Jamie Oliver: Slaughtering chickens to raise awareness about slaughtering chickens
I’ve never been much of a fan of cooking shows. The chefs talk, they cook, they even sometimes teach poor food safety. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has taken the typical format of a cooking show and added an extra twist; audience members witness the killing of the chicken used in the meal. Animal rights groups and poultry farmers are outraged over his new television show “Jamie’s Fowl Dinners.”
The show serves up a giant dose of shock and awe as chicks are gassed to death and an adult chicken is killed for the meal. Yet throughout the show Oliver insists that he is trying to raise awareness about how chickens are treated in the poultry industry.
"I don't think it's sensational to show people the reality of how chickens live and die at the moment. It may be upsetting for some people but that's how things are. And if seeing some of the practices helps to change the shopping habits of just 5 per cent of people watching, then it will be worth it.”
Channel 4 factual entertainment boss Andrew Mackenzie said: "Jamie's simple message, in quite an overt way, will be: 'If you know what happens to a chicken before arriving on your plate, would you change the way you think about chicken? Would you still eat it?'"
Oliver had criticized Sainbury’s supermarket over its involvement on his show and has since apologized for it. It appears that his main goal to is encourage people to purchase free-range and organic chicken raised in less intensive facilities. However I found that most of the program depicting the slaughter of chickens seems to push people towards vegetarianism rather than purchasing their chickens from another source. You be the judge.
The show serves up a giant dose of shock and awe as chicks are gassed to death and an adult chicken is killed for the meal. Yet throughout the show Oliver insists that he is trying to raise awareness about how chickens are treated in the poultry industry.
"I don't think it's sensational to show people the reality of how chickens live and die at the moment. It may be upsetting for some people but that's how things are. And if seeing some of the practices helps to change the shopping habits of just 5 per cent of people watching, then it will be worth it.”
Channel 4 factual entertainment boss Andrew Mackenzie said: "Jamie's simple message, in quite an overt way, will be: 'If you know what happens to a chicken before arriving on your plate, would you change the way you think about chicken? Would you still eat it?'"
Oliver had criticized Sainbury’s supermarket over its involvement on his show and has since apologized for it. It appears that his main goal to is encourage people to purchase free-range and organic chicken raised in less intensive facilities. However I found that most of the program depicting the slaughter of chickens seems to push people towards vegetarianism rather than purchasing their chickens from another source. You be the judge.
How celebs impact food sales: poultry production in the UK
The Independant (UK) ( had an assortment of free range egg articles yesterday, including one from Joanna Lumley. Doug says that Joanna Lumley is famous; in a Coronation Street kind of way, I guess.
Lumley writes that: Sixty-two per cent of hens in the UK still endure life sentences of frustration and deprivation in the battery cage. How can we let such cruelty continue?
For the past two years, Compassion in World Farming has been engaging with the corporate world, persuading big players to abandon battery eggs and pledge to use eggs from more humane systems – at least from barn-kept hens, though free-range is best.
Celebs getting involved with poultry standards isn't a new issue in the UK: back in January, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall took part in documentaries discussing poultry-raising standards and urging the public to switch to consumption of a more humane product. Soon after the documentaries aired, Joanna Blythman (Jan 13, 2008) wrote that she didn't see the latest celebrity chef campaign yielding any better results [than past efforts]:
The current round of public breast-beating on factory-farmed poultry provokes a sense of déja vu. If Britain really was concerned enough to support more progressive farming methods with its purse, then we would have seen an improvement in animal welfare by now.
But Blythman was apparently wrong. In February it was reported that sales of factory-farmed chickens slumped post-documentary campaign to raise awareness implore consumers to pay more to improve the animals' welfare. According to the Independent (Feb 28, 2008):
Sales of free-range poultry shot up by 35 per cent last month compared with January 2007, while sales of standard indoor birds fell by 7 per cent, according to a survey of 25,000 shoppers by the market research company TNS.
Celeb endorsements of food issues isn't strictly a British tactic either. Pam Anderson was famously linked to PETA animal welfare protests at KFC outlets a few years ago and maybe the threat of these protests resulted in Burger King's animal welfare systems? In a Burger King press release PETA Vice President, Bruce Friedrich was quoted as saying “The BURGER KING brand’s influence has moved the entire animal industry. The availability of cage free products is growing, a credit to BKC’s leadership on the issue.” California, hot bed of US celebrity action will be voting on animal welfare legislation, "The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act" which would mandate roomier housing for pregnant sows, veal calves and laying hens.
The message to the food industry is that celebs (no matter how minor, or how British) can make a stir (whether around animal welfare, local diets, food safety, etc.) and really affect purchasing habits. So be prepared and find a way to work alongside them on the issues; you can't ignore them.
Lumley writes that: Sixty-two per cent of hens in the UK still endure life sentences of frustration and deprivation in the battery cage. How can we let such cruelty continue?
For the past two years, Compassion in World Farming has been engaging with the corporate world, persuading big players to abandon battery eggs and pledge to use eggs from more humane systems – at least from barn-kept hens, though free-range is best.Celebs getting involved with poultry standards isn't a new issue in the UK: back in January, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall took part in documentaries discussing poultry-raising standards and urging the public to switch to consumption of a more humane product. Soon after the documentaries aired, Joanna Blythman (Jan 13, 2008) wrote that she didn't see the latest celebrity chef campaign yielding any better results [than past efforts]:
The current round of public breast-beating on factory-farmed poultry provokes a sense of déja vu. If Britain really was concerned enough to support more progressive farming methods with its purse, then we would have seen an improvement in animal welfare by now.
But Blythman was apparently wrong. In February it was reported that sales of factory-farmed chickens slumped post-documentary campaign to raise awareness implore consumers to pay more to improve the animals' welfare. According to the Independent (Feb 28, 2008):
Sales of free-range poultry shot up by 35 per cent last month compared with January 2007, while sales of standard indoor birds fell by 7 per cent, according to a survey of 25,000 shoppers by the market research company TNS.
Celeb endorsements of food issues isn't strictly a British tactic either. Pam Anderson was famously linked to PETA animal welfare protests at KFC outlets a few years ago and maybe the threat of these protests resulted in Burger King's animal welfare systems? In a Burger King press release PETA Vice President, Bruce Friedrich was quoted as saying “The BURGER KING brand’s influence has moved the entire animal industry. The availability of cage free products is growing, a credit to BKC’s leadership on the issue.” California, hot bed of US celebrity action will be voting on animal welfare legislation, "The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act" which would mandate roomier housing for pregnant sows, veal calves and laying hens.The message to the food industry is that celebs (no matter how minor, or how British) can make a stir (whether around animal welfare, local diets, food safety, etc.) and really affect purchasing habits. So be prepared and find a way to work alongside them on the issues; you can't ignore them.
USDA shuts Chino, Calif. meat processor for cruelty
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has shut down a meat processing company after concluding workers committed egregious acts of animal cruelty.
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that the move came nearly a week after the Humane Society of the United States released video showing employees of the Westland Meat Co. tormenting cows that were too injured or weak to stand.
The original video is available at https://community.hsus.org/campaign/CA_2008_investigation?qp_source=gaba89.
A related news video is below.
When the video was released last week, the USDA suspended business with the company, sent a team of investigators to the Chino plant and ordered schools across the country to stop serving beef from the company to children.
An employee of the Humane Society of the United States worked undercover inside the company for about six weeks in the fall, secretly recording what went on.
His video shows what appear to be crippled cows dragged with forklifts, sprayed in the face with a high-pressure water hose and poked in the eye with a stick.
The images sparked concern not only from animal-welfare advocates, but from food-safety experts, who feared the company might have used the tactic to prod sick animals to slaughter in violation of state and federal regulations.
So-called "downer" cows, or those that are not able to get up, are more likely to produce beef contaminated with foodborne illnesses such as mad cow disease, E. coli and salmonella.
Dr. Richard Raymond, USDA's Under Secretary for Food Safety, said last night,
"We maintain an inspection system that safeguards the safety and wholesomeness of our food supply. USDA will take appropriate action based on the findings of the investigation."
Maybe, but USDA may need to adopt some new inspection and investigative techniques if the HSUS can so easily document such grotesquely poor treatment of animals.
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that the move came nearly a week after the Humane Society of the United States released video showing employees of the Westland Meat Co. tormenting cows that were too injured or weak to stand.
The original video is available at https://community.hsus.org/campaign/CA_2008_investigation?qp_source=gaba89.
A related news video is below.
When the video was released last week, the USDA suspended business with the company, sent a team of investigators to the Chino plant and ordered schools across the country to stop serving beef from the company to children.
An employee of the Humane Society of the United States worked undercover inside the company for about six weeks in the fall, secretly recording what went on.
His video shows what appear to be crippled cows dragged with forklifts, sprayed in the face with a high-pressure water hose and poked in the eye with a stick.
The images sparked concern not only from animal-welfare advocates, but from food-safety experts, who feared the company might have used the tactic to prod sick animals to slaughter in violation of state and federal regulations.
So-called "downer" cows, or those that are not able to get up, are more likely to produce beef contaminated with foodborne illnesses such as mad cow disease, E. coli and salmonella.
Dr. Richard Raymond, USDA's Under Secretary for Food Safety, said last night,
"We maintain an inspection system that safeguards the safety and wholesomeness of our food supply. USDA will take appropriate action based on the findings of the investigation."
Maybe, but USDA may need to adopt some new inspection and investigative techniques if the HSUS can so easily document such grotesquely poor treatment of animals.
