I’ve often thought that I should visit an abattoir someday, just to be familiar, and comfortable, with the process by which living animals turn into my food. I still haven’t made such a proper visit (to a first world slaughterhouse), but today witnessed something sort of close, at Crawford Market in central Bombay. Passing through the fish, the meat and then the produce market, odors were changing (how fortunate are the fruit vendors, in the fragrant shade, as opposed to the chaotic warehouse of the fish market or the dark bloody meat market). As we went down one aisle, my nose detected another change, and then I saw a pile of bloody headless chickens on the ground, the sunlight filtering through pieces of feather flying in the air.
Some pictures to show you the process.
Chickens are brought in cages, where they are roughly handled (no harm done, perhaps, given what is coming next) into a holding pen the slaughterhouse.
The slaughterer grabs a chicken in the holding cell, cuts a deep gash into its neck, and then tosses it into another cell, where it runs around bleeding and bloodied until death.
Once the chickens have died, they are blanched to facilitate the removal of the feathers, which is done mainly by use of a centrifuge (the large metal cylinder).
A cat admiring the before and after.
3 replies on “Knowing What You Eat”
I dunno, letting the chickens bleed a slow death seems pretty inhumane. Why not just chop off their heads and get it over with quickly? Is it a religious thing? By the way, the skinned chickens in the first picture look fake.
I didn’t think about that, but I suppose it could be. I believe Islamic law requires that the animals be bled (and perhaps slitting their throats allows more blood to flow out than chopping their heads)?
Also, I agree that they look fake. Rocks, trees and dead chickens–it’s amazing how realistic their fakes are.
I guess it’s more Islamic tradition than law. From Wikipedia:
“This method of slaughtering animals consists of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck, cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact. The objective of this technique is to more effectively drain the body of the animal’s blood, resulting in more hygienic meat, and to minimize the pain and agony for the animal.[1] The precise details of the slaughtering method arise largely from Islamic tradition, rather than direct Quranic mandate.
. . .
According to Islamic tradition, the conventional method used to slaughter the animal involves cutting the large arteries in the neck along with the esophagus and trachea with one swipe of an unserrated blade. This method of slaughter serves two goals. It is said to provide for a relatively painless death, but some dispute this claim. It also helps to effectively drain blood from the animal. This is important because the consumption of blood itself is forbidden in Islam. Muslims consider this method of killing the animal to be cleaner and more merciful to the animal.
While the blood is draining, the animal is not handled until it has died.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhabiha
As for the chickens, it’s those yellow feet that make them look fake to me.