Kill It, Cook It, Eat It: Slaughtering In Your Living Room in HD

Rosey1

As a health-based vegan vegetarian for many years (who is now starting to eat some forms of fish), I feel I have some credibility on this issue. According to nature, animals kill other animals to eat. We are no different, except that we have attained a mass produced method of getting food. There is no god. Animals suffer horribly every day, to feed other animals. That is simply reality. It was that way for hundreds of millions of years before we entered this ecosystem.

That said, we do have a choice to try to maintain sustainable methods of getting food. And since we have the technology to do it, slaughter of animals does NOT have to be vicious, like a pack of African dogs calmly eating a still living animal.

Even though I have eaten vegetarian for the last 15 years, I have an "uncomfortable" feeling about this show. Not because it shows animal slaughter, but because it seems to "pander" and promote vegetarianism.

Actually vegetarianism is a very expensive life style for people who can afford it. Most of the World cannot. The greater reality of food distribution suggests that we should all be eating insects (as much of the world does now).

Real vegetarianism is the life-style of the rich and privileged.

sanjosemike

Emily

What on God's earth are you talking about?! "Real vegetarianism is the life-style of the rich and privileged." Did you seriously just write that, and do you seriously believe it? I've been a vegetarian my entire life (almost 28 years), and my family's never been rich. The amount of money I earn barely takes me over the poverty level most years, and I can well afford a vegetarian lifestyle, and a mostly organic one at that. Besides, meat is artificially cheap due to government subsidies – a pound of ground beef without all the subsidies would cost you $98. Don't tell me it's cheaper to eat meat.

Also, in reply to your other post, yes, I for one WOULD starve before I'd kill and eat my pet, or any other animal. I revere and respect my fellow earthlings, and wouldn't take another's life to save my own.

And by the way, fish can suffer, too.

Centurion

Honestly, you vegetarian wackjobs irritate the shit out of me. Oh and your "organic" habits are more damaging to the environment than any industrial farming technology ever. Look, now if the country was forced to go "organic" it would take 3 times the currently planted land to be able to provide the same amount of food that we currently grow, which by the way feeds at least another 50% of the planet's population due to our highly efficient farming techniques and technologies. As to those of you trying to say that we aren't meant to eat meat, look at your teeth you morons, you have incisors and canines for one purpose and one purpose only, those teeth are genetically designed to slice and rip MEAT not vegetables, if we were meant to solely eat vegetables all our teeth would be flat and appear like those on the vegetarian animals in the world plus we would have additional stomachs like they do so that we could process vegetable matter more efficiently. We are adapted to eat a diet of both plant and animal materials, I mean look the appendix which many people have to get removed was originally there in order to assist in the digestion of uncooked meat. Seriously you people should do some real research before you start trying to propagandize your personal eating habits and trying to force them on others.

Gluttonforpunishment

I would like to know where these phantom statistics are from that the vegans are touting. I for one am college, and farm educated on how animals, and crops are grown. The facts are that yes we were meant to eat meat. We have evolved, and do not use our apendix as we once did, because of the invention of fire. We need smaller stomachs because cooked food is more easily digested.

I have grown up farming and hunting. Hunting is essential to herd health for deer as well as other animals. According to sources that I have read, there anywhere from 10-20 times as many deer as there were when Columbus landed. Over population causes devastating diseases, as well as destruction of property. This also includes the amount of damage caused by car accidents. I am a hunter, and we did raise a large herd of beef cows. I will tell you that the beef you buy from an American farmer rancher is the safest and most taken care of animal you can eat. Animals that are abused end up with purple colored meat that can only be used for animal feed. If animals are abused earlier in life, the do not grow well and therefore worth less. Therefore, for financial reasons most people who are in contact with the animals are very careful. We also have great pride in our animals and want nothing less than a stress free life, and death. Most animals have a life better than that of humans, they are well fed and bedded, and die a quick painless life. It is disheartening how quick some of you are to glom on to uninformed view points and regurgitate unscientific thoughts. Yes organic production would be about a third of current production. Organic is NOT natural either. Tillage is a huge part of organic farming, there is no such thing as natural tillage. The largest polluter of water is soil, soil is broken down by tillage, and this causes erosion therefore, no-tilling is the most environmentally friendly practice that is sustainable to feed the Earth. Factory farms are simply farmers that do it for a living. We are a family run farm that is large, but a smaller farm would not be feasible living. It is a necessity to get your food from professionals. Lastly meat is bought off the farm for about 1 to 1.5 dollars per pound and sold for 8-12 dollars per pound. If you want to help yourself and your local farmers, buy from small butcher shops that buy directly from farms. If you choose to not eat meat it is your choice, do not force that choice on others. You and I would not be here if they had not eaten meat.that is a fact

Diggernco

What irritates me is people who use ad-hominem and personal attacks- that being said, highly efficient = govt. subsidies, corn feed (and the requisite steroids and chemicals injected into your meat so that they can process the unnatural corn feed). I grow organic food in my backyard and am not taking up any more room on this planet than I currently have already. As for your appendix reference, ever hear of evolution? We no longer need it, it is a holdover from our evolutionary past...like maybe incisors and canines perhaps....think about it

Hobhob906

This show got me a million times closer to being a vegan, which, two years ago, I had nothing like that in mind (At one point prime rib was a favorite of mine) until a lovely human I know opened my eyes to so much more....a substantially better way for everything and everyone. So many dimensions with pure compassion as the foundation as to why veganism is the way to go, especially as this overpopulated world rolls into the future.

alex

This is a great show. This is showing you where you food is coming from. I don't know what is blurred - they seemed to show castration of piglets very graphically....It puts you face to face with what you are eating. And the things is - it's not just vegan propoganda. It's forcing you to make a choice. It's not like megalopolis factory farm in US is going to open it's doors to you... Though food inc movie is pretty awesome too. I am a failed vegan/vegetarian. I think this is the best way, short of going to the farm, of making a decision if you want to eat meat or not. And if you are still eating the meat, are you ok with the way animals are treated and then slaughtered? I really think there should be more shows like this.

Farmfresh

Everything that we eat has to die first. Better we acknowledge that and learn to respect those animals that give their lives for us than to stick our heads, once again into the sand. The head in the sand attitude is what has led to the horrendous factory farming methods, mechanically separated chicken and ammonia treated burgers that we have today.

I eat meat. I also raise and butcher a large portion of that myself. What I purchase is all from humanely raised and butchered grass fed animals. I have no shame, because I first had respect.

Joanne Demopoulos

You should see how the animals are really abused, tortured,tormented, THEN slaughtered without mercy.It is like an assembly line which 'trips up' most of the time.The people who slaughter the animals are let off after 2 yearsbecause they often begin to enjoy killing the animals.Why doesn't a TV station film a "typical" slaughter here in the USA !If slaughter houses had glass walls - I don't think anyone would eatmeat anymore.

Vegandave

What's next, a show about how to kill and cook our family pets? Or is that not ok because they are pets? What is the difference? All animals have the same intrinsic value and same inherent rights. Killing for pleasure or profit is murder, period. If you would not eat your pet, then why eat any other animal? The only excuse you can have is that you are attached to your pet, and not to a farmed animal, which means you only see animals as having value to humans, making you ethically and morally deficient and not worthy of calling yourself human.

Rosey1

As a vegan vegetarian for the last 15 years (who is now starting to eat fish), I will advise you that you WOULD eat your pets if you were starving. There would not be any joy in killing them, yes...but in eating them for your survival...yes.

Vegandave, there are no god or gods. Animals have been killing other animals for their survival for hundreds of millions of years, long before we entered the picture.

Life is brutal. You are able to eat vegetarian because you are privileged, and can afford it. Most of the World cannot even conceive of it. sanjosemike

Joanne

I tell this to everyone who questions me about my diet.I've been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for over 30 years!Seriously going to try vegan though.Where are the vegetarian guys?

Fresheggs

Joanne, I have the utmost respect for you.

If you have an issue with killing animals in order to eat them you should be a vegetarian. If you still eat meat in any form, then complain about seeing them processed, you make me wonder.

Jenna

Scenes are blurred?! The point of this show is to educate people about what animals go through when they are murdered. Most people have no idea and are completely disconnected. Censoring reality defies the whole point of this show. Why do the BBC have no qualms about showing it, but this channel does? Are you sponsored by companies selling animal-products and worried people will be put off when they learn the truth? Is there anything Americans aren't lied to about?! The corporations run the world. Money trumps ethics apparently. For a reality check watch www.earthlings.com

Rosey1

Corporations provide a life-style to us that could not even be dreamed of in the ancient world. They provide millions of decent paying jobs, even in 3rd world countries. I tire of corporation bashing.

Even James Cameron, the producer of Avatar, a propoganda piece for green causes, could NOT have made his movie or sold it without corporations and yes MONEY.

If you want to go back to the ancient world without corporations, you will have to give up a great deal, from state of the art medical care, to the easily accessed foods you now get. Count me out. I'm happy where I am.

In the ancient world, without business and corporations..life was brutal, painful and yes...short.

sanjosemike

Joanne

So true-It sucks how corps and governmentdeceive us

ProxyAriesMan

btw, if this is dubbed down version of the BBC version I'm going to be completely pist off. Show the original thing, the people who want to watch it - can handle it.

ProxyAriesMan

Awesome, glad this is coming to the states, I've been fan since the first season on BBC3. Let me say, if you are light stomached, vegan, vegetarian, PETA activist - don't watch it. It's not for you. If you are true foody, and want to know and see, and learn where your food comes from, and all that goes into it, it's a great watch. Hopefully it will inspire more Americans to buy their meats, raw, and cured, locally. Hopefully it will spark a new meat renaissance in the US, which the country is in desperate need of.

Jdwellard

I am a vegetarian, and I enjoyed it, and taped it , to show to all the animal rights hippocrates who still eat meat exactly where their food comes from.

Auroracooney88

I don't think true Animal Rights people eat meat....you must mean people who claim they love animals and eat meat...big difference.

Hmagilli2

Hopefully it will inspire more people to go Vegan. Most people are opposed to violence, and when they know the horrors behind their food- are completely shocked. THANK YOU for giving the animals a voice BBC.

joanne Demopoulos

They really need to see how the slaughters are really done !

Rookie

Hey, folks - I'm one of the people who programs Current TV and was part of the decision to buy this show from the BBC. I think if you watch the show, you'll see it's not "food-porn" or irresponsible TV in any way. It's not easy to watch in parts, but it's a smart, thought-provoking, balanced show about confronting where our food comes from.

John Armin Naylor

Where has the program gone? I haven't seen any episodes of it for quite some time? has it been pulled from current TV? I hope not.

Phatp

There is nothing smart or thought provoking about encouraging violence. This is not where food comes from. 99% of the dead animals humans eat come from despicable factory farms. 300 million Americans eating animals 3 times a day does not create anything but large industrial farms. Ever you ever thought about producing a show about not killing? About how going vegan is easy and healthy?

frdmbased

Did you watch the show and actually view where the show actually documents the differences in factory farming and traditional more humane farms? I am enjoying the programs because they do show how meat is produced in England and since I already know a lot about factory meat farms in the USA, it makes me think about converting my diet to more vegetarian where possible while on a fixed income. No easy task.

Rookie

Did you watch the show?

Joanne

Rookie,Did you ever see an actual slaughter house ?I didn't think so. Phatp is on it. Why not investigate the kill inour country. Hmm...?

ProxyAriesMan

if you are ...who you say you are, I only wish that the show isn't at all...dubbed down from the original. Nothing pisses off the viewer more than that. Show the originals in its whole, without being "Americanized"

Rookie

Not sure why someone would pretend to be a programming exec for a small cable channel ;) The show is the same as the UK airing except we cut it down for length (UK shows are longer because they have fewer commercial breaks) and we did blur a couple of particularly gruesome things (a judgement call, but I feel ok with it).

Markadrien

Voyerism legitimized or just plain sick. At a time when mainstream leaders have realized we cannot sustain the current levels of animal use and abuse, as it offers no nutritional justification over a plant based diet, but causes immense suffering and moral degradation to those who cannot make the connection. (See Earthlings.com) Those of science and those of faith should be setting the example that murder is murder and nothing else. www.vegandreaming.co.uk

Stephen

Part of an emerging new genre of food-porn entertainment. Sorry, but executions don't turn me on.

Yeah, move over Nadine, I need to throw up as well.

Elisa

As a child in Italy, my family raised and killed a hog every year for home consumption - sausages, prosciutto, salumi, etc. It was the best eating. I can still smell "the guanciale" sauteing with whole garlics and olives.http://casa-giardino.blogspot....