Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Supplemental Post - A Beef With The Meat Industry

Need Another Reason to Give Up the Beef?

As if saving the planet and lowering your cholesterol weren't reason enough, check out this horrible, disturbing article about the abuse of downed cattle at a slaughterhouse. Pardon the language, but it's absolutely fucking sick.

Do we really need meatloaf made from real beef THAT badly? If you're totally pissed off about the inhumane treatment, but can't stand the thought of a meatless meal, at least look into purchasing your meat from a local farmer. These cows tend to be grass-fed, antibiotic-free and pasture-raised, and you get to go visit the farm to make sure.

6 comments:

Vera said...

Seriously disturbing. We rarely eat beef now when we go out and never buy it for the home...and I can actually say that we BOTH don't miss it!

Wendy said...

Thankfully our freezer full of meat consists of a quarter of a grass-fed cow and a pig, both of whom were raised by local farmers -not "animal" farmers, but just guys who had some extra land and raised a couple of animals and then sold parts of it to the local community - me :). So, we eat a LOT of beef and pork, but it's all local. If we didn't have that freezer of meat, we'd not be eating beef ... or pork.

Anonymous said...

I am suspect of the packing company's 'outrage'. Kind of like when a child says sorry, and means sorry they got caught. A 'downer' is a zero value. But if it's on it's feet, it can be sold. It's all about the money. I bet the guys doing the kicking had been 'trained' how to get a downer up on it's feet.
Poor cows. Shame on us.
Also, isn't a Holstein a milk cow, not a beef cow like a Hereford or Angus? This poor cow probably reached the end of it's milking life, and wound up here.

Anonymous said...

I just sat here and cryed about the cow that could barely walk on crippled legs.
Underneath it said something about "fear for the safety of our food supply". Isn't that the same language used to describe what terrorists might do to us?

Green Bean said...

This story broke my heart. BTW, for anyone who has not read Omnivore's Dilemma, do. These practices are the norm in the meat, dairy and egg industry. If there were no walls on the slaughterhouse, etc., we'd all eat a whole lot less meat, drink less milk and eat fewer eggs. What are we doing!?!

Heather Piper said...

We have entirely cut out beef, pork and birdy creatures four our meal planning. We only eat fishy things now.