14
Jan
Time to Plop the Meat-Eaters In Front of the Box?
- posted at 6:56 PM
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As part of the upcoming The Great British Food Fight season on Channel 4, Jamie Oliver will once again be setting his sights on the abuse of animals in the meat industry, in his new show Jamie Saves Our Bacon. The celebrity chef, who not too long ago exposed the cruelty of chicken farming and egg production in Jamie’s Fowl Dinners, will reveal the “dark secrets” of the pork industry, following pigs from birth to slaughter.
The lovely actress Joanna Lumley, who has been a fantastic advocate for animals for years, will be highlighting serious welfare issues of the 160 million pigs raised for meat in Europe every year. In the programme, the vegetarian star will be joining students, who are invited to see what it’s like to live inside a farrowing crate for 24 hours. Much like a naked, pregnant activist did for PETA last year for Mother’s Day! Joanna describes the horrors pigs face on factory farms around the EU, explaining, “The conditions they face are both physically and psychologically harrowing.”
But be wary of a mixed agenda on the TV show. The synopsis for it doesn’t seem to suggest the bleeding-obvious solution for the issue – going vegetarian.
“Britain’s pig farmers are going out of business and pork production in the UK is under threat. In this 90-minute programme Jamie aims to find out why and to examine what can be done to support farmers.” Hmm… This includes claims that UK farmers are “losing out” to mass producers from Europe, whose animal welfare standards are lower than Britain’s. But let’s face it, after the huge exposé on British pig farming last year, which shows pigs with sores from rubbing against metal bars, farrowing crates that prevent sows from moving, pigs with bite marks, dying animals, pigs covered in excrement, and tail-docking. It doesn’t seem that Britain’s welfare standards are all that high to begin with.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens on the show, but I encourage everybody to tune in! In addition to getting meat-eating friends and family to see this show, also make sure you show them Meet Your Meat. After all, raising and killing animals for a sandwich or burger is an atrocity no matter where it happens.
Image: TV Chefs Blog / CC
I’m def going to watch this. It’s gonna be huge, like the chicken one. How can Jamie not go veggie though after seeing them slaughtered so many times?