Have you ever wanted to follow your food from farm to plate and take a look at each process your food encounters on that trip?  If you are a meat-eater then a new series will give you that opportunity.  The BBC-produced series Kill It, Cook It, Eat It is presently being run on Current TV and  is gaining attention for its graphic look into the industry of factory farming, meat production and slaughterhouses. The  series involves volunteers who follow their meal from pasture to slaughter to plate and nothing is held back, save a few blurred frames.  This show brings what many meat-eaters won’t see, stunning, neck-slicing and skin ripping all while semi-conscious and dangling from a hook.

My first viewing of the show was cringing and somewhat surprising at the material shown.  This show goes where documentaries such as Food, Inc and others fell extremely short, showing the process an living creature goes through to become the meal you and your family consumes. You see the animal being raised, transported and then each process from the killing neck-slice to the end product with a glimpse of the factory that lends itself to the result.  Six volunteers are followed with their “meal”.  Many are shocked to learn of the process and many questions are asked as they view the writhing bodies being butchered.  As you can imagine, it can be extremely gruesome to watch.

The show is extremely graphic but every meat-eater should know where their meal came from before it became that burger and fries. This show will give them the look they need without going to the slaughterhouse themselves.

The series airs Tuesdays at 10/9 central on Current TV and episodes re-air at various times throughout the week.

English Chef Jamie Oliver has shows on Food Network and has written many cookbooks.  He demonstrates hundreds of ways to serve lamb and is in no way vegan.  However, it seems he wants to show the cruelty in slaughterhouses and factory farms.  To do this he goes as far as suffocating chickens and slaughtering a lamb on his TV show in front of a live audience.

If this is all done in the name of activism I don’t see the value, other than that of shock.

Graphic video:

The largest meat recall in the nation’s history has widened to include soups, sauces, boullion cubes and any other food, canned or otherwise, that may contain meat processed at Westland/Hallmark Meat of Chino, California. This new development could turn the largest meat recall into the largest food recall.

The nation’s largest meat recall could grow into its largest food recall as companies destroy products with any amount of the 143 million pounds of beef recalled last week.

The recall’s scope is unprecedented, says the Grocery Manufacturers of America. The value of foods affected — including soups, sauces, burritos and bouillon cubes — could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, a senior GMA official says.

“It’s going to be very, very sizable,” says Craig Henry, the group’s senior vice president. “We’ve never had a recall like this.” He says it will take weeks to find out how many products the recalled beef went into.

                                                                             – USAToday.com

If you’re a vegan or vegetarian then it is highly doubtful you will find any products containing the meat in your cabinets. I have yet to notice anything pulled from shelves when I go to the grocery store but then I don’t pay much attention to the meat aisle.

One more reason I am proud my family is vegan.

After the massive beef recalls over the past week you start to wonder what they do with 143 million pounds of decaying, uneaten bovine flesh.  Here is the answer to those questions.

The USDA has ordered its largest ever meat recall of 143 million pounds, but most of the affected beef may have already been consumed. Where is the failure here? The government that doesn’t pay attention, the factory farms…who don’t pay attention or even care, or the meat-eating consumer who is just interested in eating the most fatty, cholesterol-laden product they can at the lowest possible price?