Comments on: Jamie's America New York City Episode Shows Scary Inner Workings of a Queens Slaughterhouse [video]

By: Zora

Zora — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:02:40 +0000

I hear ya. I'm sure there are regulations they're breaking. (Though I have never seen anyone smoking around the _dead_ animals!) But I still trust this place a lot more than some giant Midwestern meatpacking operation, and I'd hate to see it shut down while nasty-ass mega-scale butchery gets a free pass just because no one actually sees it.

So I'll continue to get my meat there until I get sick, which I'm pretty confident will be never...

BTW, there was a great story in Gourmet in July 2007 about a halal fresh-kill place in Brooklyn. Not online, unfortunately.

By: Joe DiStefano

Joe DiStefano — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:10:56 +0000

umm it's dan dan noodles not "dang dang!"

By: James

James — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:58:42 +0000

I don't know Zora, you say clean, but I see the guys smoking in a place where butchery occurs. I see animals running around on the same floor where dead animal parts are lumped into a pile. And that's what they allowed the camera crew to record! I can't imagine what goes on in that place behind closed doors, when no one else is around. There are rules and laws about health and sanitation, and that's so people don't get sick and fucking die. Feel free to keep shopping there though!

By: maxpickle

maxpickle — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:43:36 +0000

Love the show & Jaime but, I wish it could be longer. The segments seemed edited down too much.
Zora- It would have been great to see more of the cooking and food you guys did. He obviously really enjoyed it. I am sure they care as you say but,rarely is food poisoning done on purpose . It's usually from accidental cross contamination & mishandeling of food.
Regardless,fowl shouldn't be freerangin' around slautered meat...
and,... the cigarette hanging from his mouth?!
Someone should have given them a heads up about the cameras.
Sadly, I smell a health inspection coming...

By: Zora

Zora — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:48:21 +0000

I've been a regular customer of that slaughterhouse for years, and in fact suggested it to the producers (I'm one of the supper-club crew in another segment). Fine, it's not the most photogenic place, but it's a clean operation run by people who care, and the meat is excellent. It's well documented that any meat you buy in a grocery store was killed in far nastier and less sanitary conditions--conditions I can't see. At this place, I can walk in, pick out the healthiest animal, and have it killed and butchered in 10 minutes. I've watched the whole process, and it's not like they're mopping up the hooves off the floor and serving them to people in hot dogs...which I'm certain is what happens in high-volume commercial slaughterhouses. As Jamie says, people should know where their meat comes from. I tend to think that if you don't like the idea of live animals being killed on demand, then maybe meat-eating is not for you.

By: S

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:43:15 +0000

I never knew there was a Trader's Joe in Queens. Now there's a slaughterhouse!!!!????? The more we know...

By: Chef Gwen

Chef Gwen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:15:12 +0000

Wow. At first, after reading your post, I decided not to watch the video, but how can I leave a comment without seeing what you're discussing? So I watched it. And understand your obvious concerns.

Killing and cleaning animals on a farm for consumption by the family is one thing, but when you sell to the public, certain expectations arise -- like sanitation. Must say the operation looked cleaner than I would have expected. They knew cameras were coming?

Glad you covered this. I wouldn't have seen it otherwise as I'm not a Jamie Oliver show-watcher. Thanks.