It’s fair to say that the food industry has changed a lot in the last several decades. With the massive population increase and the rise in power of major corporations, this sort of “assembly line” effect has come to the way our food becomes food. There’s a detachment from our food, where it comes from, and how it ends up on our dining table.
Over the years, our responsibility for knowing the providence of our food was “taken off our plates”, so to speak. Shelf-stable and ready-to-eat foods became the norm – TV dinners…Spam. In time, there would be no seasonal fruits and veggies… everything would be available at any time, to anyone. What a world! These things all seem great, certainly wonderful for full-time homemakers, but they also impacted our understanding of what it takes to cultivate food and where it comes from. At this point, many of us are so removed that we’re clueless as to the processes behind the burger on our plate. Or the milk in our glass.
What’s very scary about that, is many of the processes are not put in place for the animal’s comfort or welfare. These processes are put into place solely so that the food can be put before you.
Udder Flaming – They Do What Now?
What if more of us were aware of the lengths taken to furnish beef, dairy, and other foods to the masses? More folks could understand the unnatural existence these sentient beings are forced to endure before their life is horrifically ended – before they end up under cellophane at the local Safeway. Would there be such a stampede for that burger? Would that milk still “do a body good”? Would those eggs be the “hearty breakfast” we’re convinced we need, to power us through another challenging morning of driving a desk?
Or would all of this seem like unnecessary cruelty in the name of a meal for you?
Udder flaming is one such practice that is completely unnatural and solely for the benefit of the humans consuming the milk that these poor cows are already being forced to overproduce.
Udder flaming is, quite literally, holding a blow torch under a cow’s udder to burn the hair off of it. Why would they do that? Well, for starters, the giant sucking machine that comes to take her milk away, can get a stronger seal and suck harder when there are no pesky little hairs in the way. (1)
Mastitis is another reason that udder flaming exists. Mastitis means painful swelling and infection in the cow’s udders, possibly death. It is caused by the forced milk production, and being “nursed” by an unnatural process. (2) The dairy industry says that udder flaming produces a higher quality product for the consumer by decreasing blood cells in the milk. (2) But the added cells are there because the farmers are meddling in the natural process to begin with.
But It’s A Low-Temperature Flame
The last time I checked, fire is fire. But according to certain ads for the “Udder Singe”, they’ve somehow been able to create a flame that is low temperature. (3) Fancy!
I’m sure it’s not scary at all then, for the cows who are packed like sardines into an unnaturally tiny space. Standing there unable to turn around while a strange sensation in their nether regions takes over.
I mean, as long as it doesn’t hurt, right? If you were a cow, wouldn’t you be totally OK with someone coming through with an open flame you can sense but not see? The smell of burning hair all around is probably nice for the ambiance too. But it’s a low-temperature flame so the smell is probably not that strong.
Come to think of it… who needs hair clippers or waxing at the salon? We’ve been doing it all wrong, people! Let’s just take a low-temperature flame to it.
Hey, what do you mean that sounds totally crazy?
