Why not? atleast you know what its been fed, how its treated, if its been pumped full of antibiotics, growth promoters, GM ingredients, hormones, water and god knows what else!!
I have no problem with rearing free range pigs and then serving them up. Next time you buy 'cheap' meat - research where its come from and the standards that its been kept - u will be shocked.

quote:

Originally posted by farmgirl@118:
I think it is all very well to say that they didn't suffer, but how do we know! They are bound to feel a certain amount of pain. I think alot of people are right in what they said about Gordon rearing them and then killing them. They did have a good life but I think he should have kept a bore and sow and produced the pork from their off spring! The way lots of farmers do. That way at the end you still have a close bond with the pig ie the mother that you get to keep but I suppose the producers of F Word were not interested in that!

Dont suppose u thought about the amount of room that a sow + litter needs, not to mention that I think asking a complete novice to handle & keep a boar is a recipie for disaster - a boar could easily kill one of those kids, as could a protective sow! Two nearly freezer ready weaners was the safest and only route he could have taken. Besides the fact that Gordon is not trying to be a farmer, only trying to experience what it is like to have his own pigs, and enjoy them right to the end.

I think it's good that GR is bringing onto primetime TV facts about rearing animals for the human food chain.
We are seeing how in an ideal world,( and it sure is'nt!) how we would like to manage ,maintain and feed and home them ,as have other programmes.This is in the context of his popularity and expertise as a top chef and also as the father of young children , trying to give them a balenced view of where their food comes from . When you read some of the posts,you have to wonder at the age of some of the people posting ,as they seem genuinely unaware of so much,or perhaps I'm just so much older, reading some things I do feel it ! Many people years ago were able to keep their own chickens and pigs ,whereas these days it really is the exeption.
The "F Word" has many facets to iit , some I am not keen on (J.S.P.! ) and some I think serve a very useful service ie animal husbandry. Certainly his children don't seem at all traumatised by this , and I would have been suprised if they did, I think their "daddy " is a very different GR to the one we know on television, plus I'm sure they have a very well balenced mother in doors.

keythorpe....you are correct in what you say about novices keeping boars...I can tell you Ive had a few near misses with them myself....and also sows that have just had a litter......they can be very protective towards their offspring

quote:

Originally posted by f_babbit:
Personally, although it is an unpleasant sight, I feel that if you eat the meat, you should witness how it comes to be neatly chopped up ready for your oven. If you don't you're burying your head in the sand. If you disagree with the process - don't eat it! I too was more disturbed by the intense pig farming feature on the F Word and the castration without pain relief.

Incidentally, the movements were involutary nerve twitches and the 'grunting' was the noise of the air in the lungs coming out through the slit throat. True - nobody can ever be 100% certain that it doesn't hurt at some point. Again - pay your money & take your choice.

I wonder how many people who were offended by it eat fois gras? But that's another can of worms ...

I agree, we should see how and where our meat comes from if we're prepared to eat it. I knew that there would be things on the programme that would disturb me. In fact, I was really upset by it, and have become vegetarian. Just can't face eating pork again having seen that!

Btw, Gordon Ramsey had a lot of guts to go through that, you could see he was hurting by it.

Hey this is strange - I always thought, in my innocence living in this lovely green country of Ireland (Lol, polluted but green!! ) that Trinny and Susannah were popular. Now I have found them to be obnoxious, rude and actually decidely in need of a make over themselves!!

quote:

Originally posted by U Silly:
Farewell pigs as you go to meet your tasty destiny.

So can we have a roll call...how many people reading this have turned to vegetarianism of some degree after watching this?

I am often mindful of where my food comes from and have been known to say "sorry chickens" to the marked down cooked chickens at tesco...a carp life just to be sold off for 50pence or put in the bin Poor sods.

The slaughter did affect me in as much it stuck in my head and even woke me a few times that night with feelings of doom and anguish. It wont stop me eating meat although I eat only a little amount anyway. (note his beef thingy has me playing with the idea of trying one of those tho - that is a move for me towards eating more meat on a one off basis)

What GR will make of it is a mystery to me but I wouldn't be surprised that as well as making him appreciate the pork it actually tainted the indulgence in the taste, as I'm sure I'd be re running the slaughter in my head if I were him because it would be the most strong emotional response I had to the meat I was eating.
Humm lets just tissue culture it and avoid the pain factor altogether.

Well Im not a big meat eater....although I had bacon the next morning.....I have seen animals slaughtered many times, a few in an abbatoir but mostly obviously put to sleep for humane reasons....I think the difference in my line of work is that I will put an animal to sleep because of old age or an illness....in the abbatoir of course they are healthy animals that are being slaughtered so we can have our roast on sundays.....last night on "bad lads army" it showed a cow being slaughtered....seems to be a "theme" going at the mo

Is the cow slaughtering similar to the pig? It must be more difficult being a bigger animal.

Roll call: In reply to bohemiambikerbri.

No I still love meat. The content of the programme and the forum would not make me a vegetarian.

Tenib:
Cattle are normally shot with a bolt gun rather than electric stunning but the other principles are pretty much the same, i.e hung up by the back leg and killed by cutting the blood vessels close to the heart.

Cattle however do not have the same exaggerated kicking as pigs. Some do kick but not as severely as pigs do.

quote:

Originally posted by LizeeeH:
Yes if you think all slaughters go like the one filmed your sadly mistaken......slaughterhouses are hell on earth where animals do suffer......but the UK is high on the list for ALL animal cruelty, dogs, cats etc etc......if anyone is that horrified by it then dont eat meat....

great quote thankyou so very much for writing it, i tried to say this on the first page but people dont listen!

Roll call to bohemianbikerbri from Kentgirl

Yes, I have become vegetarian. Having watched the programme and read all the comments about other abbatoirs - just dont want to eat it anymore. I know that it is going to make no difference whatsoever as to the fact that the animal is dead whether I eat it or not; but it is a personal choice and a personal stand against it.

P.S. I also know the argument that we are carnivores and are made to eat meat, etc. Doesnt make a difference to me - sorry; still a veggie!

quote:

Originally posted by kentgirl:
Roll call to bohemianbikerbri from Kentgirl

Yes, I have become vegetarian. Having watched the programme and read all the comments about other abbatoirs - just dont want to eat it anymore. I know that it is going to make no difference whatsoever as to the fact that the animal is dead whether I eat it or not; but it is a personal choice and a personal stand against it.

P.S. I also know the argument that we are carnivores and are made to eat meat, etc. Doesnt make a difference to me - sorry; still a veggie!

primary the most important thing is that it makes a difference to you, because a confident vegetarian and one who understands his own meaning of right and wrong is a powerful one! and its not so much in the act of none eating of the meat as in the message and the education you present when you do not eat it.
xx

There are many regulations governing the slaughter of livestock in the UK - some have been implemented by our national government and others by the European Commission.

In larger plants, slaughtering hundreds if not thousands of animals a day, there will be several Meat Hygiene Service officials in the abattoir and under current legislation, one of these is an Official Veterinary Surgeon (OVS) - a fully qualified vet to you and me - who oversees the whole process and ensures compliance for both animal welfare and hygiene.

In smaller plants, there is likely to be a Meat Hygiene Service inspector in the abattoir throughout the slaughter process with an OVS on site but not for the full time slaughter is taking place.

For me, I would never buy meat that had been slaughtered in a large abattoir and I don't agree that standards are better in big plants. There is immense pressure to work as quickly as possible and to suggest that they have the money to buy the best stock is nonsense.

Contact a large abattoir and ask can you visit to inspect the premises and learn more about how they operate and it's highly doubtful that you'll get a positive answer.

Ask the operator of a small abattoir if you can do the same and it's highly doubtful that they'd say no.

Many smaller abattoirs operate purely to service the attached butchers shop and nothing else. The same man who slaughtered the animal is the same man who cuts the carcass down into the joints we recognise and is normally the same man who sells the meat from behind the shop counter.

Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and the rest are big enough to bounce back from any product recalls without incurring any serious damage to their reputation.

I don't think there's been a month this year when one of the big 4 hasn't recalled some of its food range.

Smaller businesses, such as family butchers, aren't. The owners of these businesses have worked hard to establish their reputation, normally over several generations of the same family and would lose everything if they cut corners and failed to comply with legislation.

My father is a butcher and slaughterman and after searching the internet to find out what information on slaughter was available and discovering it was mainly animal rights propaganda decided to redress the balance.

He filmed the slaughter of cattle and sheep in his abattoir and placed them on the businesses website.

He has received many comments from people who have viewed them including several from young people training to be vets who, worried about the compulsory attendance at an abattoir, had watched the videos and been reassured that not all abattoirs treated their animals cruelly.

I'm not too sure whether I am allowed to put a link on this site so haven't but if you search google for the Small Abattoir Federation, you should be able to find the site and learn more if you want to.

Hi Becster, thank you for your post. I had a look on the website you mentioned and watch the videos. I found it very interesting and not as shocking as I thought it would be.

I was one of those people who had a look on the internet for information about slaughtering, and ended up on animal rights websites showing horrendous animal cruelty. I have now learnt that the internet can be very misleading, and I can see why someone like your father would feel the need to video his abattoir.

A very interesting website.

(I do feel like I am sounding a little obsessed with how animals are killed for food, but after seeing the pigs I wanted to know more about the food I eat)

Thank you Becster for that very informative post. As yet I've not visited the site mentioned, I think I would have to pick my time carefully for that , but your post does make people in the UK realise that they can even do the animals themselves a service by buying from proper butchers shops and farmers markets, leave the supermarket meat alone.That way , at least you can do your bit towards animal welfare.
Remember also , that if most people did'nt eat meat,most of our farm animals would'nt exist . Not many people would be able to keep them as pets,and the land that is used for grazing now would be used for housing all the immigrants that apparently are flocking in.

Whether you eat meat or not do you think the problem is really people's lack of respect for the animal? Personally, if an animal has given its life to feed me there is no part of any animal that I wouldnt be prepared to eat.

It was quite clearly stated at the begining of the show that there would be some scences that may disturb viewers. If you know that something that you do not agree with or that you do not wish to see will be shown, turn over the TV!!!!

I cannot understand people who say that they think it is a disgrace that the slaughter of those pigs was on the TV, if you dont like it dont watch it. They did warn us before the show started and even after the breaks.

I personally don't have a problem with the slaughter of animals as I know that it is done quick and as painless as possible for the animal. I didnt however watch that part of the show, as I knew I wouldnt like it.

quote:

Originally posted by bohemianbikerbri:
So can we have a roll call...how many people reading this have turned to vegetarianism of some degree after watching this?

.

Not a chance other than that even meat eaters are generally vegetatian in that beef, lamb etc is not much more than processed grass!!!!!

I was saddened to see the pigs slaughtered, and even more saddened by Gordan's reaction before and after. He was attached to them and I agree with post who said he had to do it for the show. I just wish that he hadn't done it at the very end of it and left us with those images. Yes I know it is an education for us, but it was very emotional and even a day later I am still disturbed about it.

them 2 pigs would have been slaughtered anyway wether gordan reared them or not they would have ended up on somebodys plate so i don't know what the big deal is i thought it was educational to find out what actually happens in the slaughter i hope he does this every series

I think it was very brave what Gordon did rearing his pigs and watching how they were killed but he was a bit naive as he didn't show how the majority of animals are reared and killed for the meat industry.