Looks like all the local school districts have complied with a USDA halt on the use of beef from the Westland Meat Products packing company. If you missed the scandal that broke last week, here's the sum up:
The Humane Society videotaped workers at the Westland packing plant resorting to extraordinary means to get some obviously damaged and sick cows to get to their feet and walk into the plant. You see, cows that can't move of their own volition are not allowed for human consumption. How do you convince a sick cow to walk to it's own slaughter? Shoot water up it's nose, roll it around on the ground with a forklift, jam it with cattle prods; you know, a typical Saturday night.
You should watch the video. It's enlightening.
Westland is the second largest supplier of meat to the USDA's National School Lunch Program. Sorry, was the second largest. Tough luck, Westland.
If that video wasn't enough to put you off your lunch for the next couple of weeks, here are a few of the best cruelty videos of the past few years:
Foie Gras
Meat Your Meat
Tyson Slaughterhouse
Butterball
This article appears in Feb 6-12, 2008.