A Canadian researcher and his colleagues have filed a patent for a new thermal process that converts protein from bovine byproducts into plastics.
Using the throwaway parts of beef carcasses that were sidelined from the value-added production process after bovine spongiform encephalopathy devastated the industry in 2003, David Bressler, an associate professor in the University of Alberta’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science, has collaborated with industry, government and other researchers to forge cattle proteins into heavy-duty plastics.
Using high temperatures, the proteins are broken into small pieces then cross-linked to other protein molecules to create a network that forms a rigid structure.
The plastics from Bressler’s lab are being tested by The Woodbridge group, a car parts manufacturer, and researchers are examining the possibility of mixing the plastics with renewable fibers such as hemp to create high-strength materials that may be used in building structural supports.
Top Chef Canada is set to air an episode tonight on Food Network Canada serving up horse meat. The theme of the show is classic French cooking. The announcement that horse meat would be used in cooking on the show has stirred up outrage and controversy. A Facebook page, Boycott Top Chef – Protect the Horses, has even been created for viewers to voice their concerns and opinions.
Food Network Canada released a statement on their Facebook Page in response:
“Please be assured it is not our intention to offend our viewers. The challenge in this episode involves having the competitors create a truly authentic, traditional French menu. One of the most traditional French foods is horsemeat. Horsemeat is also considered a delicacy in many cultures around the world. While we understand that this content may not appeal to all viewers, Food Network Canada aims to engage a wide audience, embracing different food cultures in our programming.”
Though Canada plays a large part in the horse meat business, slaughtering over 90,000 horses a year, it is not widely consumed in the country. Though it isn’t the most popular dish, it is still possible to purchase horse meat at some butcher shops and restaurants in Quebec. Horse meat is considered very lean, low in fat and is popular in Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, but it is most popular in Belgium and France.
I for one am okay with all of this. I don’t see the problem with serving up horse meat. Just because we don’t consume horse meat widely in North America does not give us the right to say to another culture that what they are doing is immoral. All of the anti-horse slaughter activists that have been protesting the airing of this show are being hypocritical and close-minded. Though they don’t blatantly say it, I feel that they are clearly denigrating the French culture with their comments. Whatever happened to cultural diversity and respect for others beliefs? Guess it’s been thrown out the window with the rest of their common sense.
Is horse an acceptable meat course? Peter Smith, writer for Good Worldwide, LLC, stated that “Eating horse meat hasn’t always been a taboo in the United States. During World War II, it was sold as an alternative to meat rations, and, until at least 1954, a dedicated stall at Pike Place Market in Seattle sold horse meat.” Maybe we need to look back at our own history to remember where we came from and also remind ourselves that just because we are Americans, it doesn’t give us the right to bash other people’s cultural practices, no matter how much we don’t like it.
I came across this article, ‘Consider the most humane option possible‘ from the Williams Lake Tribune by Liz Twan as I was doing some research on Canadian horse slaughter policies. The author makes some valid points. Is banning horse slaughter really the most humane option?
There is a thunder storm brewing in the Canadian equine industry and the eventual decision will concern many of us.
Most people have firmly set opinions on the subject: some formed strictly from the heart, some molded by daily contact. Of the two, the latter often leads to the more realistic knowledge that just because you love something, it doesn’t mean that it’s possible to keep it forever.
In 2007, the U.S. banned the slaughter of horses.
Now there is a movement afoot to bring the ban to Canada. At the forefront, anti-horsemeat activists who wish to halt human consumption of “chevaline.”
Approximately one billion humans consume about one million tonnes of horse meat each year. In China, they consume about 400,000 tonnes per year. Who knew?
In Korea, some eat boshintang, a dog-meat-stew. Dog is also eaten in parts of China, Japan and the Philippines. Urban legend says that street vendors in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) sell “churrasquinho de gato” (cat barbecue).
In fact, worldwide there are many meat dishes that you’d not be able to force the average Canadian to eat, knowing beforehand what animal was killed to make it. Different cultures, lifestyles and tastes — worlds apart. What makes one right or the other wrong? Public perception of a custom outside of our range of normal?
Mark Schatzker of The Globe and Mail wrote three facts about horses: “1) They’re cute. 2) They’re edible. 3) You probably haven’t eaten any lately because of fact No.1.”
Very true; most of us have never eaten horse meat, and have no plans to ever do so.
Still, there should be grave concern at the thought of the Canadian government blindly galloping into the same box canyon as the U.S. regarding horse slaughter. Four years after the fact (in the U.S.) there is mounting evidence that unwanted horses now face far crueller fates (ends) than ever before (pre-ban).
One stockyard owner in Wyoming had to purchase a state-of-the-art security system for his stockyards. Were thieves stealing him blind? No, people were dumping off their unwanted horses in the dark of the night!
Horse euthanasia in the U.S. and in Canada is expensive, and horse owners caught in economic crisis who can’t afford the costs of keeping their beloved animals certainly can’t pay for a kind release.
Instead, they are resorting to desperate measures — loading their horses into empty horse trailers standing in the yards, driveways and farmyards of total strangers for them to deal with upon discovery, while others just take a drive out into the country and dump the unwanted horses on a deserted side road, ending their problem (unless they’re caught) but adding a new burden for the unfortunate (and unaware) land owner or the government.
According to an article in the Daily Nebraskan, the American Veterinary Medical Association “estimates that completely eliminating horse slaughter in Canada and Mexico would require 2,700 more horse-rescue facilities to care for 90,000 to 100,000 unwanted horses that have been slaughtered each year. Considering a horse can live for 30 years, that number can grow quickly to several hundred thousand horses over the next decade that need to be cared for. At an average cost of $1,800 to $2,400 to meet the basic needs of one horse annually that comes to more than $1 billion after three years. Where is this money supposed to come from?”
Now, many American horse lovers are advocating the return of humane horse slaughter. Sometimes when the heart rules over common sense, the result isn’t ideal. For unwanted horses in the U.S., the new reality is uglier than ever-before; the Canadian government must carefully consider every detail of the situation south of the border before making any decisions.
We may love our horses with all of our hearts and souls, but trying to keep them all forever might not necessarily be the kindest, most humane option.
