No Cow Left Behind

I'm confused. Is today Presidents' Day, or Groundhog Day? The news cycle's stuck in a wretched rut: the aftermath of yet another school shooting; another suicide bombing in Afghanistan; another story about how the FDA left a dangerous drug on the market while thousands died needlessly; oh, and yet another beef recall.

But this recall -- 143 million pounds of beef from a California meat-packing plant -- sets a new record. The previous record was a mere 35 million pounds, back in 1999.

Will the meat from the Westland Meat Packing Company in Chino make you sick? Depends on what the meaning of "sick" is. If, by "sick", you mean, will it give you mad cow disease, or E. coli, or salmonella? There's only a "remote possibility," according to Dick Raymond, undersecretary of agriculture for food safety.

If, however, by "sick," you mean nauseated by the gut-wrenching undercover video depicting Westland employees abusing "downer" cows -- i.e. those too ill or injured to stand ( and perhaps not fit to eat) -- well, then, the answer is definitely yes. The footage, brought to you courtesy of the Humane Society, shows workers "kicking cows, jabbing them near their eyes, ramming them with a forklift and shooting high-intensity water up their noses in an effort to force them to their feet for slaughter," as CNN reports.

Westland Meat's president, Steve Mendell, was naturally shocked, shocked, at the evidence of bovine water boarding and other agribiz atrocities documented by the Humane Society. When confronted about the video by the Washington Post, Mendell "expressed disbelief that employees used stun guns to get sick or injured animals on their feet for inspection:"

"That's impossible," he said, adding that "electrical prods are not allowed on the property."

Asked whether his employees use fork lifts to get moribund animals off the ground, he said: "I can't imagine that."

Asked whether water was sprayed up animals' noses to get them to stand up, he said: "That's absolutely not true."

"We have a massive humane treatment program here that we follow to the nth degree, so this doesn't even sound possible," Mendell said. "I don't stand out there all day, but to me it would be next to impossible."

Well, sure, as the head of a meat-packing plant, Mendell is too busy generating his own brand of bullshit to wade into the fecal matter coating the downer cows his company's been slaughtering and shipping off to school lunches and programs for the needy (guess they won't be getting another one of those Supplier of the Year awards for the National School Lunch Program like the one the USDA gave Westland for the 2004-2005 school year.)

With the Humane Society's video going viral faster than E. coli in a feedlot, Mendell fired the two employees identified in the video, describing their behavior as "a serious breach of our company's policies and training." California prosecutors have since filed animal cruelty charges against the two former employees, who insist, of course, that they were only following orders.

The individual who shot the footage, who's remaining anonymous in the hopes of infiltrating other slaughterhouses, told the Washington Post, "These were not rogue employees secretly doing these things...Every day, I would see downed cattle too sick or injured to stand or walk arriving at the slaughterhouse. Workers would do anything to get the cows to stand on their feet."

Although the methods exposed by the video are all forbidden by both California law and the USDA, the USDA actually lacks the authority to recall meat; all it can do is ask nicely. Westland has voluntarily agreed to pull all its raw and frozen beef products going back to February 1st, 2006, but most of that potentially downer cow-tainted meat has presumably already been downed.

USDA inspectors were at the Westland plant twice a day and saw nothing amiss, which is to say that these abuses simply constitute business as usual in America's abattoirs. But is this kind of institutionalized cruelty acceptable in our culture? Our pal Bonnie Powell over at the Ethicurean doesn't think so:

As the massive outcry in response to the Humane Society's expose of a California beef-processing plant shows, Americans are extremely sensitive to the mistreatment of animals -- even those we intend to eat. It would be nice if we showed we cared even half as much about the human-rights abuses that are epidemic in our cheap-food system.

At least the animals have got the Humane Society working on their behalf to shame the USDA into action; if only the workers who are getting chewed up and spit out by the factory farms had an equally effective, well-funded watchdog looking out for them.

Powell cites a disturbing six-part expose that ran last week in the Charlotte Observer about a North Carolina poultry processor whose workers are subjected to awful conditions and routinely denied medical care. Many of the workers are here illegally and therefore afraid to speak up, making them easy to exploit. Serious injuries go unreported to OSHA, which is supposed to ensure worker safety but, according to the Observer, "is allowing employers to vastly underreport the number of injuries and illnesses their workers suffer."

The Observer's series followed a strange and scary story in the New York Times about a mystery malady afflicting a dozen workers at a Minnesota pork processing plant. The workers, who suffered a serious neurological disorder, all had one thing in common; part of their job entailed harvesting pig brains, which get shipped to China and Korea, by blasting compressed air into the pigs' skulls, which, according to the Times, turned "the brain into a slurry that squirted out through the same hole in the skull, often spraying brain tissue around and splattering the hose operator in the process."

Powell sums it up best:

The meat industry in this country is broken from start to finish. We take ruminants and feed them grain their stomachs weren't designed to eat, treating them like garbage disposals for our industrial leftovers; implant steroids so they'll grow faster; feed them antibiotics so they can survive the poor diets and crowded feedlot conditions; then ship them to slaughterhouses where they are killed and processed at speeds that practically beg for bacterial contamination and worker injuries.

Industrial livestock production relies on the systemic abuse of cows, pigs, chickens, and the workers who process them in order to bring us cheap meat. When did Americans develop such a taste for torture, anyway? I'm tired of having to read and write about this stuff; aren't you sick of eating it?

Follow Kerry Trueman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrytrueman

Comments

[provoked]

From the factory farms to the slaughterhouses - there's not much any carnivore can be disconcerned with....

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. " Albert Einstein

For health & heart.... Go Vegan

[provoked]

Seems to me that such a failed system as the MEat industry - with problems going the gamit from zoonotic disease, manure pits, deforestation, fossil fuel and water waste - and the least on everyone's list of concerns - animals.... We might consider the possibility tht perhaps vegetariansim or veganism is the solution.....

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. " Albert Einstein

[pgobrien]

I live in Vermont. I eat meat grown here -- humanely grown, decently fed (grass fed beef, free-range poultry), and as humanely slaughtered as possible.
It costs more than meat shipped in from across the country or around the world, but at least I know what I'm eating and I'm not horrified by the treatment of these food animals.
Getting these "downer" animals onto their feet meant they could be slaughtered and slipped into the food chain, ostensibly as animals capable of walking to their deaths. Forcing them to their feet by any means possible was an ECONOMIC choice. Employees didn't do this for no good reason. Someone told them that the fewer animals dropped from the assembly line, the better. This was a company policy. CEOs who feign "shock" make me sick.

[BonnieJW]

You don't have to buy industrial meat. You can purchase organic meat that has been rised and slaughtered humanely. Laura's Lean is sold at Safeway and is organically raised and humanely slaughtered.

[StillAmused]

Once you've mastered blind indifference to the horror and suffering experienced by these innocent creatures, who live their sad lives at our mercy, it's such a small step up to the big leagues -- blind indifference to the horror and suffering experienced by innocent humans who look different, sound different and serve as a convenient target for the blind rage of so many Americans over 9/11.

Fire up the barby, knuckle-draggers... and try not to think. Your heads will explode.

Bon appétit.

[stevesrant]

Excellent post Ms. Trueman. How do people think McDonalds can make a profit selling their dollar menu atrocities? "Billions and billions sold" does not bode well for healthy livestock or healthy eating, only healthy stock market performance.

I agree with another commentor here about the poor placement of this blog on HuffPo. The Living section would be so much harder-hitting and coherent if they would keep the entertainment and media blogs in the Entertainment and Media sections, instead of in the Living section. What has always set this site apart is its aspiring to respectability-I hope they give meaningful posts like this one more prominence in the fututre, and don't become a slave to 'clicks' and advertising dollars like so many others.

[SamThornton]

If we want to be absolutely logical about this, probably the greatest potential source of protein on the planet is to be found in the insect world.

Plus, insects are crunchy.

M-m-m-m-m, cockroach.

[larry278]

Sinclair's, THE JUNGLE, adapted for 21st century tastes & technology- I will resist the urge to quote Lawrence, Yogi, Berra. Does anybody know of anything that Casey Stengle said which fits this situation?

[Halsey]

I forwarded the video of these creatures of God to a number of people...all of whom are carivores. I, am a vegetarian..but "respect' for lack of a better word..this very personal choice. I just think people should KNOW what they're eating..THEN make an informed decision.

To a person...these people responded with "from the headline..I could not watch the video"..these are kind people..who could not bare the thought of seeing such cruelty..and are, of course, against it. But, we all know, when they buy that celophanes ground meat..it is in denial of the cruelty that went into it's reasonable price and convenience.

I, actually, have no problem (okay.. a very small problem), with the small farmer..who treats his animals well, lets them graze..until the fateful day he cuts their throats..but I "think". he probably does it as quickly as possible..since he's known these animals since they were young..and probably deliveried them into this world.. he EATS what he raises..

but industrial farming...lends itself to cruelty..both of the workers and the poor animals. This was just one instance...in one plant...in the u.s.a which has some small, if ineffective oversight. Can you imagine what it's like for animals in poor countries.. The "karma" of these gentle animals should come down on the vicious.
High cholestral and heart attacks...well deserved it you ask me... what goes around in God's universe..untimately comes around..

[unsinkable]

Brilliant post, Kerry--as usual.

Clearly, industrial meat production is problematic on every level, from its impact on the environment (in the forms of air, water and land degradation) to the welfare of the workers and animals involved, to public health compromised by unmanageably rapid production lines (along with the downer cow issue) driven by an overzealous hunger for profit.

Luckily for those of us who still deign to indulge our carnivorous impulses, there are still small-scale local producers who practice sustainable, humane methods. Conscientious eaters can find local farms, as well as restaurants, lodgings and grocers who distribute their goods, at the Eat Well Guide www.eatwellguide.orgg).

disclosure: I work for the Guide, but would recommend it anyway--I've used it to find many great restaurants and family farms. The food is not only trustworthy, but also delicious.

--Leslie Hatfield

[TuffPosh]

One of the two employees charged is an illegal alien, but don't expect to hear too much about that:
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007489.html
Having illegal aliens working in food processing increases the risk that they'll just follow orders and decreases their worries about the consequences of their actions because they can simply return to their home countries. Waving a magic wand and making them legal isn't a solution because that would simply encourage even more illegal immigration. If you care about food safety, consider that one part of it is supporting enforcement of our immigration laws.

[indycar]

as a 'carnivore' this type of abuse and business practice is making me consider becoming a vegetarian.

Adding to the argument for are the recent local, state and federal laws designed to keep this kind of information from the public. Aerial photos are illegal so illegal waste treatment and other practices can't be discovered.

[SeekerOne]

Thanks for writing this article, Kerry. I certainly wish that it was more prominent on the website. I saw it early this morning, then when I came back, I had to do a search to find it.

The only reason this footage is getting any MSM play, is because it potentially affects the health of humans. Most of us generally prefer to believe that our meat comes naturally wrapped in styrofoam and cellophane, film like this is an inconvenient reminder otherwise.

The atrocities that are committed in the "harvesting" of meat are widespread.It's a gruesome business; killing by conveyor and as production. These employees have to objectify their victims to be able to do what they do. Just like the Nazi's did. And yes, I am equating the lives of animals to human life. Pain and suffering is pain and suffering. The only way it will ever stop is when it wholly threatens our health, our lives.

[oddfellow]

Disgusting- now eliminate federal subsidies to fund the cattle industry.

Outlaw feedlots and corporate ownership.

If we eliminated half the cows in America, the environment would celebrate with less methane, less green house gases, lower corn prices..

With lower corn prices we can all eat more, and we can lower gas prices... with more ethanol.

[letstakeawalk]

I actually enjoy eating a good steak, and pork products of all types (mmmm, bacon!). However, I am concerned by the depletion of ocean fisheries because people think "wild caught" is better than farm raised. Mercury contamination is a serious concern for seafood harvested off the SC coast, and yet local restaurants proudly serve "local" seafood. Give me farm-raised and processed protein sources anyday!