Please watch this!! I am VERY concerned how this was portrayed!

[blackcows]

The on

100% agree with blackcows.  That was an accurate and respectful representation of what really happens at large slaughter plants.  Not one bit of a negative image, if anything there was a certain respect from the reporter towards the whole process.  I rather liked the video, and would encourage the public to watch it.  What happens to the cattle in the time they go from the feetlot to our plates isn't necessarily pretty, why would we want to pretend that is it?  It IS necessary though.  There will always be radicals in every issue, and this video won't sway vicious "animal rights" activists, but it can inform the general population on what actually happens to cattle before they eat them.

l

It upsets me that no one was able to explain the video. It would have been better if there was someone there to explain parts of the video.

I think that they did a great job of explaining things...What would you like to have seen better explained?  I thought they showed the process as well as they could in a short segment. I though the plant manager did an excellent job of answering the question, certainly better than I could.  She wasn't combative and had respect for others (non meat eaters) postions but respectfully disagreed.  I thought it was pretty cool at the end when the lady doing the segment saw the split carcass in the cooler and said something like "there's a ribeye" almost like something clicked.....what it was all about.

 

[american honey]

The on

100% agree with blackcows.  That was an accurate and respectful representation of what really happens at large slaughter plants.  Not one bit of a negative image, if anything there was a certain respect from the reporter towards the whole process.  I rather liked the video, and would encourage the public to watch it.  What happens to the cattle in the time they go from the feetlot to our plates isn't necessarily pretty, why would we want to pretend that is it?  It IS necessary though.  There will always be radicals in every issue, and this video won't sway vicious "animal rights" activists, but it can inform the general population on what actually happens to cattle before they eat them.

l

It upsets me that no one was able to explain the video. It would have been better if there was someone there to explain parts of the video.

I think that they did a great job of explaining things...What would you like to have seen better explained?  I thought they showed the process as well as they could in a short segment. I though the plant manager did an excellent job of answering the question, certainly better than I could.  She wasn't combative and had respect for others (non meat eaters) postions but respectfully disagreed.  I thought it was pretty cool at the end when the lady doing the segment saw the split carcass in the cooler and said something like "there's a ribeye" almost like something clicked.....what it was all about.

They didn't explain how it was the most possible humane way of processing the cattle. I am very glad the women saw the ribeye, it makes me feel a little bit better about how people are educated with agriculture.

 

[shortyjock89]

They explained the killing process fairly well I thought.  Bolt gets shot into the animal's head, rendering it completely motionless and free of sensation, feeling, consciousness, and all that.  Then they cut the animal's throat and all the blood drains out.  They're completely lifeless within a minute or two. Concise, accurate, to the point.  The public just wants to know that the animal doesn't feel anything when it goes from a living thing to food.  Heck, it even makes me feel better about it.

    Instead of just criticizing the video because of what you think are its shortcomings, how about you give some ideas on how you would have improved the segment?

 

[cowgirl864]

American Honey: i loved my job, it was the most rewarding job, I was able to to see & enforce humane treatment, cleanliness and being a kill floor supervisor was able to go from the barns to the cool room. i encourage anyone looking for a career, USDA has many good options, i finished my career at a pkg plant supervising the making of hot dogs & sliced meat products, a great job for those with a squemish stomach

 

[lowann]

The only thing that concerns me is that they didn't explain anything, or tell how it was humane. It was a very nice video but how are the people not educated suppose to know that its the most humane way? Did any of you read the comments? Some where very disturbing, and that is what scared me the most! That is mainly what I wanted to get, I should have explained my motives.

American Honey, there is nothing anyone can say, or do to change an animal activist's mind. They already have their pre conceived notions about how things are, whether it's raising beef, or the processing part. Most of what they hear is untrue.
The thing that still amazes me about that video, was how quiet it was, even up to the bang of the captive bolt gun. This is not cruel, it's fast, effective, and they do NOT suffer. They don't even know what hit them.
I compair the captive bolt gun to a railroad Spike being driven into their heads, with the force of a gun. They are brain dead instantly.

 

[kobo_ranch]

kobo not to rain on your parade and I don't know either way but remember cargill is still family owned...she may well have been a daughter etc...

Oh hun you're not... does it make a difference if she's a family member or not?  regardless she seemed to be doing a awesome job... even if just a professional speaker... but she said she was the manager of over 2000 workers... so just taking what she said as the truth.... 

 

[Freddy]

For being hosted by Oprah  an we all know she is not going to give any credit where it is due ,I think it was exceptionally well done ...

 

[american honey]

American Honey: i loved my job, it was the most rewarding job, I was able to to see & enforce humane treatment, cleanliness and being a kill floor supervisor was able to go from the barns to the cool room. i encourage anyone looking for a career, USDA has many good options, i finished my career at a pkg plant supervising the making of hot dogs & sliced meat products, a great job for those with a squemish stomach

That is SO awesome! I have always wanted to know what it was like to work for the USDA, my ag advisor did and she said she loved it!

 

[american honey]

Actually we can educated Vegans. Amanda Knolz ( Radke), she is a writer forthe Beef Magazine interveiwed a vegan that went to a opereation. The vegan realized that farmers and ranchers are very humane. And he felt bad for listening to other about the lies they spread, he is still vegan but knows that we take care of our animals. Most vegans have never been to a farm so they are uneducated, we can educate them.

 

[AAOK]

Finally a video that proves those of us in ag do care about the animals, even when butchered. I will definitly use this video later on to show people the truth. Of course slaughtering is not a pretty thing, no one enjoys it but it must be done. One thing people forget is how much they complain about the price of food and how they want it cheaper but cant understand why mass production is needed, simple concept if you ask me.

DITTO!!

 

[forcheyhawk]

I agree with many of you that Cargill did a tremendous thing by allowing Oprah and her team in.  Frankly, I've watched similar topics on Oprah before and this was the closest she has come to getting both sides of the story with regard to meat production.  I'm really surprised of the responses that I've seen on here.  After all, one of the results of the Oprah show was that they were going to go with meatless Mondays in the cafeteria.  That is sending the wrong message in my opinion.  I work in the city for my job as my cattle can't pay the bills.  I'm telling you what - 20 years ago there weren't any Vegans on my team at work.  Now, I can think of 3 on my team of 30 people.  This is a real problem guys.  If we don't start fighting back, we run the risk of losing a large market in the US.  There are a lot more forces working against meat production than are working for it.  You'd be surprised the number of people in the city that look at any animal and think it's a pet - cows included.  I'm with American Honey on this one.  I'm concerned.  We need to do more to educate folks in the cities.  Perhaps some of you haven't been around the crazies in the city enough???   ;D

 

[blackcows]

I agree with many of you that Cargill did a tremendous thing by allowing Oprah and her team in.  Frankly, I've watched similar topics on Oprah before and this was the closest she has come to getting both sides of the story with regard to meat production.  I'm really surprised of the responses that I've seen on here.  After all, one of the results of the Oprah show was that they were going to go with meatless Mondays in the cafeteria.  That is sending the wrong message in my opinion.  I work in the city for my job as my cattle can't pay the bills.  I'm telling you what - 20 years ago there weren't any Vegans on my team at work.  Now, I can think of 3 on my team of 30 people.  This is a real problem guys.  If we don't start fighting back, we run the risk of losing a large market in the US.  There are a lot more forces working against meat production than are working for it.  You'd be surprised the number of people in the city that look at any animal and think it's a pet - cows included.  I'm with American Honey on this one.  I'm concerned.  We need to do more to educate folks in the cities.  Perhaps some of you haven't been around the crazies in the city enough???   ;D

I don't think anyone said that they weren't concerned about animal activists, the orginal post was in regards to concern about people seeing the video and I think everyone was in agreement that the video was positive and not negative.

Mike

 

[SFASUshowman]

A friend of mine was sent a copy of a letter to the editor in a newspaper regarding this.  He is supposed to send it to me and if he does I will post the copy.  But apparantly in the letters section of that newspaper there had been an ongoing debate regarding eating meat that had included the cruelty of hunting and killing animals for meat and how it was wrong for animals to be killed so that we could have food.  Someone wrote in about this video, and a girl responded.  I think her response sends a great message that we have to keep in mind.  Most animal activists speak at these rallies and interviews as if they are experts on animal welfare, when in fact most of them have no experience with animals and definately have no education in animal welfare, yet they still speak as if they are experts and people believe them because they have star power backing them.  I guess we need to find a couple superstars to stand on our side.
Anyway in this ladies letter she basically said that she was a meat eater even though she disagreed with killing animals, but she felt that nutritionallly she should have meat in her diet.  She thanked the farmers who produced meat for having compasion on other's viewpoints, and then went on to bash hunters for the cruelty of hunting.  Her closing argument in the letter to prove that animals didnt need to die for us to have meat was as follows "Why cant all you hunters and farmers just go down to the local supermarket to by your meat like I do? That way no innocent animal has to die for you to have meat!" 
I sure hope that letter was a joke, because I really think it would be impossible to defeat cases of stupidity and ignorance that severe!

 

[knabe]

 We need to do more to educate folks in the cities.  

education doesn't seem to work.  indoctrination works.  so does mandates.  maybe we can tie it in with the commerce clause.

 

[blackcows]

A friend of mine was sent a copy of a letter to the editor in a newspaper regarding this.  He is supposed to send it to me and if he does I will post the copy.  But apparantly in the letters section of that newspaper there had been an ongoing debate regarding eating meat that had included the cruelty of hunting and killing animals for meat and how it was wrong for animals to be killed so that we could have food.  Someone wrote in about this video, and a girl responded.  I think her response sends a great message that we have to keep in mind.  Most animal activists speak at these rallies and interviews as if they are experts on animal welfare, when in fact most of them have no experience with animals and definately have no education in animal welfare, yet they still speak as if they are experts and people believe them because they have star power backing them.  I guess we need to find a couple superstars to stand on our side.
Anyway in this ladies letter she basically said that she was a meat eater even though she disagreed with killing animals, but she felt that nutritionallly she should have meat in her diet.  She thanked the farmers who produced meat for having compasion on other's viewpoints, and then went on to bash hunters for the cruelty of hunting.  Her closing argument in the letter to prove that animals didnt need to die for us to have meat was as follows "Why cant all you hunters and farmers just go down to the local supermarket to by your meat like I do? That way no innocent animal has to die for you to have meat!" 
I sure hope that letter was a joke, because I really think it would be impossible to defeat cases of stupidity and ignorance that severe!

That's been floating around for a few years...not sure if it is true or not but the comment is:


To all you hunters who kill
animals for food, shame on
you; you ought to go to the store
and buy the meat that was
made there, where no animals
were harmed.

 

[lowann]

A friend of mine was sent a copy of a letter to the editor in a newspaper regarding this.  He is supposed to send it to me and if he does I will post the copy.  But apparantly in the letters section of that newspaper there had been an ongoing debate regarding eating meat that had included the cruelty of hunting and killing animals for meat and how it was wrong for animals to be killed so that we could have food.  Someone wrote in about this video, and a girl responded.  I think her response sends a great message that we have to keep in mind.  Most animal activists speak at these rallies and interviews as if they are experts on animal welfare, when in fact most of them have no experience with animals and definately have no education in animal welfare, yet they still speak as if they are experts and people believe them because they have star power backing them.  I guess we need to find a couple superstars to stand on our side.
Anyway in this ladies letter she basically said that she was a meat eater even though she disagreed with killing animals, but she felt that nutritionallly she should have meat in her diet.  She thanked the farmers who produced meat for having compasion on other's viewpoints, and then went on to bash hunters for the cruelty of hunting.  Her closing argument in the letter to prove that animals didnt need to die for us to have meat was as follows "Why cant all you hunters and farmers just go down to the local supermarket to by your meat like I do? That way no innocent animal has to die for you to have meat!" 
I sure hope that letter was a joke, because I really think it would be impossible to defeat cases of stupidity and ignorance that severe!

That's been floating around for a few years...not sure if it is true or not but the comment is:


To all you hunters who kill
animals for food, shame on
you; you ought to go to the store
and buy the meat that was
made there, where no animals
were harmed.

I think we are all concerned, but we can't fix stupid.

 

[SFASUshowman]

Yeah I had seen that one, but this one read a little differently.  It was probably just somebody being a wisea** and copying it!

 

[forcheyhawk]

I think we are all concerned, but we can't fix stupid.

My point is that stupid is growing and it's growing because we aren't doing enough to educate.  We have to try to fix stupid.  Stupid is partly stupid because it has one side of the argument.  You aren't going to change all minds, but I do believe that you can change a few - changing those few may change more.  For instance, you change a mother's mind and you might just have changed a whole families mind because she's the head cook. 

The OP was talking about the video, but other than the video the show wasn't a big win for beef or animal production in general.  And the point that the OP had remains true, shows like this based on very little fact are going to hurt demand.  Again, the outcome for the Oprah studio was meatless Mondays.  If that doesn't concern you, then carry on.  It does me. 

 

[american honey]

The whole reason I posted this video is because it was great video, except Oprah didn't give Cargill the opportunity to explain how humane the process is. It made me feel like she was cutting them short. Without explaining things, how are you supposed to understand the subject? It’s like trying to teach a child to spell their name and not showing them how to use the pencil, pointless. Agriculture is very important to me as well as others, and I want to share it and educate others. But we can’t have a closed mind and have no hope when it comes to educating the people that don’t believe in what we love. We have to keep trying even if no one believes in us, I won’t judge vegans but I WILL fight for the truth. And the truth is that we producers CARE about animals and that we are humane.

The reason we need to educate is because I sit in class all day listening to kids talk about how their food comes from the store and how farmers stink. Us young adults are the future (yes, I know it sounds cheesy…but it’s true) and we need to educate them!! How else are we going to carry on the legacy made by producers today?? I know I want to, and I am sure with the help of adults and other young adults like myself, we can educate people today.

American Honey

 

[blackcows]

The whole reason I posted this video is because it was great video, except Oprah didn't give Cargill the opportunity to explain how humane the process is. It made me feel like she was cutting them short. Without explaining things, how are you supposed to understand the subject? It’s like trying to teach a child to spell their name and not showing them how to use the pencil, pointless. Agriculture is very important to me as well as others, and I want to share it and educate others. But we can’t have a closed mind and have no hope when it comes to educating the people that don’t believe in what we love. We have to keep trying even if no one believes in us, I won’t judge vegans but I WILL fight for the truth. And the truth is that we producers CARE about animals and that we are humane.

The reason we need to educate is because I sit in class all day listening to kids talk about how their food comes from the store and how farmers stink. Us young adults are the future (yes, I know it sounds cheesy…but it’s true) and we need to educate them!! How else are we going to carry on the legacy made by producers today?? I know I want to, and I am sure with the help of adults and other young adults like myself, we can educate people today.


American Honey

I understand the importance of educating consumers, I make my living from production agriculture.  I don't think it's pointless to try and educate Vegans but instead of worrying about "meatless monday" we need to concentrate on the 6 days that aren't meatless and make sure the consumer had a great experience when they eat meat.  I think the video did an excellent job of showing how humane the process was both with pictures and with the plant managers words.  It showed how the cattle were allowed to settle, the thought that went into the alleys, an explanation of how the animals were killed quickly and without pain.  No one is going to watch a 30 minute documentary about cattle slaughter and I think they did a good job in the time they had.

Your are doing a good thing, keep up the good work. 


BTW:  You can teach a child to spell their name without a pencil but not to write it