is veal still very harshly treated?

[vash]

i still havent bought it. those ads from the 80's of the baby cow in a box, have been seared into my mind. i have eaten it (pretty delicious, actually). has new farming techniques made it more humane?

cliff

[126coupe]

I buy it from allan brothers, they make sure the calfs are not locked in a cage.
Expensive, but then how often do we eat veal?
me, maybe twice a year. I really enjoy it, but the wife does not do veal or lamb, she does do beef....go figure.....

[Az911]

Don't worry about it about the cow just enjoy the taste.

[aigel]

Not sure what you saw in the 80s. Sounds like vegan propaganda material. I have seen them raised back in the 80s and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Veal comes from young animals, but they are not baby cows any more by the time they meet their maker. They are about 400 pounds+ when they are slaughtered and usually fed with milk based formula.

Of course, if you have an issue with eating a young animal, you should stick to vegetables. But only eat the big old gnarly carrots - you don't want to eat a baby carrot.

George

[Evans, Marv]

I remember those ads too. Haven't eaten veal since and have actually not thought about it in years. I sort of cringed as I opened this thread.

[trekkor]

I only eat meat from animals that have died of natural causes...


KT

[svandamme]

i just don't like veal all that much taste wise... but full grown cow... give me a potato knife and show me where Betsy is grazing... light the bbq and give me 15 minutes to get that Chateaubriand out of her.

[Mr.Puff]

OM NOM NOM!

(I can't eat the stuff really. It makes me feel guilty. Same with lamb.)

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Despicable.

[aigel]

[aigel]

Seriously though, Vash, I don't buy veal either. I may order it at the restaurant every couple of years maybe.

You are a hunter - nothing better than wild game - if you want the veal effect, just pick a 100 pound sow over the 300 pound trophy boar the next time.

Veal is a good point to start for "animal rights" activists. They are cute and everyone feels sorry for them. Of course this is not where it ends. Do not underestimate their agenda. You would not even be allowed to have a pet or to raise an animal for life saving medicine, if it were up to them.

George

[tabs]

Hmmm I suppose you eat Chicken...ya know they is only 10 weeks old before they are ahhh processed.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by tabs

Hmmm I suppose you eat Chicken...ya know they is only 10 weeks old before they are ahhh processed.

But those are not as cute as the baby cows. That's why the baby cows are a better place to start for "animal rights" people. When they go after hunters, it usually is the furry cute animals first too. Haven't seen any anti pig hunting campaigns ...

George

[tabs]

yellow and cute...

[911Rob]

I love veal.

I grew up around farms and later worked on some in my teens.
I have no problem eating cow, pig or chicken.
It's called FOOD.

[tabs]

Food killer!!!

[imcarthur]

Ah . . . life is good at the top of the food chain . . .

I am a carnivore. With just a hint of herbivore thrown in. Veal doesn't bother me in the slightest. Face facts folks: food is farmed. Whether it grows on or in the ground or sea, it is farmed. Even the free-range expensive stuff is still farming. And it doesn't bother me in the slightest to cook it & eat it. No sushi/sashimi or liver though, since they make me gag.

Thanks for the reminder, I just might make my killer vitello al limone tonight.

Ian

[masraum]

I'm not a big veal person, but I have had it a time or two at restaurants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veal

There are four types of veal:

* Bob Veal, from calves that are culled a few days after birth when they weigh 150 lb. (USA only)[1]
* Formula-Fed (or "milk-fed") veal, from calves that are raised on a nutritionally complete milk formula supplement. The meat colour is ivory or creamy pink, with a firm, fine and velvety appearance. Usually marketed as veal when they reach 18-20 weeks of age (450-500 lb). [2]
* Non-Formula-Fed ("red" or "grain-fed") [3] veal, from calves that are raised on grain, hay or other solid food in addition to milk. The meat is darker in colour, and some additional marbling and fat may be apparent. Usually marketed as calf rather than veal at 22-26 weeks of age (650-700 lb).
* Rosé Veal UK is from calves reared on farms in association with the UK RSPCA's stringent Freedom Foods programme. Its name comes from its pink colour, which is a result of the calves being culled at around 35 weeks. [4]


Before the 1960s, milk-fed veal was raised primarily by the dairy farmer as a method of gaining some economic advantage from the many bull calves born each year that were not required for breeding. Eventually, the farmer found that raising this young animal and meeting the specific needs of the calf proved challenging in the midst of the mature cattle members of his herd.

Early producers found that a separate micro-climate was the only means of raising a calf through the perils of early growth. The growing stall was thus born. In the beginning these separated growing areas were almost totally enclosed. This was thought to curtail the spread of disease and provide a clean and comfortable environment in which the calf could flourish. Mortality was reduced substantially and product quality and quantity improved. As time and management philosophy developed the stall was changed. It became larger and more open. The stall also provided an opportunity for individual handling of the calf. However, many animal welfare activists oppose the use of these crates. Veal crates were banned in the UK (under the 1987 "Welfare of Calves Regulations" which came into effect in 1990)[7] and throughout the European Union in 2007.

There has been some controversy in veal-raising methods over the years, including housing, use of antibiotics and hormones. In Europe, these issues have all been addressed. In North America, there has been a general lag in these areas but there is no use of hormones now and use of antibiotics follows withdrawal guidelines. This is actively monitored by government agencies. The AVA (American Veal Association) announced in 2007 a 10 year phasing out of "crates".[8] In North America, there has been a recent move to more group housing, although it has been used since 1981 in various forms.

How about Foie gras - force fed goose? I've never had it, but I'd be willing to give it a shot.

Foie gras (pronounced /fwɑːˈgrɑː/ in English; French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage (force-feeding) corn, according to French law,[1]

Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial, due to the force feeding procedure, and the possible health consequences of an enlarged liver, and a number of countries and other jurisdictions have laws against force feeding or the sale of foie gras due to how it is traditionally produced.

Fattening

In modern production, the bird is typically fed a controlled amount of feed, depending on the stage of the fattening process, its weight, and the amount of feed it last ingested.[42] At the start of production, a bird might be fed a dry weight of 250 grams (9 oz) of food per day, and up to 1,000 grams (35 oz) (in dry weight) by the end of the process. The actual amount of food force-fed is much greater, since the birds are fed a mash whose composition is about 53% dry and 47% liquid (by weight).[43]

The feed is administered using a funnel fitted with a long tube (20–30 cm long), which forces the feed into the animal's esophagus; if an auger is used, the feeding takes about 45 to 60 seconds. Modern systems usually use a tube fed by a pneumatic pump;[44] with such a system the operation time per duck takes about 2 to 3 seconds. During feeding, efforts are made to avoid damaging the bird's esophagus, which could cause injury or death.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The level of boorish and self-righteous stupidity displayed on this thread is astonishing.

Gandhi was right, the values of a society really CAN be determined by how it treats its animals.

If we collectively focused on consuming food that was more sustainably (not to mention more ethically) produced rather than just reverting to the redneck mantra of "ahl dew whatever ah gawddamn well want", we'd get rid of a lot of the problems facing us as a collective human population, not to mention we'd actually have a lot to export. Imagine that - America actually having exportable goods. Whoda' thunk it?

[billybek]

Veal is still very harshly treated......by the digestive enzymes and acids in my stomach.....