Dr. Temple Grandin Interview

Highlights from my interview with Dr. Temple Grandin, the world's leading expert on all methods of animal slaughter, can be read after the jump.

Yesterday, I interviewed Dr. Temple Grandin, considered to be the world's leading expert on animal slaughter of all types, and who is known for being a friend of kosher slaughter. Even though I'm writing a feature on this scandal, I'm posting some highlights from my interview with Dr. Grandin now as a public service:

1. Dr. Grandin offered to go to Postville without charge (except for airfare and expenses) to assess the situation for the Rubashkins and make recommendations for changes to improve the slaughter process. That offer included working with the upside-down slaughter the Rubashkin's want to keep in order to sell their meat to Israel. The offer was refused.

2. No one from AgriProcessors has called her since the scandal broke.

3. Rabbi Menachem Genack of the OU called her Friday about the situation and possible improvements at the Postville slaughterhouse.

4. "The problem is not kosher slaughter," Dr. Grandin said. It's AgriProcessors poor quality and atrocious handling of animals both before and after slaughter.

5. Major restaurant chains will not accept meat from AgriProcessors because of this. Dr. Grandin thinks that most of Rubashkin's non-kosher meat is sold to small restaurants in the Chicago area. "McDonald's would never accept meat from a plant run like AgriProcessors," Dr. Grandin said. "AgriProcessors could not pass an audit" in its present state of operation.

6. AgriProcessors is not in the audit system used by major restaurant and food chains. Other kosher slaughterhouses are in that system and do very well.

7. The moo/bellow rate is one measure of how well animals are treated by slaughterhouses before and during slaughter. The lower the rate, the better the treatment.

8. A normal, well-run kosher or non-kosher slaughterhouse has a moo/bellow rate of about 5%. AgriProcessors moo/bellow rate is close to 50%.

9. Dr. Grandin went to Europe and inspected upside-down kosher slaughter using a rotating pen. The distress rate for the animals there was much lower than at Rubashkin's slaughterhouse.

10. AgriProcessors seems to be using electric prods "way too much."

11. "I've never seen a second cut done this way," Dr. Grandin said, referring to AgriProcessor's throat-ripping process shown on the PETA video.

12. There are ways to tell if an animal is still conscious after shechita. Many of the animals on the PETA/Rubashkin video were conscious after being dumped from the pen. All were conscious when the throat-ripping was done.

13. In Canada, if an animal has not collapsed 15 seconds after shechita, it is stunned and marked as non-kosher.

14. Since that law was put into effect, kosher slaughterhouses have concentrated on training their shochtim to do better, more efficient cuts, in part using information supplied by Dr. Grandin.

15. At these Canadian kosher slaughterhouses, 92% of the animals collapse into unconsciousness within 10 seconds of shechita.

16. McDonald's uses the non-kosher meat from those Canadian kosher slaughterhouses.

17. The conveyor belt used to transport live chickens to slaughter at AgriProcessors as shown in the PETA video is "obviously poorly maintained." In that video, live chickens were shown crushed in the conveyor belt mechanism.

18. She suspects that the throat-ripping/esophagus-pulling seen in the PETA video is done to prevent head contamination from ruminant contents, which would cause the USDA to condemn the head. Cheek meat from the heads is used for ground beef. The tongue is sold as a deli specialty and as a standard cut of beef.

19. It also may be done to prevent blood spots and bruises on the meat caused by poor handling and drainage.

20. Kosher slaughter done in Uruguay under the supervision of [the OU's] Rabbi Tietlebaum is done by attaching a chain to the animal's hind leg and then wrestling the animal to the floor where 4 or 5 workers hold the animal in place, upside-down, for shechita. "This is an absolutely terrible system," Dr. Grandin said, "and it's also very dangerous for the workers."

21. [It seems to be that meat from Uruguay is sold under the Alle/MealMart/Schrieber's labels in North America. Some may also be imported to Israel. I am working to confirm this.]

Highlights of my second interview with Dr. Grandin done on January 6, 2005, can be read here.

Comments

[Richard Schwartz]

WILL THE POSTVILLE HORRORS SHOCK US INTO RETURNING TO JEWISH VALUES?
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.

The horrific scenes of the mistreatment of animals videotaped at the Postville glatt kosher slaughterhouse and the efforts of some Jewish groups to defend the facility’s procedures raise questions that go to the heart and soul of Judaism: If slaughterhouse procedures are not consistently monitored for strict adherence to the ideals of shechita, are we carrying out our mandate to be "rachmanim b’nei rachmanim" (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors)? Are we failing to properly imitate G-d, Whose "tender mercies are over all His creatures" (Psalms 145:9)?

Even if shechita is carried out perfectly and pain and distress during slaughter are minimized, can we ignore the many violations of Jewish teachings on compassion to animals as billions of animals on "factory farms" in the United States and worldwide experience
pain, suffering, and agony for their entire lives?

If, as is recited at synagogue services every Sabbath and Yom tov morning, "the soul of every living creature shall bless G-d’s Name," can we expect these cruelly treated animals to join in the praise?

If "the righteous person considers the life of his or her animal" (Proverbs 12:10), how will we be judged, based on our vicarious treatment of the animals raised, trucked and slaughtered for our tables?

And, can we ignore the many other ways that animal-based diets and modern livestock agriculture severely violate Jewish values:

* While Judaism mandates that people should be very careful about preserving their health and their lives, numerous scientific studies have implicated the products of modern intensive livestock agriculture as significant risk factors for coronary heart disease, stroke, several forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.

* While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24:1) and that we are to be God's partners and co-workers in preserving the world, modern intensive livestock agriculture is widely recognized by independent scientists, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, as an environmentally unsustainable enterprise that grossly accelerates soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution, overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction of tropical rainforests and other habitats, global climate change, and other forms of environmental damage.

* While Judaism mandates bal tashchit, not to waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value, or use more than is needed to accomplish a purpose, a diet based upon animal agriculture instead of plant agriculture (which provides protein from grains, beans, tubers, nuts and seeds) wastes many times more land, fresh water, fossil fuels, grain and other resources. It takes up to sixteen pounds of grain to produce just one pound of feedlot-finished beef.

While Judaism stresses that we are to assist the poor and share our bread with hungry people, an estimated twenty million human beings worldwide die each year because of hunger and its effects, and nearly a billion are chronically malnourished. While the solution of widespread hunger is complex, it doesn't help that over 70 percent of the grain grown in the U.S. and almost 40 percent worldwide is produced to fatten food animals, not to feed the world's most impoverished human citizens, many of whom are displaced from their land by animal feed growers.

* While Judaism stresses that we must seek and pursue peace and that violence results from unjust conditions, the global expansion of Western-style animal-centered diets is increasing the gap between food security "haves" and "have nots," a chronic injustice that
can lead to political unrest and violent conflict.

If Judaism is to remain relevant to many of the great problems of today, it is my heartfelt belief that all Jews must very seriously consider adopting a sustainable vegan, vegetarian or plant-based diet. In my view, it is a moral, social and ecological imperative. While Jews are a small percent of the world’s people and thereby responsible for only a small part of the problems related to modern intensive livestock agriculture and other current practices, it is essential, in view of the many threats to humanity today, that we strive to fulfil our challenge to be a "light unto the nations," and to work for "tikkun olam," the healing, repair, and proper transformation of the world.
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[Richard Schwartz]

PRESS RELEASE

December 10. 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact person: Richard H. Schwartz, President of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) (rschw12345@aol.com; Phone (718) 761-5876; Fax: (718) 982-3631; web site: jewishveg.com).

JEWISH VEGETARIAN GROUP SEES ABUSES AT IOWA SLAUGHTERHOUSE AS A WAKE UP CALL

The Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) announced today that it is starting a campaign to build on the widespread publicity over the cruel abuse of animals at the kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa to help educate the jewish community and others of the need for changes throughout the entire industry and a reevaluation by Jews of their dietary habits.

JVNA commends the Orthodox Union (OU) for its initial steps toward ending the abuses of animals revealed by videos at the Postville slaughterhouse, but it is urging the Jewish community to recognize that the horrors at the facility are part of a much wider pattern of animal abuse in today's meat industry

"We should consider the current controversy as a wake up call to end the many violations of Jewish teachings associated with the production and consumption of animal products," asserted Richard Schwartz, President of the JVNA. "We can no longer ignore the suffering and abuse that many farmed animals experience for their entire lives on factory farms, It was the Jews who invented the concept of kindness to animals and formulated an entire code of laws forbidding cruelty to other living creatures. Many Torah verses stress compassion to animals.

JVNA is beginning a campaign to respectfully urge Jews to apply Jewish values to the foods that we eat. The group argues that the harsh realities of animal-based diets and agriculture contradict fundamental Jewish teachings and laws. These include mandates to take care of our health, treat animals compassionately, protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people. Also, the group asserts, rabbis (and other religious leaders) should make their congregations and students aware of the many benefits of a shift toward plant-based diets. These include:

∑ reducing the epidemic of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases currently afflicting the Jewish community and other communities;

∑ reducing current environmental threats, including global climate change; species extinction; pollution of land, air, and water; destruction of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, and other valuable habitats; and shortages of water and other resources;

∑ demonstrating the relevance of Judaism to some of the most critical issues of our time, helping to revitalize our ancient faith;

"There is an epidemic of diseases and ailments in the Jewish community and other communities and the natural world is imperiled as perhaps never before by many environmental threats," asserted Schwartz, "and our rabbis would do a tremendous kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God’s name) by helping to put the many benefits of plant-based diets on the Jewish agenda."

JVNA is offering rabbis and other congregational and educational leaders extensive background information on the many connections between Judaism and vegetarianism. The nonprofit organization will send a complimentary copy of "Judaism and Vegetarianism" by Richard Schwartz and an associated CD to any Jewish leader who wishes to use them as background educational material for possible vegetarian activities. Much additional information can be found at the group’s web site (JewishVeg.com; mail@JewishVeg,com).

The group is eager to engage with rabbis and other Jewish leaders in a respectful public or private discussion of the issue, "Should Jews Be Vegetarians Today?" Noam Mohr, a JVNA Coordinator, stated, "Many Jews are surprised to learn how strongly vegetarianism is in the spirit of Judaism."

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Further information

JVNA believes that properly carried out ritual slaughter is asuperior method of slaughter, which aims to minimize animal pain, and that Jews who continue to eat meat should eat kosher, organic, humane-certified meat. JVNA has also consistently opposed efforts to single out shechita for criticism. However, JVNA believes that the graphic depictions of the horrifying mistreatment of the animals at the slaughterhouse should cause the entire Jewish community to examine the ways animals are currently being raised, treated, prepared, and slaughtered, to see if the laws and principles of the Torah are actually being properly practiced. And we hope that closer study of the values in Jewish tradition-- concern for the pain of fellow creatures, maintaining health, protecting G-d's world, conserving resources, feeding the hungry-- will ultimately lead Jews and others to adopt a diet that is more humane, healthier, more environmentally sustainable, and more capable of feeding hungry people -- vegetarianism.

JVNA president Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. stated, "These horrific slaughterhouse scenes completely contradict our mandate to be ‘rachmanim b’nei rachmanim’ (compassionate children of compassionate ancestors). Even if ritual slaughter is performed flawlessly, consistent with halacha, we should not ignore the severe violations of Jewish law occurring daily on factory farms. We should fulfil our charge to be ‘a light unto the nations’ by helping to lead the world away from a diet that is so harmful to people, the environment, and animals, to one that is far more consistent with basic religious values."

For a long time, JVNA has argued that Jews should consider how animal-based diets and agriculture violate basic Jewish mandates to preserve human health, treat animals with compassion, preserve the environment, conserve natural resources, and help hungry people.

JVNA hopes that the shocking events reported at the largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world will impel the Jewish community to consider the ramifications of typical Jewish diets, and those of most Americans. JVNA urges Jews and others to consider not only how animals are mistreated on factory farms, but also the devastating health consequences of animal-based diets, and how animal-based agriculture -- because of its grossly disproportionate

use of land, water, fuel and other natural resources --contributes substantially to global climate change, species extinction, pollution of land, air, and water, destruction of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, and other valuable habitats, shortages of water and other resources, and other threats to the survival of humanity. Putting these issues squarely on the Jewish agenda would save many lives, move our imperiled planet to a more sustainable path, and show the relevance of Judaism in addressing current critical issues, and thus help revitalize Judaism.

Further information about the JVNA and its campaign to get vegetarianism onto the Jewish and other agendas may be obtained by contacting Dr. Schwartz or the JVNA (JewishVeg.com; mail@JewishVeg.com). The web site also has many Jewish vegetarian recipes. A complimentary copy of Richard Schwartz’s book "Judaism and Vegetarianism" and a related CD will be sent to members of the media who request them and to others who indicate how they would use the material to help get vegetarianism and related issues onto the Jewish agenda.

[Yehuda Shain]

How does the JVNA deal with the issue of "toiloi'im" in their plant based diet?

Thank you,

Yehuda Shain

[Noam Mohr]

Re: tolo'im, the answer is you must check for them, esp. leafy vegetables. However, most vegetarian commercial products (such as Tofurkey, Smart Life, Eden, Nasoya, etc.) have good hechsherim today.