[wulinka]

Oh no! I was just ready to post this when my browser crashed, so here we go again!

I posted some pics from Markets in our current home, the town of Huai Nan (China) and was asked if I still dare to by meat here.

The short answer is, I do. And Pat, I didn't have to change my diet intentionallly really as it is already changed by the fact that a lot of our common ingredients are not available here. You might already know for example, that Chinese cuisine rarely employs dairy products. Instead there are a myriad kinds of Dofu (beancurd) here, which I have to learn to prepare.
I have recently had dog meat on the table, but i didn't touch it. We are too much used to having a dog as a companion and not so much as part of our diet. I have been told however, that the dogs just like pigs and cows are raised specifically for the purpose (I am not sure I believe it's true for all places...). Cats are not on the menue as far as I know.

The hygene standards in the markets are obviously not comparable to what we are used to, and in addition there is terrible pollution everywhere. I carefully wash all meat and veggies I buy and as for what's inside I just hope we will survive.
The appartent advantage of the fresh market over the supermarket is that you see what you get. Often the piece of meat you choose will be cut from the culled animal as you request.


The meat in the supermarket is usually frozen and wrapped and you don't know where it comes from. I have seen the trucks loaded with 10thousands of chicken or dozens of pigs heading for bulk meat production and I am sure those creatures are neither happy nor healthy.

These are some common stalls on the market, selling chicken and pork:





as for hygene, look at this one:



Especially in the winter, dried animals are very popular. From wild rabbit (small as a rat) to whole dogs, you will find all kinds of dried animals. There will be pieces or meat, sausages and ducks hanging from laundry lines, clothes hangers on balconies, even power lines.











The problem with chicken is that even in the farmers' market they will often sell only frozen parts, and you don't know how this meat has been stored and treated. The other option is to buy a live chicken and have it culled and de-feathered for you.







The chicken de-feathering mashine:





A lot of it is just getting used to all the culling and butchering taking place outside, for us westerners these processes are usually hidden to the consumer's eyes.
Butafter all, I think food hygiene is just not one of the Chinese's strongest sides, especially in an underdeveloped area like this. They have a lot to catch up to in this field :-)

I think you get the idea....

Uli

Phew, no crashes the second time :-)

[Pat]

Now that's what I call photo journalism at its best, thanks Uli, I get the idea but will stick with Yum Cha in Australia

[wulinka]

...and of course, I forgot to mention, you can also have your fish decapitated, your frog culled ....





or your eel peeled....



(bad job on the curves in this one...)

freely in the street :-)

[Irma]

Great story, not much to read, and lots of very great pictures that tell a lot!!

Thanks Uli.

[TheBishopOfSligo]

Superb photo-journal!

Well done.

[Irma]

Excellent pictures Uli.

I wouldn't know if I were able to photograph these things. Most certainly not.

[wulinka]

Thank you all for your comments.
I really hope I am not making anyone feel too uncomfortable or offended.

Me too I love animals when they are alive

[shuttertalk]

Thanks for sharing - it's an eye opener indeed. I guess we take our western supermarkets for granted, where everything is nicely packed and wrapped into nice clean portions.

[NT73]

Uli, well photographed and a wonderful view of life in another world. Gory? maybe. Shocked? no way.
As a child my family kept chickens in the back garden (early 1940's) and I watched the milkman, pull their necks and then watched as they ran around with their heads dangling. I then helped with plucking on a few occasions. (Father was at work, and my mother could not kill a spider, let alone a chicken.)
When I was about 10 ear old, I spent a holiday with a relative in Wales, and in the little cottage there was a pig hanging up bleeding from its throat and dripping down it's nose into a sink. We chased rabbits from a field and killed them with a cudgel. and took them home to eat. So I had an early introduction to the "Meat factory". Most people today do not get that education which is a pity in a way. All they see is frozen supermarket packs and think that is it.
I know of the dogs in china and as you say it is a cultural thing. If we had been born as an eagle(say) mice and rodents would be on the menu. I am just glad that I was born in "A civilised? country as opposed to say African backwoods.
Our lives are brainwashed from birth are they not? and if you are born in ' the backwoods' then what chance have you.
Best of luck out there , Keep safe. NT.

[wulinka]

Thanks a lot NT!
I hear what you say, but nevertheless have never learned how to deal with live chicken or even fish to prepare a meal....

[Toad]

Fascinating thread - and exceptional photo-journalism.

I think this view of meat preparation is refreshingly honest - meat comes from butchered animals, after all, and not in a plastic covered Styrofoam tray from the supermarket. It looks a bit unsanitary, but that is because we are seeing it here - and it is not hidden away in a back room.

Unhealthy and harsh conditions for animals raised for food is not restricted to foreign lands, either. You would be appalled by the conditions that many animals raised on *factory* farms in North America live in. It is truly unbelievable.

The whole thing is making me question my relationship with meat. I see huge levels of antibiotic use, barbarous living conditions, and unsanitary processing everywhere I look. I try to buy organic meat when I can - animals that have lived free-range and are not doped up on massive quantities of antibiotics and growth hormones.

That still doesn't remove the ethical dilemma of one species raising and butchering another species for food. Animals cannot speak but they certainly understand pain, suffering and fear.

[NT73]

I reckon in our genes and ancestry we are all animals. Humans by nature of a larger brain are classed as higher animals. And although quite a number are, there will always be the sneaky backdoor mutants, who wish to go killing anything for pleasure even their own kind. How do we change it? Re-education doesn't seem to work. Kill them? Then we become the 2nd category. Maybe the global warming will succeed where we have not. I sometimes wonder if we have not been to this stage before. Maybe the big bang was caused by a previous generation who got out of hand.

[Banded Drake]

Uli i think these are some great photos . These shot really bring a lot of intersting comments on the topic of meat . There is a lot of emotion in these shots for me. I want to say that i couldnt eat meat like this , but then i say what if i was there and that is all i knew ?
What a great series of photos , and i would love to see more . You certainly have a great eye for photo journalism .

........ Shawn

[wulinka]

hey, this thread is taking an interesting turn!

Toad, I agree with you on the conditions of animals raised in mass production, and whenever I can I do aviod buying meat coming from those places. In Germany it's realtively easy as there are very strict rules and things are clearly labelled. I only buy from one butcher who uses meat from cattle and poultry raised in the region and under friendly conditions. In the states I already find it more difficult, as the market is swamped with all the mass-produced meats.

Here, well like I said, I still try to buy from the farmers who I believe raise their own stock, and I am sure transportation conditions and all are not exactly according to German "Tierschutzgesetzt" (animal protection laws), but at least I don't suspect the use of antibiotics and the animal most likely lived outside, even if tied to a tree most of its life.

Thanks all for comments!!

Uli

[Wedding Shooter]

Uli - absolutely fantastic PJ work. This is something like what I have seen in other Asian countries. But the slaughtered dogs was quite confronting. Well done.

[alastair_hm]

I think in the westernised countries we have been too far removed from the food chain.
We buy anonymous lumps of meat from the supermarket, with no idea what or were it came from.

[byrt_001]

http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/images...G_8441.jpg

but i thought man was best friend???

reallity shock

i visited once a chicken farm and from then on a was a vegetarian.

[Kombisaurus]

Fantastic shots and story here Uli. Really really really good.

Stories and images like these are great ways to get us to question our own behaviour. While it is certainly confronting and emotive, you've treated it very well by presenting it the way you have Uli. You haven't sensationalised the story, but you haven't watered it down for us either.

I also agree with most of the sentiments expressed regarding the treatment of animals and that many of us are shielded from the more gruesome steps involved in getting that sunday roast on the table.
I think we should be reminded of where meat comes from and the fact that a life was sacrificed in order for it to end up on our plates. While the hygene aspects of that particular market are questionable, I find it a much more "honest" way to sell meat and personally I think if we all had to shop for meat at places like that then we'd appreciate it a lot more and waste a lot less.

I think Alastair summed it up perfectly with "we have been too far removed from the food chain".

[wulinka]

Thanks Adrian!