Offal Good

Humane Cow Slaughter

November 27, 2007 on 1:58 am | In Photos | Comments

What can I say this was a huge experience. This is just a fraction of what it was like at the slaughter house I couldn’t snap pictures and participate fast enough to get the whole process step by step. Watching the folks there was like a ballet it was so smooth and clean and professional. I would like to thank them all for allowing me to be a part of there day and that amazing experience. Its no easy task to do that, and I can say that from experience now. This gave me a whole new understanding to the size and amount of work that goes into a cow from start to finish. To start there is not a photo of knocking the cow since it would startle the cow and not be a humane slaughter. There are very strict rules to adhere to and there is an outside monitoring group that comes in to be sure that the Certified Humane standards are being met.

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The ignorant folk who “dislike” you and what this blog stands for are going to come out of the woodwork on this one.

I for one thank you.

I have never been to a slaughter house and probably never will but I can imagine how the experience was. I have participated in dressing a deer before, but I don’t think it really compares to the efficient nature of a commercial operation. Not too mention the sheer size of a cow.

Comment by syoung68 — November 27, 2007 #
Fascinating. How do they stun them?

Comment by Heather — November 27, 2007 #
Thanks so much for posting this. I attended a session at a conference recently where I got to see a cow broken down by butchers, but I really have wanted to see the whole process from beginning to end. Now that I’ve seen your photos, I at least know in my head what it looks like. Thank you for sharing.

Comment by jaye joseph — December 13, 2007 #
I know how you feel! I dress and butcher deer, elk and antelope and it’s a pretty heady experience. Steer are HUGE; only the elk (or a moose or bison) comes close to the scale. I’ve never quite gotten over the transformation from animal to meat. It’s fascinating, disturbing and — oddly — relaxing all at the same time. The slow, and for me quiet, process of processing a beast into steaks and roasts, etc is as intimate a connection to where my food comes from as I can imagine. Bravo to you for doing it.

And bravo to you for having the stones to do this slideshow. I’ve shied away from doing the same because I wasn’t sure people could handle it. The head shots will probably draw a few responses, I suspect.

Comment by Hank from Jersey — December 13, 2007 #
Thank you for these photos.
I have an idea of what you experienced there.
We witnessed several slaughters in high school for agriculture class.
How do they stun them?

Comment by Neal L. — December 13, 2007 #
What happens to all the blood? Does it jus get washed away or is some saved for puddings etc? Also, is there just a bin filled with nothing but cow feet?

Comment by Phillip C — December 13, 2007 #
What is the difference between humane and inhumane?

Comment by Jason — December 13, 2007 #
[…] favorite chef blog, Chris Consentino’s Offal Good, pictorially documents the process of cow to meat using humane slaughter techniques. My initial feeling is to warn you that it’s not for the […]

Pingback by Where Meat Comes From — ZenKimchi Korean Food Journal — December 13, 2007 #
Chris-

I applaud you for posting this. I believe that in today’s society we are too far removed from where our food comes from. This process on the farm looks very humane to the cows and to the workers. Often times large processing facilities try to do too much and the workers are abused almost as much as the animals. I have been able to witness pig slaughtering and that experience has allowed me to be much more mindful of my meat consumption. I personally would pay more for humane slaughter myself, as I already buy range fed meat because of my dislike for feedlot cattle.
As a food scientist concerned with food safety and the agricultural aspects of growing food and meat for today’s in society, it makes me very happy to see Chefs and other consumers becoming aware of the processes within food production.
Thanks for sharing!

Comment by Ashlee — December 14, 2007 #
Did the guy in the Red BULL shirt slaughtering cows strike anyone else as kinda funny? Maybe it’s just me.

Comment by JD — December 14, 2007 #
While I found the pictoral very hard to take, I DID feel that as a meat eater I had an obligation to view them. Thank you for posting, thank you for keeping this humane and thank you for making me think.

Comment by mirinblue — December 14, 2007 #
Very interesting. For the voyeur who wants to witness a somewhat inhumane butchery plan to visit the San Fermin festival in Spain, watch a bullfight (a sport that could be good if the bull was not severely handicapped prior to the fight), and then proceed to the outdoor butcher shop at the rear of the stadium. The bulls are already dead when the are dragged in by horses, thanks to a carefully placed dagger to the cortex immediately after the matador’s pre-ordained victory. The butchers are quick and brutal, wielding axes to dismember the carcasses. Organs and other spare parts are tossed into nearby buckets. While the cleanliness would make the FDA cringe, this team of young butchers makes quick work of 6 bulls, taking about 5 minutes per bull.
For the beef lover who likes rare/blue/raw beef this is a wonderful place to get a warm bite (on the sly).

Comment by RB — December 14, 2007 #
Chris:

Thank you for posting this. I grew up in the Amish country and never had the experience of watching the slaughter process (although I’ve seen almost everything else). I’m going to a farm in the spring to choose a lamb for slaughter, and will be there for the whole thing. Thanks for letting me see this; I feel better prepared.

Comment by French Laundry at Home — December 14, 2007 #
[…] Cosentino of San Francisco’s Incanto and Food Network’sNext Iron Chef fame, chronicles his trip to a meat processing plant on his blog, Offal […]

Pingback by inuyaki | a food blog » Blog Archive » Cosentino Chronicles Cow Slaughter — December 14, 2007 #
Looks like a clean operation. I don’t have a problem looking at these photos.
I would rather pay more for meat that has been processed with a little more attention to detail than not.
Too bad these operations are more the exception than the rule.

Comment by Ron Cowie — December 15, 2007 #
Thanks for posting this. At CIA we had to watch videos of slaughter as part of our Meat Fabrication/Butcher classes. I don’t know if they still do this, I went in the early 90’s. People should see this to truly understand what it is they are consuming, and what goes in to the process from the farmer to the processor to the chef. Love the blog all the more for the honesty of the photos.

Comment by Michael McCullen — December 15, 2007 #
when i was in school, i had an opportunity to visit a slaughterhouse in Texas (though slaughterhouse is not the PC term) and saw much of the “hanging” cows but didn’t get to see the action, if you will. i also went to a chicken farm to see how chickens are “dispatched” for their general use. very interesting. as a cook or even an omnivore who is interested in things like this, you have to be able to see these things. otherwise you should be a vegetarian and i personally could never do that. i got the opportunity to eat sweetbreads for the first time two weeks ago at my new job and they were fantastic. nothing like i had imagined. texturally, they reminded me of rabbit.

and as for this comment — “What is the difference between humane and inhumane?” — i know what the answer is: it’s inhumane to tease the protein before you “dispatch” it (people can either have a sense of humor and laugh at that because it’s funny and totally NOT my joke or become a vegetarian and send me the hate mail, not Chris).

/oh yeah! the PC term for “slaughtering” is “harvesting”. now I remember.

Comment by heather — December 16, 2007 #
With all the glitz and glamour of “celebrity chefs,” it is a relief to see the hard work and reality of putting food on the table. As a now-city girl who grew up on a dairy, I feel fortunate to have been part the process (learned how to make and smoke sausages when I was 7!) and to appreciate the people who get it to us.

Comment by Emily — December 16, 2007 #
Chris, Thanks so much for these photos. Most interesting. But the only thing that’s directly relevant to whether this is humane or not is how they are killed, which you didn’t show. What happens after that moment may be aesthetically good or bad, but it is irrelevant to the ethics of the thing, which is what “humane” is about.

Comment by Lester Hunt — December 16, 2007 #
I agree that understanding where meat comes from is important. I watched (and videotaped and photographed) a dozen and a half pigs, lambs and cows slaughtered last summer. Seeing pictures doesn’t really do slaughter justice.

As the father of a two-year-old, I’m trying to teach my daughter about what animal slaughter means and where meat comes from.

Comment by Nicholas Bergus — December 17, 2007 #
I too believe that we need to know where our food comes from, so thank you for showing the process of the slaughter. It is probably the closest I will ever get to the actual process. I was prepared to be much more disturbed than I was by the photos — I’m not sure what that says about me!

Comment by Elisabeth — December 18, 2007 #
These are amazing photos I love how you got just about every step of the process– I just returned from deep France, where I slaughtered just about everything I ate–and it was such a learning experiencing to actually see the cuts of meat being cut..”Oh, that is lamb chops..those are gizzards…” I think it is important we know exactly what we are eating.

Cheers!
Lacey

Comment by The Road is Life — December 23, 2007 #
As a child of 8 or 9 , I witnessed the slaughter and butchering of a steer by my father and grandfather on his small farm in Taos,N.M. My mother was sure that I would be traumatized by the sight of the blood and gore. But I explained, as my father had told me, that I would be o.k. It was just where meat came from. And I guess I’ve been at peace with that idea for all my life.

Comment by James — January 2, 2008 #
Great pictorial, though slightly misnamed? I was really interested in how these animals meet their death. I would imagine anything quick/instantaneous is pretty humane — just curious what it is exactly.

Comment by johno — January 31, 2008 #
Not quite your Vonnegut…

Undercover video (warning: very graphic) released by the Humane Society reveals abuse of animals on the slaughterhouse floor and other code violations….

Trackback by Zygos Community Links — February 1, 2008 #
Chris, thank you for posting these photos. I have recently purchased a small farm and plan to raise some cattle for my families consumption. It was educational to see the process and know what will be in sotre for my future cattle. I worked in the grocery business for many years and think it is a shame that we as a society have lost touch with how we get that burger to the table. And I noticed that there was not any negative comments. Thank you for the education.
Dennis

Comment by Dennis — February 11, 2008 #
I believe the difference between humane and inhumane slaughter is if the cattle are taken care of with the upmost care and respect to the very end. I’m still confused as to how they die, and if it is fast and painless. I hope they are dead by the time they are hung up by their feet. I just saw the terrible treatment of the cattle in a California slaughter house–how could anyone treat an animal like this???? Those people who do should suffer the same treatment themselves–they are truely very shameful people.

Comment by Josey — February 18, 2008 #
While it’s reassuring to see such clean slaughtering (actually, rendering since the actual slaughter was not photographed as far as I can tell) of these animals, and yes, it was “nice” of them to invite you to watch, It is just too perfect and everyone looks legal. These cows were impeccable creatures. So clean, sturdy and well-kept. Hardly the case for many of the dairy cows and livestock sale animals that end up at factory farm slaughterhouses with dollar signs on their busted hooves.
After viewing the most recent undercover video of the despicable dairy cow abuse at a slaughterhouse (picked at random) this photobook especially the well poised and seemingly very attentive USDA rep posing, is just too hard to believe. Looks to me they were paying attention to detail because of the company they were keeping. Sorry, but a few bad apples DO spoil the whole bunch.

Comment by meg — February 20, 2008 #
Thier notting better than put a cows head in pit, and let it over night’ to make tacitos out of it prep right meat just slides off the bone, Tounge burritos man brian tacos it really delicous.

Comment by Ric — April 2, 2008 #
Thank you, for the education, I have processed many deer and pigs but the sheer size of a full grown cow,,,,,wow….also nice to see some people who eat meat respectfully slaughtering an animal……..and for those of you who don’t know what a humane slaughter is go back and look at the pictures again…..this is it…. beauty…….and for all you vegetarians …….if God didn’t want you to eat animals, He wouldn’t have made them out of MEAT!

Comment by patrick — June 25, 2008 #
Go Vegan

What a cruel specieces we are.

Comment by Goveg — July 11, 2008 #
Very cruel indeed. I grew up on a farm in the the midwest (Nebraska) and in the outback of Australia (NSW). I have personally worked with harvesting on many farms, both mom and pop to big co-ops. To tell you the truth I never felt good about it.

I have always felt like I have murdered a whole bunch of people in my life. I have eaten their flesh. I have boiled their hearts and stewed their brains. I have emptied their guts, chewed on their tounges, I have at times justified this for my own existence, for my own nutritional needs. I have stood on the cement and tiled floors saturated in their sticky semi-colagulated blood and felt my heart fill my soul with the blood I had taken. They were beautiful animals these bovines, this is NOT symbiosis. This is murder, and I am a murderer.

I do not eat the flesh of animals anymore.

Please look at these photos while you are eating your plastic wrapped processed taco flavoured beef mince. At least pay the animal that has given its life for you that respect. Please look at the pictures and imagine the cows eyes dim from life and the blood pours from its neck. Imagine what it may be thinking.

What did I do to you? Help? Why?

I can still hear them bellowing in the gates and bleeding on the floors. I can never forget the look of betrayl they had in their eyes.

I do not wish to place my views on others. I only wish to give the thoughts of someone who was in the ‘harvesting industry’ for over 15 years, and some of my thoughts feelings and observations. You do not have to agree. I respect each on of you and your opinions. I have a deep understanding of both sides.

Love to all Gods creatures.

Comment by Bill Watson — July 20, 2008 #

Please note that I don't typically reply to comments— if you have an urgent inquiry, please use my contact form.

Humane Cow Slaughter

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