Where was your meat made?

I can't hold it against a store or company for using their assets as far as they will go. Isn't that what the people of older generations did (as well as many here)? Just saying meat is from an older cow doesn't mean it isn't good, it's just not the best. What do you do with an older cow? It seems to me that no matter what you do you are going to attract criticism from those in different shoes. How many here put spent hens in the stewing pot? I know I would.

What would any of us do if we were in the process of slaughtering an animal and something went wrong? We'd do the best we could with what happened. For the most part- I think slaughter houses don't miss. But if/when they do - what are their choices? It isn't like it's happening to every cow. What do I do if my cow with a broken leg falls in the doorway to the butcher and can't get back up? What are my choices?

I think we are being too condemning in response to some that are paranoid and looking for trouble behind every corner.

I draw the line at meat glue and pink slurry - now that's a problem.

Harry, you're right. I got my book and 2 documentaries mixed all in together. Haven't read/seen either in over a year. It's a big mix of "horror" in my head lol. Sorry everyone! Bolt gun was what the book stated. Some of it came from a chicken documentary.. can't remember the title but I haven't bought store eggs since.

__________________
A closed mouth gathers no foot.

I've never heard of meat glue :/ Guess I'm about to find out what that is. I swear, by the time I learn as much as I should know about the world, I'll be dead!

__________________
A closed mouth gathers no foot.

I disagree. I realize that industrialized farming produces most of America's meat, but why does it have to be that way? It might have to be that way to feed those people who think their food is made in the back room of the grocery store.

All around my suburban home there are fields everywhere with overgrown weeds that with some know how and desire, could produce red meats. Most everyone with a backyard could raise chickens - if it were legal. America could produce significantly more meat, that was better for the animals and better for the humans, if that's what we really wanted to do.

MaineFarmMom, thank you for posting that. It was hard to watch. I wish that this kind of stuff was part of our education growing up. I have a deeper respect for people who do this now, and I don't know.. I'm not sure how I feel about it??? Not like I'm going to jump on the vegetarian bandwagon now or anything, but man it's quite sobering and enlightening all at the same time.

__________________
A closed mouth gathers no foot.

How could a dairy of between 8,000 and 10,000 cows and many of them too. You can't raise all the meat, all the dairy, without these huge farms.
Here is one that that milks 32,000 cows a day~!!!, and is on 25,000 acres.
No small dairy farmer is going to keep up with that kind of demand. Or any old type of milking and animal handling.
And this is Just ONE of many throughout the country. And with a Population of 300+ million in the USA alone now, and exports through out the world. You can not go back in time.
And this video is 2 years old they have even more now.~! It is neat how they do it on a turntable that rotates once around, and cow is milked and gets off.

runbunch, it is extremely rare (sorry for the pun) that someone admits an error and even rarer when that person has the strength to publicly do so. Major kudos for being one of those few.

We ARE at the top of the food chain. We HAVE been given dominion. We DO have a responsibility. There are many that have been brought up in extremely sheltered lives that simply do not understand that millions of our ancestors died horrible deaths so that we could be in the position that we are.

There are people that think wild animals are superior to us. There are people that are so afraid of death that any expression of it is something that they will oppose.

Every living thing on the planet dies. We survive on the death of plants and animals. We then die, and return everything to that cycle. It is real. It will happen whether or not we want it to happen. Given time, those who want to eliminate our use of meat will morph into those who want to eliminate our use of vegetables, and those will morph into those who oppose our use of fruits, and those will morph into those who want us to exit the planet entirely and leave it to the fuzzy furry little creatures and innocent plants.

They have a perversion, a mental illness, a break with reality. They want you to think that they are the only sane people. I have cared for many people who had other delusions, who were equally convincing if your didn't examine their beliefs carefully.

I strongly think that every child needs to be exposed to farming and the realities of animal husbandry for long enough that they understand life. Back when 90% of kids grew up on a farm, there was a direct connection with the earth, an understanding of how it could be generous or cruel. There was an understanding that animals do not come from Disney movies. There was an understanding of life and death.

If we are to survive, we must kill. We kill viruses. We kill bacteria. We kill weeds. We kill plants. We kill insects. We kill rodents. We kill predators. We kill fish. We kill birds. We kill reptiles. We kill mammals. If we totally banned killing of most of those, we would die as a species. The fact that some people protect others from the cold hard reality doesn't make it less of a reality.

Shocking videos and shocking books are designed to play on your emotions. Emotions are important, but they are only shortcuts to help us survive when we don't have time to think. Please do not be manipulated by people who would ask you not to think, but rely only on your emotionality.

__________________
George Washington did not run and hide.

When the farmer’s milk cow won’t produce, it goes to slaughter. When a cow gets sick, doesn’t respond to medicine, the owner must wait a couple weeks for the drugs to clear, the cow likely gets worse, but as long as it can survive the trip to the livestock auction, the farmer gets some cash and doesn’t have to dig a big hole. Can’t blame the farmer.
The Buyers or Brokers will buy anything that can survive the trip to the slaughterhouse and walk to the Killing Floor. Can’t blame them.

As soon as the cow steps off the semi trailer, it belongs to the slaughterhouse. It cannot be slaughtered if it can’t walk to the Killing Floor. The production line of hundreds of people depends on the steady supply of cattle into the facility. When a cow leaves the trailer and lies down, it becomes a potential loss of money because it can’t be slaughtered, but also it becomes a bottle neck to the whole process.

Since it is known that the cow was capable of walking a few moments ago, it can safely be assumed that it can walk again. Electric shock cattle prods are legal and a cold water hose is handy. One can see that an electric jolt or a spray of water up the nose might be the encouragement this old cows needs to get going. When the cow still refuses to get up, it still needs to be moved out of the way. Any ideas on how to move a 2000 pound downed cow out of the way? Options are limited and the bucket of a skid steer suddenly seems like a quick, efficient and humane way to get her to a place where she can rest a bit. Can’t blame the dock workers for a quick solution.

Maybe the farmer shouldn’t sell his old cows. Maybe the livestock auction shouldn’t auction slow cows. Maybe the buyers shouldn’t buy them. Maybe the dock workers should let the plant shut down while the cow gets up or dies. There are no easy answers. As hard as it is for many folks to view the actual killing process, there are steps along the way that require a strong stomach and a cold heart. Blame? Oh, there’s plenty of that to pass around, just not many solutions.

But when the reality of this segment of our food chain is displayed on the evening news, people were outraged. The company recalled a million pounds of perfectly good ground beef, just to calm the public down over a video of a cold water nasal douche with a hose or a down cow rolling over while being pushed by a manure scoop.

Don't forget the accents.
That scenerio may only work anywhere other than the south. Down here it'd be three guys in a jacked up ford with a gun rack and floodlight.
"We herd (haha!) you wuz causin' trubble. We don't like that 'round heer."

__________________
" It's better to ride even if you get thrown, than to wind up just wishin' ya had."

Chris Ledoux

You're welcome. I set the alarm on my phone to come in to watch the show that day because I wanted to know. I expected something much more horrific for the cows. It's not great but it's not as bad as it used to be.

__________________
Robin

Most of us probably would prefer not to be murdered, though.

Everything else wants to live just as badly as you do.

__________________
"I love all of this mud," said no one, ever.

It is a simple fact killing is not something most people enjoy, myself included. If I had to kill all my animals to eat, I would eat alot less meat. Some of my customers ask how can you kill such a nice animal, and I say I give them as good a life as I can, and they have one bad day. I also have heard horor stories from slaughter houses, and will not go into detail about that, but as said before there are good people that work in them and bad people that work in them. I feel better taking my animals to our local butcher, the animals don`t have to be hauled on a semi truck crammed full of other cattle and hauled for hours to a slaughter house, then unloaded and stand around for who knows how long waiting to be killed. Mine are on the trailer for 15 minutes go to a butcher that kills maybe 5-6 head a day. So they are killed very humane, and that makes me feel somewhat better about it. If we have a animal go down or get sick we do everything we can to make it comfortable and get better, if it can`t get better we care for it as long as we can till we feel it is their best interest to be put down. I also know that if most city folks saw how and where their food came from they would not be eating the way they have been. Most city folks have no clue where and egg comes from, or how the meat they like gets to that super market case. Very sad that we are so removed from agriculture nowdays. > Thanks Marc

__________________
Our Diversified Stock Portfolio: cows and calves, alpacas, horses, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, cats ... and a couple of dogs...
http://springvalleyfarm.4mg.com

I had a college roommate that was born and raised in a fairly small town in Ohio, so this isn't a big city people are stupid story. He was completely clueless about food and had a very limited diet of beef, chicken, pork, potatoes, corn and green beans. There was almost nothing else he would eat.

I once asked him if he would eat the muscle of a cow. He found the very idea disgusting. He assured me he would eat only the meat, not the muscle. When I straight faced asked the obvious follow up, he understood that beef comes from cattle but wasn't sure what part of the cow.

He was not amused that I was so amused and I teased him about this for weeks.

Life feeds on life. The system was designed that way. I spent about 3 years as a vegan after home butchering some chickens years back. Since then I have learned alot about life and death and eating meat again is no problem. I do prefer to raise my own meat and not buy it from the supermarket because I don't want to be removed from the whole process. I don't think it is any more humane but for me it creates a certain respect for life when you are close to the entire process of eating. As we wean ourselves off grocery store meat products, we are eating far less meat and more grains and veggies. It's healthier in lots of ways.

And to think that someone out there thinks meat is "made" at a grocery store with no harm to an animal is pretty alarming to me. The insanely high degree that our society denies or removes itself from the life and death process might be part of the problems we have with the obsession of youth, anxiety disorders and other mental/social issues. Just a thought.

You make incorrect assumptions and and generalizations, and are using emotionally charged words to make your point. I can do that too. I try not to.

Male praying mantis live to die. They WANT to die, but in a particular way. I have not yet had a mate that infatuated me that much, although one tried.

Death in nature is inhumane, by definition. Once an animal is past breeding, it has little or no value. Death can be casual, prolonged and painful. Nature doesn't care. Humans like a quick relatively painless death as a surprise. They much prefer making their lives prolonged and painful...

__________________
George Washington did not run and hide.

I wonder if babies want to not be murdered. I bet aborted babies want to live just as badly.

__________________
Blessings,
Jean

This is inflammatory hyperbole. Stop trolling.

__________________
Flaming Xtian
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mahatma Gandhi


Libertarindependent

I don't like killing, never have, probably never will (mosquitoes and some flying insects excepted). However, sometimes it is necessary. I'd rather slaughter one large animal than a hundred small ones.

For me to live, something has to die. Taking a grazing animal is the most earth friendly method I know of.... I know my actions are better for the earth than a vegetarian that doesn't eat meat............. at least not direct meat. Millions of acres of grazing habitat has been converted to row crops, to feed the vegan need for extra plant life, which beforehand would've been feeding deer, elk, bison, or yes, even cows....

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

If we weren't supposed to eat meat, we would not be born with canine teeth. In years past, we also existed in a world where we were either the eater or the eaten. So far, I've done quite well being the eater!

I'm also a killer and so far only draw the line when it comes to humans. (Mind you, I was trained to be otherwise by the USMC but it never came to fruition.) Never had to do a cow but I was taught exactly where to drop a hog and that became my "specialty". Hated doing chickens since it seemed that no matter how fast and far they were flung still resulted me getting bloody from head to toe. Squirrels and rabbits were an easy bag before I was even in my teens. Coon gave both money and meat. Deer have always been considered merely as venison on the hoof. I know where all of that meat comes from and what transpires between a living critter and a package of meat. That goes for what comes from stocking my home freezers or a 99¢ package of hotdogs. When it's on my plate, I'm not going to sit and ponder exactly how it got there. It's meat. I was born to eat meat. And, it's been about 8 hours since I last killed anything. (Caught second groundhog this month but too small to bother with!)

Martin