After many years in both sides of the industry (farming and abattoir) we now feel that it's the right time to erase the stigma associated with the slaughtering of animals. With the media coverage of Halal and Kosher let's as a nation address the issues and ask abattoirs to come clean.
Had it not been for the Neolithic revolution ten thousand years ago we would all be hunter gatherers still, or worse (and probably more likely) extinct. We ate meat then, we eat it now, there is nothing wrong with this, just the image of the inbetween process from livestock to carcass. We have become severely disconnected in the decades after WW2 from the processes involved that ends with a piece of meat, needless to say that some of todays generations do not even realise where milk and meat derives from.
We (as a business) have spent the last year developing a website to try to change the current perception of our "taboo industry" and its "sordid image". We want to re-educate the generations who live off boxed meals and tell them how easy and cheap it is to cook at home - let's face it, if we could do it 10,000 years ago on a fire outside what's the problem now!
We want to provide a guide to smallholders and first timers with the relevant information available to hand, without you how can the depleted industry survive. Smallholders need to become our farmers of the future.
We want to cover traceability and food safety and guarantee a quality product, without this how can the butchers shops survive?
Most of all we want the consumer to be aware of where their meat comes from, the time and the process involved in producing it and the ease of cooking at home. Skills have been lost courtesy of boxed and ready meals, now comes time for a change.
This is not an advert for our website or our business, but a nationwide issue that needs addressing in a tactful manner so we can once again be proud of the British meat industry, support the newcomers, ensure the longevity of our butchers and promote quality british livestock and retain the cooking skills of our elders before they are lost forever in the technological revolution.
hiya,
I just googled the dasco bournemouth report, and like any right-minded person am disgusted that a butchers could operate with an infestation of cockroaches.It certainly breeches our food cleanliness ethic as it would anyones!!!! I would point out that this is one butchers (halal or non halal) out of many and not all butchers are by any means like this, its like meeting one unethical policeman and calling all police unethical, which obviously isnt true at all. I know my butchers is scrupulously clean, and you can see the whole area, more so than say in a supermarket where the meat is prepared out of sight.
As for the not stunning before killing, its a difficult one, and is debated within the community itself, particularly in the west, where the slaughter of animals is on a more *industrial* scale. We must have our animals drained completely of blood, which means to completely bleed out we need to keep the heart beating as long as possible. ( sorry bit gruesome ) The animal has its jugular cut with a very sharp knife, and due to massive blood loss to the brain losses consciousness within seconds, and with a very sharp knife probably doesnt feel much, certainly not for a prolonged period. The animal is not supposed to see the knife, ie not to be terrorised by it.
I couldnt view the video posted so it is difficult to comment, but have witnessed halal slaughter elsewhere. No system of slaughter is pleasant. I will never pretend otherwise, but I have seen horrendous cruelty to animals by many people involved in food production ( the recent free range ducks video springs immediately to mind) and in my mind I feel that it is closer regulation of all treatment of farm animals which is needed, not just at slaughter, but throughout the *production process*
I dont know if this answers your queries. I hope it does. x
I did find your comments interesting to read, Nicola. It's good to see different people's views (even if I don't agree with all of them).
(Being a Christian myself) I certainly agree with giving thanks to God when an animal's life is taken to provide our food.
However, I can't understand why some people think that an animal needs to be fully conscious during this process.
Why would an animal need to be fully aware of this process while the prayer is said and it's life fades away?
Therefore I respect Backtobasics for offering this compromise, and for sticking to the humane principles which are clearly followed.
(I also respect the 'No Supermarket' principle. It was a shame to read about the Dorset company who sold out to ABP, and dropped all their private customers!)
Going back to the topic, I would have thought that an animal being fully conscious would cause it distress and therefore affect the meat quality.
Therefore, surely a stun or shot first would be better in every way?
Also regarding your comment below Nicola, suggesting full hygiene standards-
what would you say about articles (e.g. Dasco in the Bournemouth Daily Echo), which suggest otherwise?
Just a couple of things to point out.
There are a lot of misunderstandings surrounding Halal meat. Firstly, the animal is not "a sacrifice to the Islamic faith". The animal is slaughtered **in the name of Allah because you are taking a life, and Allah (swt) provided us with that life. Allah is the same *God* as in Christianity, and in Judaism we just use the arabic term raher than the aramaic or English terms for various reasons. so it is not a sacrifice to God at all.
secondly, regarding the condidtions in halal *backstreet* slaughter houses. Muslims are required to be ethical and clean in all they do. Part of that is being scrupulously clean when preparing food.( We also * wash* before we pray 5 times a day) Blood must be drained from the animal, and yes its a messy business but is in any slaughter. If you have proof of these horrendous conditions in so-called backstreet butchers then please report it to the relevant authorities,( it is regulated like any other slaughter that is meat for sales to the public) after all it is in the interests of all muslims that our meat is clean and our animals treated with respect before and during their death.
I hope this helps clear up any misunderstandings. I'll go and crawl back under my stone lol and wait for the flak. Peace - salaam
nicola x
I'll
Thanks Anne-Marie for your comments and I love your last sentence.
For those who have commented about Halal:
Halal slaughter has caused quite a stir in recent months. We slaughter Halal by stunning/shooting the animal first, the only difference from the normal procedure is that a muslim then performs the action of bleeding and says a prayer during the process. This by no means applies to all animals slaughtered but those intended for Halal marketplace (of which ours is a very limited volume). This is our version of Halal and that is as close as we are prepared to go. I am sure that if we did Halal slaughter with no stunning beforehand we would have been closed years ago. Halal slaughterhouses are back street operations and I don't doubt that the hygiene standards are lapse.
People are so concerned about the "true" Halal slaughter but please do not overlook Kosher - the methods for this are more barbaric. We would never consider this method.
We do entirely disagree how the Government allows these abattoirs to operate but, we are proud that our standards are high. At least we can sleep on a night knowing that our stock have been happy in life and had the most humane death.
My husband and I have a farm in Australia, although we are trying to grow all our own meat, it is a slow process. We started off with beef which my husband loved, we recently had our piglets slaughtered, when I cooked the spareribs my husband couldn't eat them due to the strong smell, they were beautiful, everyone else ate them. It goes to show the bland meat we have been eating. Next will be chicken, I have a few cockerals almost ready. This is a family which always knew where their food came from. People can't always handle looking into the animals eyes knowing that one day they will be eaten. A great deal of people need the animosity of black trays and clear wrap. Friends of mine don't know how I can raise animal and then eat it, I don't know how they can eat meat from an animal that was caged. I always tell them I don't preach to you about the conditions your meat is raised don't preach to me about my happy animals.
I was initially concerned about an email i received regarding the fact that most of the meat in super markets was imported and Halal. It also suggested that the fact it was Halal was not being identified to the customer. If this meat is imported, we can bang on as much as we like about how well we treat "our" animals, but can the same be said about the imported meat. I also want the choice as to whether or not i want to eat meat that has been prayed over and offered as a sacrifice to the Islamic faith. Other religious persons may also want to know this. Surely this not right as all the packageing and labeling should be accurate in its description. Please can somebody give the facts about this subject and not flower it up with all the other nonsense that has been mentioned over and over again. If it is Halal, is it being labeled as Halal ? If not, why not ? If it is, why is it happening as the majority of Britain are not Muslim.
Im interested to know how you offer Halal meat with stunning prior to slaughter. I thought this was the main way Halal differed from conventionally produced meat?
This topic and comments certainly highlight the sad reality of things today. Did anyone watch Turn Back Time recently?
Hopefully programmes like that which really highlight the damage supermarkets and mass production have done to the traditional butcher, and programmes like Kill it Cook it Eat it, will go some way towards reconnecting people with what proper meat should be like, and where it comes from.
I've discovered that buying game birds from a proper game dealer and doing plucking and cleaning myself is a very rewarding part of the process.
I'm probably one of a small minority - as I think that the process from live animal to plate is not gory but is a very important and interesting one and understanding it adds to the value of the meat. As BacktoBasics and others have said, supporting the future of proper sustainable British meat is so important. I really hope that one day soon I'll have chance to work in such a vital industry and make a real difference.
People do not want to know. They want their meat, but do not want to ever remember that it was a live animal. The more it looks like a bit of an animal, the less inclined they are to buy it, which is why butchers shops are in trouble. People do not want to "cook", they just want to get back from work, shove something in the microwave and eat. Taste and quality come second, how it was reared is way down the list. Of course, this is not true of people on this site, and many others are interested, but the vast majority do not want to know.
Many children have no idea that sausages, bacon or ham were once pigs, or their favorite burger was once a cow, just as they do not know that chips are made of potatoes and potatoes grow in the ground.
Try selling pheasants with the feathers on - oh how cruel! Gave a child a tail feather and the parents snatched it away and wiped the child's hands with a wet wipe and glared at me. Detached from their meat source? Different planet!
I have to say that I think we do need to reconnect with the way our food is produced. I think we have lost the respect for the animals we eat. The sheer volume of meat we consume annually is staggering and yet how much waste is there in the way we process our animals on a fully commercial basis. I am appauled at how much meat we throw away each year. Is meat too cheap that we have such a careless attitude towards its use? A pig that has been reared by an individual is far more likely to be used completely by its rearer than a supermarket joint.
We need perhaps to put a realistic economic value on an animals' life. Distasteful it maybe but no less so than throwing away a pack of chops from your fridge because they are past their sell by date. Children need to understand the value of meat in economic and physical terms.