Wasted Meat is Such a Downer

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Wasted Meat is Such a Downer

by Leah Koenig · February 18th, 2008

Yesterday, the California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Company issued the largest beef recall in history – 143 million pounds. According to the NYTimes, the recall:

“…comes after a widening animal-abuse scandal that started after the Humane Society of the United States distributed an undercover video on Jan. 30 that showed workers kicking sick cows and using forklifts to force them to walk.

The video raised questions about the safety of the meat, because cows that cannot walk, called downer cows, pose an added risk of diseases including mad cow disease. The federal government has banned downer cows from the food supply.”

In other words, the meat itself was not necessarily tainted. Instead, the recall was largely a precautionary (and perhaps futile) measure to safegaurd the American dinner plate from the irresponsible practices of the meat industry. A precautionary measure that sent 143 million pounds of meat to the trash heap.

If ever there was a modern-day example of violating bal tashchit, this is it.

As people who are familiar with Bal Tashchit know, the Torah states: “When in your war against a city you have to beseige it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy (bal taschit) the trees, laying the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field like a human that can withdraw before you into the beseiged city?” Devarim, Parashat Shoftim-Deuteronomy 20:19)

Over the centuries, the Rabbis interpreted this commandment – originally about cutting down trees in a time of war – in a variety of nuanced ways. But one consistent theme that emerged is the principle of avoiding wastefulness.

When the meat industry (in this case non-kosher, but the kosher industry is guilty as well) creates a system where million pounds of meat need to be recalled just to cover their butts of a potential contamination scandal, then the meat wasted becomes a smack in the face to the Torah’s mandate, the animal’s neshama, and the consumer’s pocketbook.

Over Shabbat this weekend, I was explaining the concept of “ethical, kosher meat” to a kosher-keeping but not particularly environmentally-minded friend of mine. “Kosher, humane meat coops are fine,” he said. “But that sort of thing doesn’t work on a large scale.” Good point. But we also don’t need to consume the “large scale” amount of meat that we currently do. At an average of 200 pounds per person in 2005, it seems we are as much at fault for bal taschit as the companies.

Check out Ethicurean and the NY Times for solid coverage of the meat recall. Hat tip to Ethicurean for the hamburger image!

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12 Responses to “Wasted Meat is Such a Downer”

Michael Croland Says:
February 18th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I wonder how many animals died in vain for the 143 million pounds of meat …
Leah Koenig Says:
February 18th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
an updated response from schools and restaurants:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....ouse_abuse
KRG Says:
February 18th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Actually, according to the article I saw cf. Consumerist, the understanding is that most of this meat has already been consumed, and that the recall is largely symbolic. As to whether or not the meat is actually contaminated… well, ;et’s be clear here, if some of these cows have mad cow disease we’re talking about meat that can’t be made untainted by any level of cooking – even by reducing it to actual ash, which causes an incurable degenerative disease, whose symptoms won’t be seen for decades, and which can possibly be induced by quite small amounts of meat – indeed, it only takes one prion- and gave that meat to schoolchildren.
Bal taschit is definitely a principle to call on, but post hoc is rather stupid. The waste needs to be trimmed at the front – by serving school kids healthier meals with less (or no) meat. And the same for the rest of us, of course.
Leah Koenig Says:
February 18th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
KRG – thanks for pointing out that the recall was mostly symbolic. You’re right

As for your assertion that “the waste needs to be trimmed at the front,” we agree on that point more than you might think.

I still believe that it’s an absolute shame that 143 mil pounds of meat/animal’s lives got wasted, but the more distressing thing – as I pointed out in my post – is that our society eats so much meat in the first place as to necessitate this type of vulnerable, wasteful industrial meat processing.
Jeff Yoskowitz Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 9:28 am
KRG and Leah, I very much agree with you both. Thanks for the post and the comments. Watching the video online was interesting for me because taking sickly pigs and pigs with broken limbs to slaughter is common practice on the industrial pork farm at which I’m working. I feel very desensitized to it all. I’ve personally escorted pigs with broken legs to the abattoir (like the cow in the video that had broken legs). There aren’t really Israeli standards to follow because the government doesn’t really deal with pig farming but the kibbutz takes its cues from America and Europe. This of course makes me wonder why the Hallmark case is made into such a big deal when there’s a pretty great chance most slaughterhouses in the US are doing the same thing? I’d like to believe that hopefully we’ll be able to stop companies from taking sick cows to slaughter but they problem is a systemic one and it’s the very industrial system that is breeding sick animals. I foresee many more recalls in the near future.
Jeff Yoskowitz Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Here’s how the Kosher industry is responding to the recall: http://divcom-kosher.informz.n.....61521.html. It’s the first paragraph after the overview. They’re essentially hailing the meat debacle as a triumph for kosher because sales are up. Thoughts?
Jeff Yoskowitz Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Sorry, that’s http://divcom-kosher.informz.n.....61521.html
Jonathan Bloom Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Thanks for that insight, Jeff. My thought on the kosher industry’s take: Wasting 143 million pounds of beef, no matter how traif or mass-produced, is a victory for anyone.

I appreciate Leah’s post and the sentiment–what a waste! Even though I blog about wasted food daily, this was a shock to me. I imagine, to answer Jeff’s question, the reason it received so much attention is because we have just about no idea what happens inside a slaughterhouse. We don’t want to know. (Of course, the fact that the Hallmark case was the largest beef recall in US history didn’t hurt its chances of being made into a big deal)

Here’s my take on the affair, minus Leah’s interesting Bal Tashchit perspective (kudos!): http://www.wastedfood.com/2008.....he-recall/
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
“They’re essentially hailing the meat debacle as a triumph for kosher because sales are up. Thoughts?”

yes – it semms that they were merely reporting a phenomenon “hailing” and “triumph” are attitudes more a product of the blogger than the original piece – why does everyone feel the need to “spin” these things ad nauseum?
Jeff Yoskowitz Says:
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 am
I’m afraid, Shmuel, the Kosher Today bulletin doesn’t so much as report phenomenon as much as put them in the perspective of the gains and growth of the industry. It’s a press tool and functions like press release, so by it’s very nature it plays a role in what I was describing more than just reporting the facts.
Leah Koenig Says:
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company will be closing its doors after the 143 million pound meat recall. Read more here:

http://www.marlerblog.com/