, i think not

and why is there different killing methods for different animals?

cos some animals are much bigger n others.

you could kill a mouse with a slug gun, but not a cow.

blazey · 17-01-2008, 01:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by panther

what i would like to know is how do they know they cant feel anything after being stunned!, have they tested it on themselves.....?, i think not

and why is there different killing methods for different animals?

I imagine neurologists would be able to check for brain signals in an animal after it has been shocked and see if it is feeling pain and feels pain when its throat is slit. It can't be that complicated with todays technology.