Does anyone around here spend their days obsessing over pork? I do, but probably not in the way PETA wants me to obsess. My obsession is bacon. Every morning, I wake up, brush my teeth, shower (where I may or may not pee), and then another bacon-obsessed day begins. I don’t even eat bacon that often (maybe once or twice a month), but I find myself thinking about it every day. Like one of those dogs in the Beggin’ Strips commercials, my internal monologue is a constant refrain of “Bacon bacon bacon bacon… Angelina Jolie… bacon bacon…” It’s some weird OCD thing with me.
Anyway, this story just re-booted my bacony internal monologue. PETA is targeting British chef Jamie Oliver for his pork promotion. Oliver just did a television show investigating the pig welfare standards in Britain, in which Oliver came to conclusion that Britons should strive to buy British pork rather than imported pork. Bacon. Peta of course has a problem with this, saying the answer is actually “to go vegetarian”. The Telegraph has more:
Animal rights group Peta has targeted Jamie Oliver’s flagship restaurant Fifteen in a protest against the celebrity chef’s promotion of British pork.
The move will surprise many, as the chef’s television show investigating pig welfare standards urged people to buy British rather than cheaper pork produced abroad under poorer conditions.
But Peta argued: “The answer to saving pigs is not to buy British pork, it’s to go vegetarian.”
Mr Oliver’s spokesman said the chef was a “big supporter” of animal welfare, while his London restaurant Fifteen served pork products from “the happiest pigs you can get”.
“They do seem to be protesting against somebody who is trying to help the situation,” he said. “It’s a slightly odd place for them to be protesting but nonetheless they are welcome to do that. My main concern was that they would get cold.”
He added: “In the programme we never said that the British pig farming industry is completely whiter than white, we did a very balanced programme.”
Under a banner reading “Unhappy Mother’s Day for British pigs”, pregnant protesters crouched in crates outside Fifteen in north London, in an attempt to show the conditions sows can face before giving birth. Protester Lynzi Waddington said: “Peta is asking people to have a heart for animal mums this time of the year and avoid meat that comes from such misery.”
In Jamie Saves Our Bacon on Channel 4, the chef highlighted factory pig farm conditions in continental Europe, showing the use of sow stalls, where pregnant pigs are kept in cages for up to four months at a time without room to turn. The stalls are banned in Britain, but sows can be moved to individual crates about a week before they are due to give birth, to prevent the sow crushing her piglets.
The sows usually remain in these farrowing crates until the piglets are weaned at about four weeks old. Peta wants to stop UK farms from putting sows in the “narrow metal stalls barely larger than their own bodies”.
Comparing pig welfare on the continent and in Britain, a spokeswoman said: “We are talking about something that’s cruel and something that might be a little less cruel, so why would you want to have any part of it?”
She said the crates meant sows could not turn around or nuzzle their newborns, causing “extreme” distress to the animals.
The sows spend one month out of every five in the crate before they are killed at around five years old, according to Peta.
From The Telegraph
That’s devastating. If you actually read it. I’m one of those “see no evil” meat-eaters, so I’ll admit, I just skimmed the article for the basics. Something about crate sizes and piglets being crushed, but I don’t want to think about it.
I totally understand the idea of buying meat that is “cruelty-free”, but when you get down to it, isn’t any animal death for the sake of human consumption cruel? is PETA’s goal for every animal to die of old age? That’s a serious question, and I’d really like to know the answer. It’s extremely sad what’s happening to those pigs, but my inner monologue is still crying out for bacon.
Jamie Oliver is shown signing copies of his magazine on 12/17/08. Credit: WENN.com
Bacon- the candy of all meats!
If humans were meant to be vegetarians (herbivores) we wouldn’t have eyes at the front of our heads, canine teeth or walk on 2 legs and we’d be way down in the food chain. What PETA are campaigning for, in effect, is for humans to BE food for other animals, rather than eat them!!
Idiots.
Duh. That’s PETA’s answer to everything – go vegetarian. No thanks, I love my bacon. The only way to avoid ‘cruel’ meat is to buy from known (ideally local) bonafide sources and pay more.
Strange how rather than being a watch-dog group these dips are now protesting everything under the sun.
I understand that they care about animals, but if faced with starvation and shooting a deer, Bambi dies.
Meat is a vital source of iron and I do not want my health to lose out on minerals I need so that way a bunch of tree hugging hippies can feel good that the deer live. Besides, when are they going to be protesting lions that kill antelope(q)
Bacon.
Ugh, everytime I hear or see him now, I think of him wearing that stupid frozen diaper in hopes to conceive a boy.
I hope they keep having girls.
So Jamie Oliver is on the British Pork Farmer’s payroll. His motives here are obvious.
The arguement of whether or not we are “meant” to be carnivores is very old. If you want I can prove that arguement has no basis, but I don’t think you want me to.
Heh, funny that you didn’t post the actual pics of the pregnant ladies protesting 🙂
@BluePlanet – could I suggest a small bit of research before you make uninformed statements re Oliver’s being in anyone’s pocket. The Times has an excellent article by Alex Renton (award-winning journalist specialising in poverty & development and in food culture & food policy around the world) for the rationale behind buying British and locally.
(links always go to moderation, just google ‘cruelty-free bacon alex renton’ for the piece)
This is why no one other than people with pre-existing mental conditions takes a damn thing PETA says seriously. If people choose to not eat meat, then good for them. But it’s bullshit to try to tell others how to live their lives by shoving their agenda down everyone’s throat.
There are alternative methods to spreading your message without being a complete ass about it. Shame that after all these years PETA is still completely tactless and clueless, and because of this I will continue to ignore anything they have to say.
PETA needs to get over the fact that not everybody is going to “go vegetarian”.
@Marie we have access to pics of those pregnant protesting ladies but I decided not to run them as they were NSFW.
The world’s finest meat BACON! I nearly bought a tshirt that said “everything’s better with bacon”. You can tell I’m not with Peta on this one.
I’m sorry for the pigs not being treated humanely but PETA should be lobbying the govt for regulation regarding that not chefs or the meat eating public.
People just need to accept that PETA is an all or nothing organization. They have no problem going after their own. They gave Al Gore crap for crying out loud.
Wow. I used to think Jamie Oliver was attractive. What happened?
geronimo
Interesting post, however eating pork has nothing to do with reducing poverty or being “green” (as in buying local).
Still no actual proof as to whether or not Oliver is being compensated for promoting pork, but I suspect so.
i am a vegetarian and have been since i was about 12, because i personally do not like the idea of eating animals. it really creeps me out, the thought of eating their flesh and blood, and also factory farming is so cruel and so bad for the environment. but i understand that not everyone in the world feels the same, and shoving it down their throats is not going to change anyone’s mind. if people want to ask me about it, i will calmly discuss/debate the issue. i do think peta’s heart is in the right place but their tactics are usually misguided and they make all veggies look like lunatics, and that kind of pisses me off.
@BluePlanet – “however eating pork has nothing to do with reducing poverty or being “green” (as in buying local).”
Who suggested it had? And why should it? Eating meat is a fact of life for millions of people, whether PETA (or anyone else) likes it or not, therefore all efforts to make the animals’ welfare a priority are commendable. As per the Renton piece, Oliver is only one of many promoting home-grown. Why look for disengenuity and ulterior motivation when what’s being put forward is just good sense?
But, and with respect, if you coming at this from the perspective of a committed non-meat eater who believes that eating meat is wrong, then you’re unlikely to be objective.
What do cows have to do with pigs?
Oh.
Those are women?
Nasty.
I found your blog on Google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Bacon News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.