For me, it was the chicks. The way that they were pushed through the machinery like they were coke bottles or cigarettes or whatever...I found it rather difficult to watch.
Ironically, the slaughter sequences did not affect me as much. I guess I became desensitized to it after a scene or two.
The baby pigs being shoved head-first and upside down, clamped down and tagged via puncturing. The squealing... wow. And the machine that rounded the fully grown chickens and sent them down a conveyor into bins that were forced closed. Vivid.
shareWhile many of the scenes were disturbing because of killing and blood, the scene that seemed most remarkable was when that machine was "gobbling" up those young turkeys and the camera panned back to show a tremendous room. You watched each turkey literally get vacuumed up like it was anything but a living thing. The camera caught an amazing perspective as you saw a turkey walk away from the machine and eventually getting caught. It reminded me of a cartoon of sorts.
shareWell, the whole movie makes you think about how today's food is created.
Spraying chemicals that need gas masks for handling on vegetables, THAT is strange.
I found the "cow surgery" pretty impressive...with the cow sitting there, its belly ripped open, and people pulling the veal out...ouch.
I thought it was all pretty disgusting...the baby chicks and how they were being handled, the chickens...but it was real disturbing to see them kill the cow...what where they using, some kind of air gun?? I thought it was really sad. I've never been the one to ever think I could be a vegetarian, but after seeing this I could totally see why there are vegans and vegetarians out there.
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Oh, definitely the cow c-section. I still can't figure out why they did that. I mean, they do it to women all the time, but I had no idea they did it to cows. Disturbing.
shareThese cows (Belgian Blue, I think) have been breeded to produce the maximum amount of meat (that's why they look so horrible), and this breeding has gone to such extreme lengths that the cows are unable to have children the normal way. A C-section is the only way for them to be born.
I find the bare look of these animals horrible; breeding must have limits.
The scene where the second cow was trapped before being stunned was the worst for me - it seemed that the cow began to squirm when it saw the other one hung up and moving forward in front of it. Before that there was no semblance of fear and flight response. When the first cow was held in place it didn't struggle, as there was no appearance of anything horrific happening in the room, but then the second one had to see the first one going by on the overhead conveyor. It struck me that the cows should somehow be facing the other direction so there is no overt fear. Overt meaning there is obviously some killing and death going on here, and the cows want no part of it.
I, unlike many, don't believe the cows are totally stupid. I am certain they can sense danger and imminent death, and that was what struck me about that scene, that even the man with the bolt gun had to wait until the cow nearly stopped struggling before he could get a clean shot. I would bet that in the USA, where the amount of cows killed every day must be ten times, if not more, the amount killed in that European slaughterhouse, they don't always have time to stand there and wait for a good clean shot.
I'd really love to see inside OUR slaughterhouses, but no company will let outside cameras in. Makes one wonder why.
The other most horrifiic scene, to me, was the "C-section". It was shocking. Of course the treatment of the chickens, and the baby pigs, and the breeding pens for the pigs, was all awful, but I've read a lot about it, so it was no shock.
I've worked in the beef industry in the US and I've been inside the plants. In fact, they even opened one of them up to the public for a tour recently. The plant was not running at the time and I don't know how much they got to see, but it's not as sinister as you might imagine.
The stunning process in the film seemed a bit out of date compared to what I've seen - it just wasn't very efficient and there was not much restraint put around the head and shoulders. Some of the other processes also seemed less efficient, although in some cases they were strikingly familiar.
I got a good laugh at the worker answering his cell phone after slicing the carcass in half - that would NEVER happen in the US. For one thing, while he's yapping, 2 or three carcasses would have gone past him. The union would probably keep him from being fired, but he would definitely be written up and not just for wasting time on his cell-phone - such devices are simply not allowed on the plant floor. It just wouldn't be right if pieces of a cell phone wound up in your hamburger. (BTW, product is x-rayed to insure that nothing like that ends up in your ground beef).
Speed of production is highly regulated by the USDA and USDA inspectors are on site every day all day in every meat production facility in the US. One can argue that there are not enough of them and that they don't have time to do a thorough enough job, but I believe there are and that they do. They have the authority to shut down production if they think there's any problem at all. They can pull carcasses aside for additional testing if they feel the need.
The meat industry, despite its huge profits, is a very low margin industry and so there is great incentive to insure that the USDA does not have a reason to shut down production. Food safety and worker safety are a huge concern.
Some of you are probably thinking I'm just a shill for the meat industry, but there are profit motivations for ensuring safety.
Cows are stupid, but that doesn't mean they can't feel pain. Great care is taken to treat them as humanely as possible. If anyone believes this is "bull" (sorry for the pun), consider that the quality of meat from animals killed in distress will suffer so there is a business incentive for humane treatment of animals if anyone doesn't believe there is a humanitarian interest. Electric cattle prods are not used - I'm not sure if this is by law or by choice, but they are not used at all.
I will say that the workers in US plants work their butts off at jobs that must take quite a bit of getting used to. One thing that struck me is that I didn't see one hardhat in the beef plant footage. In the US, everyone in the plant is required to wear one (and different colors indicate different responsibilities). Eye-protection, smocks, steel-tipped boots, ear protection are also standard equipment for anyone going into the plant. Those who are wielding knives also wear chain mail to prevent accidents - like I said, worker safety is a major concern.
I can think of a few processes I've seen that would have fit well in this movie, but were not included - the de-hiding machines which basically rip the hide off of cows (and run much faster than the ones we saw in this film), the offal conveyor with stomachs, livers, intestines and the worker faithfully picking up every bladder that goes by and slicing it open to empty the contents, cheek muscles still twitching even after they've been placed into boxes, and on and on and on...
For me, the "C-section" scene was the most horrific. While I appreciate the reasons for not putting any commentary or music in this film, it would have been interesting and informative to have an objective narration to explain some of the scenes.
"Some of you are probably thinking I'm just a shill for the meat industry..."
You said it, I didn't. ;)
You do, at least, seem to be a proponent, let's put it that way. And as much as you contend that there are inspectors on site at all times, all along the way, I sort of doubt it. It goes against what I've read and heard, about understaffing, etc. And besides, as you compare what goes on in Europe and Mexico (aren't you the one who was on the boards for "Fast Food Nation" as well?) with what goes on in this country, how our factory lines are much more populated with carcasses, there wouldn't be time to inspect every carcass to assure it's treated properly, or every live animal before and as it's being slaughtered. Too many animals, not enough inspectors.
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"Some of you are probably thinking I'm just a shill for the meat industry..."
You said it, I didn't. ;)
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Well, thanks for the smiley face - As I said, I knew some of you were thinking it.
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You do, at least, seem to be a proponent, let's put it that way.
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Well, yeah - I am in favor of business. After all, it is business that gives me a paycheck - and it also gives paychecks to lots of other people. Without this business, many of us would be out of a job or at least making less money.
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And as much as you contend that there are inspectors on site at all times, all along the way, I sort of doubt it
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Check with the USDA. And as I said, one could argue that there are not enough inspectors, etc...
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And besides, as you compare what goes on in Europe and Mexico (aren't you the one who was on the boards for "Fast Food Nation" as well?)
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I doubt it. I never saw "Fast Food Nation" in its entirety, but I would definitely agree that eating fast food exclusively - or even regularly is a VERY BAD idea. I cannot even recall the last time I ate "fast food". It's not good.
OTOH, I've got some choice (as rated by the USDA) steaks in my freezer which are sure to make a fine meal this weekend.
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how our factory lines are much more populated with carcasses, there wouldn't be time to inspect every carcass to assure it's treated properly, or every live animal before and as it's being slaughtered. Too many animals, not enough inspectors.
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What do you suggest? Subjecting every carcass to 30 days worth of testing? Doesn't steak cost enough right now?
I'm much more comfortable eating meat slaughtered in our own country than meat procesed in other countries. Do you think we can possibly inspect foreign meat better than we can our own?
If it bothers you, eat soy-burgers, but rest assured you have no idea what goes on in those foreign soy plants either.
I offered some perspective based upon my own experience, that is all. There is nothing in this world which will remove all risk from life. You can take some simple steps to help alleviate the risk however. Cook your meat to the proper temperature. Wash cooking utensils properly and eat a balanced diet.
Don't spend every dollar you have at McDonald's.
Ah, must be another slaughterhouse worker who posted on the other board. He's an inspector, I think.
I'm a vegetarian, and I don't eat at "fast food restaurants". You should see "Fast Food Nation", it's a good movie. "Our Daily Bread" is better though.
I did not see this movie in its entirety, though I loved every minute of it. I
missed a few parts of the slaughterhouse scenes, not because I was squimish, but because I didnt care. But the parts I did see were quite disturbing!
The part where that slicing machine disembowels the pig was pretty crazy. watching that scene it made me imagine what that would be like if it was going through me. The scene where the fish are going through that machine and being sliced open was pretty ridiculous too.
The part that really freaked me out was when they hung that dead cow upside down and sliced open its neck arteries and blood came gushing out like a fire hydrant. I think stomach acid was coming out of its mouth too, but im not sure. It was alot of bodily fluids coming out of that cow, and at such a high velocity. I yelled out GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSS! when I saw that part, lol.
The pig's feet getting cut off.
Next disturbing were the chicklets getting rushed through.
I could name more scenes, but I don't want to sound like I'm wallowing in a depressing subject.
Oh, definitely the cow c-section. I still can't figure out why they did that. I mean, they do it to women all the time, but I had no idea they did it to cows. Disturbing.
i thought it was the cow having the c-section, but when i saw the plane spraying the crops, i felt really, really ill - no matter if we buy organic, the wind does blow.
there is nothing we can do.
Im surprised no one has mentioned the two scenes that blew me away:
- how mind bogglingly huge salt mining is. It seems like the most innocent ingredient on the table but the scale of production is massive.
- nursing pigs. they have it bad, living to get pregnant than lay all day in a tight cage where you can not move. brutal.