Meat packer said his daughter cried when she learned about his job by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
In a video posted by the American Meat Institute (AMI) on YouTube.com, a member of the organization said his daughter cried when she was told what he did for a living, and that the incident illustrates his commitment to integrity.
Jerry Karczewski, plant manager at Cargill Regional Beef Facility in Milwaukee explained:
“When we lived in Pennsylvania, I worked at the Cargill plant there, and one day my wife brought my five-year-old daughter out to pick me up. And my wife was explaining about these pretty cows and that they were going to be turned into hamburger. That’s what Dad did. My daughter cried.
"Pretty cows" (Photo: Big Stock)
“And, uh, that just… I… What I’m doing, I think I have a responsibility to my family to do well, to do ethically, to do it with integrity, because that’s what they expect out of me.”
In the remainder of the video, “Humane Handling in the U.S. Meat Industry (Part 1)," other AMI members as well as slaughter plant academician Dr. Temple Grandin discussed their interest in assuring humane animal treatment.
In the opening credits, AMI described the video as follows:
“This video includes plant footage in animal handling areas of plants and interviews with Temple Grandin of Colorado State University and the members of the American Meat Institute Animal Welfare Committee who manage animal welfare programs throughout the U.S. meat industry.
“[The] video details the U.S. meat industry’s partnership with animal welfare expert Temple Grandin. [It] details the benefits of humane handling and how the industry strives for low-stress cattle handling.
“Different industries use different raw materials. Automakers need steel, mufflers, and tires. Cloth makers need fabric and thread. The meat industry, uniquely, needs live animals to produce its products. This brings with it a significant responsibility and one that the meat packing industry takes seriously.”
For more info: American Meat Institute Public Affairs Department Tel. (202) 587-4200 Publicaffairs@meatami.com
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is the author of 17 novels for publishers including Avon, E.P. Dutton, and Simon & Schuster, and hundreds of articles for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, San Francisco Chronicle, and Veggie Life. She wrote a teleplay for CBS and short fiction for The Bark magazine. With coauthor Shelley Frost, she wrote Your Adopted Dog (The Lyons Press). Holding a B.A. in Environmental Science Studies and a lifelong interest in animal issues, she spends a lot of her time battling a severe addiction to dogs.
