4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[redhotchick]

Oh dear. The F word is heart breaking. The Veal calves are off to slaughter. A fact of life for many, but still sad

[chelsea]

I stopped watching the F word when they showed horse meat and ate horse meat.

 

I havent eaten meat for 20 years and find it distressing so its better for me to avoid these programmes!

[Guest]

am watching it now, the slaughter bit hasn't been on yet but I think it's better than killing them at birth because they're useless to the dairy industry.

 

I've talked about Rosy veal on here before and I've eaten it and it's lovely. Just the same as eating lamb as far as I'm concerned.

 

**edited** or any meat for that matter as animals reared for meat don't reach full maturity anyway.

[Krysia]

I agree

 

killing at birth is a complete waste, We (Well those of us who eat meat) eat lamb and chickens are only a few months old otherwise they are tough.

 

I don;lt see the difference or the problme in it. I have a bigger problem with meat eater who won;t eat it because its a 'baby' either you are happy to eat meat or you aren't. the age shouldn;t make a blind bit of difference, (Do older animals not matter or feel pain the same?)

[jackiepoppies]

I am a carnivore and that will never change but I do care about the welfare of any animal I might eat prior to its slaughter.

I used to keep goats and any little boys we raised were given the best life we could for 6 months before going in the freezer. I knew of several breeders who used to cull at birth, and that to me was criminal.

Jackiex

[Joojoo]

The age issue isn't the reasoning behind my decision to not eat veal. It has been purely based on welfare alone. If, in this country we find a way of producing veal ethically then I would have no qualms about eating it.

[moochoo]

I'm very vocal on this topic. I work with a bunch of hypocrites

I eat meat and thoroughly enjoy it but I like to know where it comes from and how it's treated. I have no problems at all with vegetarianism in all it's forms but I do have a problem with picky meat eaters.

Ooooh I couldn't eat veal, that's baby cow and they're so cute

I can't eat rabbit/horse/guinea pig or squirrel....insert your own fluffy animal......it just drives me mad.

If you're willing to condemn one animal to death for food, then why not utilise what we have and not waste it. Male calves are going to be born through the milk industry so lets rear them well and humanely and enjoy them.

[Cinnamon]

I have actually really enjoyed seeing how the little cows were raised,& how they have been such a big part of Janets life.

 

I will certainly look out for Rose veal in Waitrose - I have not eated veal for very many years,but did like it,so will look out for this stuff with anticipation.

[Lesley]

I'm very vocal on this topic. I work with a bunch of hypocrites

I eat meat and thoroughly enjoy it but I like to know where it comes from and how it's treated. I have no problems at all with vegetarianism in all it's forms but I do have a problem with picky meat eaters.

Ooooh I couldn't eat veal, that's baby cow and they're so cute

I can't eat rabbit/horse/guinea pig or squirrel....insert your own fluffy animal......it just drives me mad.

If you're willing to condemn one animal to death for food, then why not utilise what we have and not waste it. Male calves are going to be born through the milk industry so lets rear them well and humanely and enjoy them.

 

My thoughts exactly Sarah! - particularly after being vegetarian for 25 years.............people would comment on my eating habits but never look at their own, only eating some animals

 

I thought the programme was very well made - and it was nice to see that JSP was unsure when it came to the slaughter....and I'm glad she managed to stay with them to the end.

[bronze]

I can't stand GR but I did watch odd veal bits. I'm really hoping the programme means that veal will be more widely available as it nigh on impossible to get hold of at the moment.

 

The cringeing at the thought thing happens in all walks though as I've felt unable to talk about my meat chickens on here due to some comments.

[redhotchick]

Gordon Ramsey even called Janet by her proper name! I think it was really difficult for her, I wonder if she would do it again?

I eat meat and would eat the Rose Veal. As a bi-product of the dairy industry, we need to find a market in this country for the male calves, I believe that presently most are either shot shortly after birth or transported to the continent.

Veal has had a bad press (justifiably) in the past. I think it's good that a high profile programme like the F Word is trying to raise the profile of Rose Veal.

[buffie]

I can't stand GR but I did watch odd veal bits. I'm really hoping the programme means that veal will be more widely available as it nigh on impossible to get hold of at the moment.

 

The cringeing at the thought thing happens in all walks though as I've felt unable to talk about my meat chickens on here due to some comments.

 

That's a shame Bronze. How about joining in the good life thread with Lesley?

 

It's a fact of life isn't it and if the dairy industry produces these calves then I also believe we need to give them a high welfare life and use them within the food chain. I started to eat meat again so that I supported welfare.

 

Buffie x

[Gamebird]

It's a fact of life isn't it and if the dairy industry produces these calves then I also believe we need to give them a high welfare life and use them within the food chain. I started to eat meat again so that I supported welfare.Buffie x

I couldn't agree more.

 

I didn't see the GR programme so can't comment. I'm not sure what exactly the definition of 'ethical' would be but I do know that their are veal producers in this country who raise their calves in open barns on clean bedding etc.

 

They deserve to be able to make a living so that these calves can at least have a good life for a few months rather than being culled at birth.

[chickencam]

There is an aticle in the Times today about veal calves that were transported to Holland in March and have since tested positive for TB. The Dutch are now refusing and British calves.

 

British calves should never have to be transported out of the country, we need to start widespread ethical rearing of our own rose veal. There will always be male calves and they deserve to be treated with respect.

 

As has been said there are too many meat eaters who do not examine their consciences and also vegetarians who drink milk without thinking about the animal welfare side of that.

 

If we are to eat animals and their produce we need to treat them all with equal thought to their welfare.

[Tiggy]

I whole heartedly agree with every said on this thread, we do eat lamb & chicken so what is the difference eating baby beef, I worked in a butchers after leaving school, the veal carcasess were horrible, raised in crates & put me off all theses years, but if veal was raised humanely why not eat it. better that than waste the male calves & shoot them at birth. That cannot be good for the mums having their baby taken away so soon

[blackpuddinonnabike]

We're quite lucky here in the Edinburgh - there's an excellent farmers marker every week (best in the UK apparently according to some award) and there's a chap there that sells veal.

 

This place in fact.

 

He actually tries on the stall to display information about raising veal calves, making a point of it being humane rather than the old practices that have preconditioned people against it.

 

As long as the animal has had a good life up to slaughter I'm afraid I'm happy to eat more or less anything, which does and has meant many types of meat that I know other people would run a mile from. Often the same people who will quite happily munch into some battery chicken or the like.

[Guest]

we bought our rosy/rose veal from a farmers' market and i made sure it was high welfare before we bought it because i associated the word 'veal' with cruel veal cages but rose veal actually means high welfare veal.

[chickenanne]

If an animal has had a decent life and a quick/humane death then I've no problem.

I do have an issue with people who won't eat certain meat because the animal it came from is cute-and-fluffy.

Or, people who will only eat meat if it doesn't look like it came from an animal - e.g. fish with heads left on, etc.

I also don't understand it when people are unable to see the whole picture - if you keep hens or buy eggs, you know that the cockerals have most likely been despatched as day olds. And milk also has similar issue. I don't understand this attitude rather than get really annoyed at it.

[whittlewitch]

I am very much a meat eater, unfortunately I like it, and can't see this changing.

 

However, I do believe that aniamls deserve a decent life whilst they are being reared.

[The Spencers]

Like most of you, can't abide meat eaters who seem to ignore where their meat comes from. In fact though a confirmed meat eater I often argue that many more people ought to be vegetarians.

 

One of the reasons we just got our two hens (although we don't intend to eat them) is so that our two boys actually have some idea where their food comes from!

[gooner.girl]

I might be preaching to the converted here and i don't know if this was mentioned on the programme or not, but as i understand it every time you buy non organic milk you are supporting the transport of these young calves in lorries across the continent and it isn't a pleasant ride for them...

 

As i understand it Soil Association standards (ie organic milk) don't let farmers transport their bull calves that way. Hence another reason why to buy organic milk if you can afford it .

 

There is more info on this here....

 

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/your_food/dairy/default.aspx

[rusky123]

I went to agricultural college at about 16(many many years ago) and fed the calves going to slaughter with buckets of milk, broke my heart the way they were treated. I am a carnivore, but I want to eat meat that has been humanely killed. It was a shock in the 60's to see how these animals were treated. I do eat meat, but pay more to have non-transported meat. I hear the lorries full of live distressed calves, lambs, pigs going past my house and it breaks my heart. I have just bought a pig and lamb, killed in the field, paid way over the odds for them, but they had no stress, the meat is sweeter, no stress. Still cannot eat veal. I also wear a bit of leather as do my veggie/vegan friends, how cannot you eat an animal for principles yet wear their skin?.

[Lesley]

....wear a bit of leather as do my veggie/vegan friends, how cannot you eat an animal for principles yet wear their skin?.

 

- that really annoys me! - it isn't difficult to avoid leather in this day and age! It was more difficult in 1980 when I stopped using leather but there are so many good non-leather alternatives available now

[Egluntyne]

The cringeing at the thought thing happens in all walks though as I've felt unable to talk about my meat chickens on here due to some comments.

Sorry you feel like that Bronze. I applaud anyone who raises their own birds for the table.

 

If I didn't live in an urban setting, I would have a go myself. I have been veggie for years, but the family aren't.

 

I personally don't see any difference between eating lamb and humanely raised veal.

 

Nor do I accept the logic that it is OK to eat lamb, chicken or beef, but not horse, dog, cat, etc? It is just a cultural thing I suppose, but doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.

[chickenanne]

I think the difference with dog/cat etc is that people think immediately of eating their pets. In the same way that I eat (organic free-range) chicken now, but wouldn't eat Pertelote. Yep, both chickens, but something wrong when it's a pet.

No logic to it, admittedly.