Food Production

If Al Capone could be brought down on tax evasion charges, maybe the path to closing the slaughterhouses involves looking at their labour practices. veganicat was one of several ‘stars who noted that Colorado-based Swift & Co lost all of its cattle killers and 77% of its pork killers when the immigration department raided 6 plants this week and arrested hundreds of workers who were using stolen American identities. For their part, Swift is denying any knowledge of the scheme, but they’re going to be looking at a big dent in their bottom line as they attempt to deal with this blow to their workforce. Link.

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Dave Noisy notes that an American has been diagnosed with the human form of mad cow disease. This has happened a few times in the past, but this is the first case I’ve seen since three cows were diagnosed on American farms with the disease. In earlier incidents, authorities were able to blame foreign beef for the illness – a victim might have lived for a while in the UK, or vacationed there, or had an unexplainable memory loss that may have been alien abduction, which, as we all know, involves eating alien burgers. I was curious to see if this new discovery would provide a chance for the government to open up to the possibility that mad cow disease has been in the US food supply, but I guess I was just drunk. The latest victim was born in Saudi Arabia, which is where he must have eaten contaminated beef. We know this because the three sick US cows are the only ones ever to have the disease, because those were the ones that were found, and if there were any more, they’d have been found too, and your barbecues are safe safe safe, yessir. Veggie burger, anyone? Link.

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I love the UN. I don’t actually know a lot about them, but I suspect they’ve learned, especially over the past few years, that people in power don’t actually listen to them, so their reports have gotten more and more interesting. I don’t know if they’re trying harder to hook people in or if they just figure they might as well speak their mind instead of padding things out with politics, but the facts they point out are fascinating. Take, for example, the latest report on animal agriculture that Dave Noisy forwarded along, wherein you’ll find nuggets like these: rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gasses than does driving cars (which would make a good-sounding excuse for people who drive, I suppose, but the argument really doesn’t work if you’re eating a burger while you say it), meat and milk production are set to double in the next 50 years (partly due to an increase in human population, but it’s possible that veganism will take off and there’ll be, like, 5 guys in Illinois who have to round up the beef average), and livestock are now using 30% of the earth’s land surface (which means, to do that doubling trick by 2050, we’re all going to have to live on the moon, or hi-rise cow condos will be developing soon). Once again, it’s from the UN, so nobody’s going to read it (come on, the group is called “Un.” They might as well appoint Mr. Never as their leader to keep those positive vibes going), but if you can take these facts and put them in leaflets or web pages, maybe there’s a chance the info will reach people. Link.

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Dave Noisy sent in the most confusing article I’ve read this week, which isn’t surprising once you look at it, since it’s about organic labelling for fish. The whole concept of organic, as applied to animal-based food products, usually boils down to feeding the animal organically-raised foods and keeping antibiotics out of the equation, but when you’re dealing with fish who eat other fish and who sometimes live in a big uncontrolled space called the “ocean”, it gets a little murkier. The US government hasn’t come up with an official standard yet, but it looks like fish farms may get the edge in the branding war simply because they have a bit more control over their stocks, or at least the ones that don’t eat other fish. Of course, fish farming can be more environmentally invasive than wild fisheries (the David Suzuki Foundation says their ecological impact ranges from “benign to catastrophic”), and their stocks are often packed in densities that are much greater than would be found in the wild, which may not be the best environment for a fish that was raised to swim. While compassion is a big driver for my reasons not to eat fish, I’ve got to say that not having to deal with rationalizations and other issues like these play a part from time to time. Link

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Wal-Mart is only starting to enter the grocery market here in Canada, but I’m not convinced that their style of retailing is going to win me over. As Magic Stones reports, the chain is getting some attention for their labelling practices surrounding organic foods. Specifically, a group is claming that the company is labelling conventionally grown items as organic, which is illegal under federal organic rules and carries a fine of up to $10,000 per violation. If the allegations are true, it’s a shame that Wal-Mart’s urge to dominate a retail sector requires them to show this much indifference to a customer base that’s more passionate about certifications than everyday low prices. Link.

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Dave Noisy wrote in with a great reason to buy ethanol: it sticks it to animal farmers in the pocketbook. The rising interest in ethanol is driving corn prices way up (in the USA, ethanol is typically made from corn), which in turn is wiping out profits for pork and chicken producers, who rely on cheap corn for feed. This won’t affect grocery store prices for another few years due to a lag in meat prices, but if ethanol demand keeps up, this will drive up meat costs for consumers, which in turn will reduce demand, which may ultimately reduce the number of animals being killed for food each year. I don’t drive much, but I’m encouraged by the fact that, since bourbon is at least 51% corn, I can stumble drunkenly down the street telling anyone who’ll listen that I’m a drinktivist. Link.

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Here’s an update on the economics of egg production. As you may know, there are generally two kinds of chickens being raised: broilers and layers. Broilers get real big, real fast, and then they’re killed for meat, while layers have been bred for their egg laying prowess, and when they become used up or “spent,” after laying a bunch of eggs, they’re of no more use to the egg producer. To maximize profits, the spent hens would be sold as cheap, lower quality meat, but now, in California at least, nobody’s buying them. Famers are turning to gassing the chickens with CO2 and then composting the bodies. Given the numbers of birds involved, it’s not surprising – but somewhat horrifying – to figure out that some chickens are surviving the gas to be buried alive under a pile of corpses. Residents of the Petaluma area are calling them “zombie chickens.” I’ve got other names, but they’re mostly reserved for the farmers and I can’t share them because my mom might see. Link.

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It’s got to be said, at least if I’m going to stay in the running for the “secretly five years old” trophy: as selfmadegirl notes, Hershey has issued a massive recall for several of their chocolate products after one unnamed ingredient was contaminated with salmonella, and one symptom of salmonella poisoning is… Hershey squirts. OK, I’m done, now I’ll go back to reading about physics or politics or something, and I’ll try hard not to just look for words that rhyme with “poo.” Link.

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kunsjoi notes that there’s an abattoir, possibly near Mumbai, that’s being run like it’s in the absolute worst episode of The Apprentice ever. Waste products like intestines and lungs are missing from the disposal sites where they’re supposed to be, and authorities suspect that they’ve been making it to the public in one for or another for the past year. Better still, the pumps are under repair and the temporary pumps are either too weak or the plant is being overrun, and “effluent” is everywhere. There are many slaughterhouses in the world that are likely better run than this one, but I think a lot of the public has a mental image of a killing floor that’s more like the clean room in a microchip facility with bright sterile white walls than a festival of blood and guts. Stories like this one might shock those mental images a little bit in the right direction. Link.

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