Word: horsemeat
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...regardless of how hot they once were, prevent me from eating meat enjoyed in Japan, Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. I quickly found out, however, that it's just about impossible to get a good piece of horse in the U.S. There had been three horsemeat-processing plants here that shipped meat overseas for consumption by humans and kept some behind for consumption by animals. But the two plants in Texas were ordered shut last month when a court of appeals agreed to enforce a 1949 state law banning the sale of horsemeat to be eaten...
...Horsemeat is considered a delicacy for many foreign palates. But Americans raise horses for racing, work or companionship, and polls show a large majority of the public finds slaughtering them for a gourmet dinner to be repugnant. "It's one of the most inhumane, brutal and shady practices going on in the United States today," complains Republican Rep. John Sweeney, who sponsored the measure to ban the sale and transport of horses to the slaughterhouses. Sweeney's congressional district includes the Saratoga Springs harness racing track...
...food industry stopped using horsemeat about 12 years ago. Some 90% of the horses still sent to the slaughterhouses aren't old or sick but in good condition, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Killer buyers" roam the country purchasing horses but not telling owners they'll end up at a slaughterhouse...
...idea that repulses and outrages him. "I can't imagine slaughtering a horse [to eat]," says Pickens, "It's absolutely un-American." The horses are slaughtered at one of three plants, two in Texas and one in Illinois, all owned by a Belgian entrepreneur. "We don't eat horsemeat here, so it does seem peculiar that someone from Belgium owns the kill plant and the meat is sent to Europe," he says. "Why not in their own countries? Why come to America to do the dirty deal...
...fines in the thousands of dollars. Pickens is equally riled that the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) oversees and spends millions in taxpayer dollars supervising these plants - Dallas Crown in Kaufman as well as Beltex Corporation in Fort Worth, and Cavel International in DeKalb, Ill. - although selling horsemeat is banned in a lot of states. "It's incredible to me that our money is wasted on meat being shipped out of the country," he says...