I have been doing some thinking about Food Cruelty, which is something that has started to concern me more and more. I love cooking and eating but am getting quite thoughtful about where my food comes from and what sort of life it had before it ended up on my plate. Although I shall never be a vegitarian, I have come to understand what my friend, neighbour and colleague – Denis, has been telling me… “Eat less but eat better”. To find out what I am doing in order to approach this goal, read on.

Why think about what we eat?

I have seen some of the conditions that some of the animals that we eat have to live in. Although I work in an abattior, I have become more and more despondant about the quality of life that some of my food has (before it ends up on my table). I am a big fan of Hugh Fernley-Whatshisname and his River Cottage Cookbook. He has a very good attitude to enjoying food and, I believe, that he understands that in order to enjoy our food, we need to be able to do so without guilt. Bizarrely, I have no problem wringing the neck of a chicken (as long as I am going to eat, and enjoy, it later). I do now feel dirty and evil if I buy a chicken that has spent all of it’s life indoors and only sees the sun for the first time when he (it?) gets put into a cage and driven off to the abattoir.

A great site to look at, in order to begin to understand where I’m coming from is… www.rivercottage.net. I’ll now start looking at some of the food I eat and some of the decisions that I have so far made.

Chicken

My first job in France was in a chicken abattoir. I was there for one week during the run up to Christmas 2002. From my position on the plucking line, I got to see the live chickens coming in and going through the machine that electrocuted them and then cut their throats. I got used to the blood and guts (bearing in mind that the previous job had been as an IT manager in the city) and was sad when the job came to an end.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to view some of the chicken houses where chicken are intensively reared and have to say that I didn’t like what I saw. For more details, read the River Cottage Cookbook.

Now, I only buy Proper Free Range Chicken. This costs me an arm and a leg and, thus, I don’t eat chicken very much. When I do, I have to order it, in advance, from the local butcher. It is worth it, though. A chicken that has had a natural life, eating what it wants and living outdoors (in the daytime, at least) tastes different – I couldn’t go back to eating those tasteless birds that I used to.

And, whats more – I get more out of a real chicken. The stock that I make is real stock – the leftovers are too good to feed to the cats – prhaps it isn’t so expensive, after all. I shall be investigating Bio chicken which I believe is cruelty free – When I find out, I’ll let you know.

Pork

I now work in a pig abattoir. I buy (and eat) a lot of pork – I get it at staff discount and, when it is on special offer, it can be cheaper than the price that the butchers and supermarkets pay.

However, the pork that I buy does come from industrial pigs – bred to achieve a certain weight in the minimum amount of time. I shall be putting in a large order next week (to fill up my freezer) and then start looking for an alternative source of pork – somewhere where the pigs grow slowly, develop flavour and have happy lives. When I find such a place, I’ll talk about it here.

Veal

I don’t eat much veal as it is normally too expensive for me. I do like it, though. I don’t see it as too cruel as the veal calves live close to their mothers, drink their mother’s milk and are generally slaughtered near to home (thus avoiding all the worry about long and worrying journeys to the abattoir). Not really an issue for me as, as I have already said, far too expensive for me.

Beef

I don’t eat much beef. The cuts tend to be too big for one. I do like a Pot au Feu and the occasional steak. I don’t see anything wrong with the methods used to raise beef cows (steers) in France. I believe that the lessons have been learned from the BSE crisis in the UK and that the steers have a reasonable life until that final trip to the abattoir.

Foie Gras

I ate Foie Gras for the last time, yesterday (Christmas Dinner). I’ll miss it but it is produced in a manner that I can no longer support. No further comment – eat it if you like it (I envy you), just be aware of how it is made.

Lamb

Lambs seem to have a pretty good life (apart from those that live in the area around Roqefort, that is) and I have no trouble with eating lamb – only the price I have to pay for it. My landlady keeps sheep and I get a helping of lamb, every year, for my freezer. Some of that lamb might have been playing in my front garden just a few months before. No problem for me – at least they’ve lived naturally and had some fun.

Fish

I only eat fish that is not farmed and is fresh. Not a cruelty issue, really – more down to taste.

Rabbits and Pigeons

Many of my neigbours keep rabbits for the table. I find that cruel. I also find that I prefer the taste of wild rabbit (which I love). Thus, no caged rabbit for me – I risk those little shotgun pellets and relish the real taste of a wild animal which has lived naturally and died suddenly (and no frightening trip to the abattoir).

Pigeon seems, to me, to be the ideal bird. Just the right size for me. Not farmed. Loads of taste. Yum, yum – no more needs to be said. Definately no cruelty here.

Roquefort Cheese

Possibly the greatest cheese in France (and thus, the best in the world?) is Roquefort. Roquefort is only made from fresh un-pasturised full-cream sheeps’ milk. There are strict rules about where the sheep can be grazed; the best cheese is said to come from sheep grazed on the herb-strewn Plateau de Larzac. Nearby are the caves of Conbalou from where the naturally occurring bacteria penecillium roqueforti from which the blue streaks in the finished cheese is found. There are different qualities of Roquefort – the best is made in the caves (and thus exposed to the natural bacteria), the cheapest is made in factories using imported bacteria. I only eat the very, very best (and thus, the most expensive). Why is this? Well…

Roquefort is made from sheeps’ milk. So what, I here you say? Think about it – what sort of sheep produce milk?

No, not pregnant sheep – they don’t need to produce milk. The only sort of sheep that produce milk are those female sheep (ewes) who have just lambed. Now, what does Farmer Giles (or, more likely, Farmer Jean-Pierre) think when he see all those baby lambs gamboling around in the spring fields? I’ll bet it’s not – “Oh, how cute.” It’s more likely to be “Them buggers are drinking all that milk – the milk I need to make cheese.”

So, the farmer does the only thing he can do – the lambs are slaughtered at the grand old age of 1 month. This is before they have developed the muscles that they need in order to have some taste, this is before they have had the chance to eat enough wild herbs and grass so that they can have some flavour – THIS IS INFANTICIDE!

It doesn’t stop me from eating the most gorgeous cheese I have ever tasted. It does mean that I buy the best and make a point of enjoying it – after all, a baby lamb has died so that I can.

I am reminded of something that the author, Isaac Bashevis Singer once said about Jews and Pork – it went something along the lines of “If a Jew were to decide to eat pork, he should eat it with such relish that the juices stream down his chin.” That’s how I eat Roquefort.

Summary

I believe that any of us that eat meat should be aware that we are eating the flesh of a living creature that, in the main part, has been raised so that it can be slaughtered for us to eat. Knowing a bit about the slaughter process, I can say that that part of the chain is as cruelty free as is possible. I have, however, made decisions about what sort of meat I eat. Those decisions are based on the sort of life that the animal has had. They (the decisions) might lead to to paying more for my meat (and perhaps eating less of it) but at least I can sleep at night. Incidentely, the meat tastes better and that, in a strange way, makes it less expensive that it might seem.

I have no problem eating wild animals as long as they have been hunted and killed with respect and an avoidance of cruelty.

I’ll never be a vegitarian but will always be aware that in order for vegetables, grain and fruit to have been grown (at a price that we are willing to pay) – pesticides may well have been used; hedgerows might have been torn down, the environment will have been changed. That can be cruel, as well. You don’t have to kill an animal in order to kill an animal – just change it’s natural environment – that’ll do it every time. And sometimes, it’ll be a slower and crueler death than that inflicted by a shotgun or an abattoir.

All the best

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