What would be wrong with Top Gear for food?
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Full on Food was a bit heavy going last night, I must say... It disturbed me slightly, and upset me for the rest of the evening, though perhaps not as much as the presenter Richard Johnson... for those who didn't see it, he decided to pick a cow from an organic farm, see how it lives, follow it to slaughter, and then eat some of it. At the start of the show he hinted what was coming up, and said something about it being the hardest thing a food lover can do. I'm a vegan and this got me fired right up, surely it's harder to stick to your principles and NOT eat the food, even though you might love it, than to just scoff it down thinking "oh boo hoo... more gravy please... this is so sad". BUT, as usual I was leaping in with my opinion before having seen the piece in question. He went to the farm, and showed how well treated the moo cows were, followed it to the abbatoir, and watched it being killed. I turned off just for this bit, so not sure if they showed it or not. The end of the piece didn't show him going "tell you what, it's sad but it's lovely", it showed him sobbing and entirely unable to have the meat cooked, let alone eat. He's a hardened food critic and it made him bawl like a brownie.
Now if he'd said "I can't eat meat again", that would have been double fantastic, but he didn't. After a suitable period of mourning he noshed down on it's shinbones with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but I think he was clearly upset by this whole situation.
Anyway, I forget what point I'm trying to make here. Good show. I'm not normally preachy about these things (I don't think) but maybe everyone should make a meat pilgrimmage like that. Not me, just everyone else.
Lunch today was chickpea salad, parsnip crisps, a pakora and a Purdey's. All ingredients checked, and then checked again, just to be sure.
pauly :: 2004 :: Comment / reply
(When did Bart stop saying that?)
I saw yon' episode too.
FoF seems to be a bit like Top Gear for nosh, most of the time, but I think they redeemed themselves with that show.
I was oddly moved by the whole thing.
(Could have been the previous night's curry tho.)
Pid :: 7 Dec :: 2004 :: Comment / reply
You're the second one to say that, a magazine programme about food is great, like Food and Drink used to be. Just so long as it didn't feature Jeremy Clarkson at all.
pauly :: 7 Dec :: 2004 :: Comment / reply
1. It was Top Gear for food. A bit contrived, but the cheese bloke was well funny.
2. They did show the slaughtering of the cow and, believe me they showed everything. They didn't shy from any of the camera shots. There was the knife, the slitting action AND the blood draining from the abbatoir floor. Quite sick, really. He was indeed in tears and by showing his face it made quite an impact. You really should have watched that bit. It put everything into context.
3. He did indeed eat the meat but din't look comfortable - seemed a bit strange for him to do it after his "period of mourning". Slightly crass, almost.
4. The highlighting of which meat to eat was ineffectual without showing the conditions the "supermarket" animals live in. Descriptors were not enough.
5. I am a meat-eater or "CARNIVORE". I watched the whole programme and it did not change my dietary preferences. However, it was an excellent angle that we don't usually see and well worth viewing. It makes you think a little harder about how our livestock are related to the trays of meat we buy in the shops. Yes, that moo-moo that we see grazing the land is indeed the same moo-moo that we stun, slaughter and chop up without mercy.
Johnskibeat :: 2 Dec :: 2004 :: Comment / reply
Didn't watch Full on Food last night (1 Dec)because it generally irritates me. Wish I had now. I think the idea of anyone who wishes to eat meat having to fully confront the reality of the way what they eat lives and, of course, dies, is a really serious point. Certainly one that I fel srongly about as a concientious meat-eater. But, and maybe this was explained in the programme, why the hell choose an organic cow ? Organic, free-range cows are undoubtedly going to live fairly stress-free, happy and natural lives. But, the vast majority of people who eat beef (and the people whom that programme is aimed at) wouldn't dream of eating organic beef, preferring quantity over quality (including quality of life). For full impact, they should have shown the pretty depressing life of an average intensively-farmed diary cow, which most people chose to buy from their supermarket, not the, by comparision, relatively charmed and pampered life and death of a well looked after organic cow.
Dom :: 2 Dec :: 2004 :: Comment / reply
the viewer might have been left thinking "it's for the best". Should have watched it man, you'd have been crying into your vegeburger by the end too. Also Hugh was the guest chef!
pauly :: 2 Dec :: 2004 :: Comment / reply
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