Amazing.
Processed foods contain the wrong animal. And what line do media sensationalists take? “Do you mind eating horse rather than cow?” Brilliant.
How can there possibly be any objection to eating one animal rather than another? Whenever I find myself in Central Asia, we eat nothing but horse. It is the staple meat on the Steppe. And it is fine, if you like that sort of thing.
Surely the real controversy ought to be about misrepresentation and obligation. If a company tells us its lasagne is made of beef, then it should moo rather than neigh. The producer should know what is in their product and tell us the truth on the packet. Furthermore, if we trust cow – because there are rules about what goes into their rearing and which drugs cannot be used on them – then we might reasonably question if the same rules apply to horses.
Hence, it is a question of integrity and confidence, not of food safety. We should not be sold a pup… as it were.
And, as I said on Twitter, whoever in the government chose to call the matter 'distasteful' should get instant promotion.
Posted with Blogsy
February 8, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Quite; but integrity and confidence isn’t scary enough for the media (too close to home, methinks) — food safety frighteners will sell more.
February 8, 2013 at 1:49 pm
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21383362#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
February 8, 2013 at 1:52 pm
Anthony B, thanks for the link. Which reinforces my point about knowing what we are eating and what has gone into it. But in principle it is weird that people think cow is ‘natural, and ‘horse’ not.
February 8, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Apparently, the reason that it took so long to find out it was horsemeat in the lasagne was the the cheese used was marscapone.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist it)
February 8, 2013 at 3:11 pm
Actually, the real point should be that we have been told [ever since Mad Cow Disease] that everything on the farm was safe; and later, that it was entirely traceable. the cow’s ear=tag guaranteed that the meat in the ‘beef’ could be tracked back to the actual farm – and only that animal was in your food. What happened to this? and if the legislation isn’t working, surely that’s where the enquiry should lie – not fretting about whether the base material came from South America, or the horse from IReland… but just how anything except British Cow came to get there.
February 8, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Exactly!
February 8, 2013 at 4:41 pm
Sorry, Bishop Nick, you’re out of touch here.
People ARE bothered about eating horse. Fine, theoretically/ theologically, which animal it is doesn’t matter, maybe, but let’s translate “dog” for “horse” for “beef”, or “cat” and you’ll work it out.
True, this may be cultural rather than anything else, but people live in a culture: this is about people, not about the media missing the point.
Go to your local school cafeteria and ask the teenagers about it and I guarantee you that they will be bothered. At least, the teenagers at the school where I am a chaplain were definitely bothered by it.
yes, in the long run, it’s issues of fraud and mislabelling/ food safety etc., but the media aren’t missing the point here. They’ve got it and you haven’t.
February 8, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Robert, try not to patronise. Do you think I really don’t ‘work it out’ – having lived and moved in a range of other cultures? People do eat dog and cat and lots of other animals – culture matters. So, where should the concern lie? Loads of people in today’s media have been making it clear that it is the integrity of the product and not the content that is the problem.
Lighten up.
February 9, 2013 at 9:45 am
We can’t have it both ways. If people want cheap food, the ingredients will be ‘cheap’. Tho I have no problem with horsemeat, having been in France for some time. Sadly, it is the deceit practiced by big companies, or suppliers that is at the nub of the problem! There seems to be, from the highest echelons of government downwards almost an acceptance that making money at whoever’s expense is acceptable. Don’d find this anywhere in the Bible.
February 9, 2013 at 10:47 am
Apologies if you felt I was patronising (comments 7 and 8).
What I’m trying to do is disagree.
Here’s the disagreement. You seem to be saying the media initially promoted the “wrong” aspect of the story, in that it doesn’t matter to people whether they eat beef or horse. You give as your example your own experience of eating horse in South east Asia, about which you obviously weren’t bothered.
Fair enough for you.
What I was saying is that while you may think that it shouldn’t bother people whether they are eating horse or beef, I think it does. I think possibly underlying your mistake (if it is one, which it may not be etc.) is that you’ve got a lot of experience of other cultures which most people don’t have. Most people even today haven’t been to South East Asia and, even if they have been to France, they would not have dreamt of eating horse, (or snail, or frog’s legs etc.).
So to be told that their children have been fed horse at school, I believe, does bother them. And it bothers the children/ young people/ teenagers too, as some at least have told me.
Anyway, that’s my point. I may be wrong and I realise it may be irritating to be told that you’re ‘out of touch’ on an issue. And maybe I’ve misjudged people’s views and am out of touch myself. But in this case, I feel that you were, in the point you made. I could be wrong about it, but there we go.
(Not that you are out of touch generally, not that you are an out of touch person, just out of touch on this issue on this particular day…)
And it’s far from the most important point in the world.
Anyway, as you say, I think the debate has now moved on/ is moving on to food provenance, food safety etc., as it should do.
Anyway, have a good day, and keep writing.
I far prefer to read things that I can disagree with from time to time, than bland agreement.
And apologies once again if I wrote too clunkily before. (But I reserve my right to disagree!)
February 9, 2013 at 11:50 am
Robert, of course you can disagree – I am not the Pope. However, my post wasn’t intended to cover all aspects of the story. I am not accusing the media of fabricating stuff, but responding to the line of questioning and reporting I heard and saw in the media yesterday. Just because some people do have a problem with eating some animals and not others (except for religious or dietary reasons, of course) does not mean that the incongruity of it shouldn’t be questioned. Basically, the fact that we have been eating horse rather than cow is less important than (a) the fact that we can’t trust what is written on the packet and (b) we don’t know what has gone into horse production whereas we generally do trust that regulations about cows make eating them OK. You could be forgiven for thinking, from the reporting yesterday, that merely eating horse would kill you…
Hope you are well and enjoying the school chaplaincy. Are you still doing wine?
February 9, 2013 at 8:33 pm
Hi Nick,
Thanks for your thoughts. Though funnily enough, i’m just at a crossroads: i’ve literally just finished at Tenison’s school (Lambeth) and am about to go back to the parish: I’m to be vicar at St Mark and St Andrew, Surbiton, which is exciting. (Still in Southwark, just: Kingston area: this is full time again, after three and a half happy years at 30-35 hours a week at Tenison’s / Lambeth youth minister, if you remember a conversation about that some time in 2009.)
Since I’ve been asking others, here’s a question for you: in 100 words or less, what is your advice for a new incumbent?
(But only reply if you’ve some spare time.)
Robert
February 9, 2013 at 8:38 pm
Moo? Neigh? – gosh you Bishops like your meat rare don’t you?!!
February 9, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Robert, 100 words? Here goes.
You can learn the history, but you can’t share the memory. Listen to the stories and learn the languages both spoken and understood in the parish. Create clarity and structure, thus making good communication possible. Visit people in their homes. Pray. Awaken curiosity, tease the imagination. Preach the big picture on which detail might be painted. Make people responsible and don’t assume theirs. Say sorry and thank you and please. Laugh a lot. Be first a disciple and only second a minister.
But not necessarily in that order.
I hope all the transitions go well.