Overconsumption (La Surconsommation)

1. 65

   Ralph Deedsposted 10 years ago

   The results of applying Henry Ford's principles to the food industry are nightmarish.
   
   http://player.vimeo.com/video/57126054#at=0

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      Gypsy Willowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      OMG!

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2. 87

   Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years ago

   A chicken harvester machine. Now I've seen everything.
   
   That's an incredible video - millions of chickens and fat injured pigs mass butchered by thousands of workers on one floor, and fed to some large Americans that in turn go under the knife to remove fat. Eat, cut, eat, cut. The vid would make a good short subject to show before "Repo Men" with Jude Law.

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      AMFredenburgposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's ugly; we're locked into such a bloated, thoughtless way of life, and it's hard to break away. Luckily there are movements going on around the country that involve downsizing, producing a lot of one's own food, and just living more simply.

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         Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I like that,

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3. 80

   WillStarrposted 10 years ago

   Look closely and you'll see that the slaughterhouse segments were actually filmed in Asia (probably China) where animal cruelty is the norm.

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't have to look too closely to see that; but I've seen US slaughter houses almost as bad and had patients cut badly multiple times and nearly killed while working in them. But ours are nowhere near as horrid as China's. That's right about animal cruelty and too often it accompanies violation of human rights as it does in China. I no longer want to visit the country.

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4. 80

   WillStarrposted 10 years ago

   This is the humane American version, where chickens are given a gentle ride and are crated. All US slaughterhouses are monitored for humane practices:
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_qAL4d1Ao8

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the video - looks more like an amusement park ride and much kinder to the birds.
      
      In Ohio, some slaughterhouses were not inspected or monitored for a few years until the problem hit the media; some of the Workers Comp claimants were my patients, specifically from Ohio Packing. Not humane to animals, either. 
      
      We also had some embarassing problems with animal cruelty and filth with animal processing at Weaver Brothers Eggs in 2002, Ohio Fresh Eggs in 2004, Buckeye Veal Farm in 2010, and Conklin Dairy Farms in 2010. Some were on the national news - contaminated eggs and fowl meat, abused chickens and turkeys, cow beatings, cutting up cows still alive, etc.

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5. 80

   WillStarrposted 10 years ago

   There are people who have no concern for humane treatment.
   
   I grew up in the mid-west where people kept chickens, hogs, and sometimes a beef for their own consumption. Most took good care of their animals and treated them humanely.
   
   When we retire, one of the things we want most is a yard where chickens roam freely and a hen house to roost at night and lay eggs.
   
   Years ago, animal rights people sneaked in and opened the cages in Minnesota and Wisconsin where farm raised minks were being held. Almost all of them died, either of starvation or killed by farm dogs and foxes.

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That sounds like a useful and fun thing to do! My father grew up on an Ohio farm and they treated their animals pretty well.

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         Ralph Deedsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I spent summers on my grandfather's Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranch where there were chickens, turkeys, and pigs as well as a big vegetable garden all for our own consumption. They killed, butchered and froze a steer once a year or so for consumption by the family and hay hands.

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6. 86

   rebekahELLEposted 10 years ago

   Where is the info on this video??  I just lost my appetite, and I'm not much of a meat eater.  I've seen some heart-wrenching videos, but that is nightmarish. I'm sure many of you have seen Food, Inc.  If not, it's worth watching. 
   Here's a short clip from Food, Inc. about a Purdue chicken farm.  You can easily find the entire movie online.  We make statements by what we spend our money on.  I no longer buy food from companies highlighted in the documentary.  I try to buy local as much as possible. My son recently bought some hens for laying eggs and had a nice coop made for them.
   I'm looking forward to eating fresh eggs again.

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      Ralph Deedsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm also curious about who made the video and where it was made. It appeared on VIMEO and appears to be of French origin. It's surprising that chicken processing in China is so mechanized where labor is cheap, if true.

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         rebekahELLEposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I translated the French found on the La Surconsommation's page and it says: Overconsumption means a consumption level located above the normal requirements or average consumption.
         Image from the movie Samsara Samsara is a Tibetan word which means wheel of life, a concept both intimate and vast, which defines the soul of everyone. 
         This video is from the movie Samsara, which is a non-narrative documentary filmed in 25 countries over the course of 4 years.  I've never heard of it, but now am interested.  It touches on numerous themes.

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            Ralph Deedsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, I'll see what I can find out about Samsara. Here's a link to A.O. Scott's review of the film in the NY Times.http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/movies/samsara-a-documentary-directed-by-ron-fricke.html
            
            Here's some more information on the movie from Wikipedia
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_%282011_film%29

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7. 86

   rebekahELLEposted 10 years ago

   Thanks Ralph, for the review link.  I see that it is showing in my city on the 30th of this month at our historical Tampa Theatre, which feels like you're outside in an old European courtyard.  I also found a review by Roger Ebert, and he said that even with all of the visually stunning scenes, his most unforgettable part was that of the chickens in the food processing plant. 
   Interesting in where a thread can go.  Thanks for posting.
   
   EDIT:  I found another article from The Atlantic which discusses a few of the locations.  The chickens being swept into the vacuum machine takes place in Denmark.  The factory workers on the poultry assembly line was filmed in Changchun City, China.
   "They were interested in showing the efficiency and cleanliness of their factory," Magidson said. "In fact, the poultry facility actually required us to put their corporate logo in some of the shots."  
   Quite a contrast.
   The dairy cows on the large rotating disk was filmed in Fresno, CA.

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      Ralph Deedsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks. Let us know what you think of the movie.

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   cheaptrickposted 10 years ago

   The unfortunate thing about life is,for one creature to live,another must die,there's no other way.Really it's a question of where do you personally draw the line?Killing something in a humane way eases our conscience;the other is just as dead.
   It Is curious that we only eat animals[in the US]that we're not friends with.If they're cute we give em a name and they get health care.

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9. 65

   Ralph Deedsposted 10 years ago

   OPEN THE SLAUGHTERHOUSES! Repeal "ag-gag" laws.
   
   "...Today, under legislation being pushed by business interests, that bit of journalistic adventure could earn me a criminal conviction and land me on a registry of “animal and ecological terrorists.” So-called ag-gag laws, proposed or enacted in about a dozen states, make, or would make, criminals of animal-rights activists who take covert pictures and videos of conditions on industrial farms and slaughterhouses. Some would even classify the activists as terrorists..."
   
   http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/opini … es.html?hp

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10. 0

    Sooner28posted 10 years ago

    The increasing reliance on machines is completing the transformation of human beings to automatons that began with the industrial revolution.
    
    The trend is clear, and I fear it.

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