Like it or not, your industry is changing. Everything changes; it always has, and it always will. All industries need to evolve and adapt and the meat industry is no different. We are seeing advancements in robotic automation, artificial intelligence, bio-engineered foods, x ray scanning and all sorts of technology currently, but what about the terminology we use every day?
Even with all of these advancements, we are still hearing reports of two thirds of red meat processors being hampered by labour issues and how hard it is to attract locals to work at the local abattoirs
Furthermore, could we increase community engagement and public image by changing the terminology? Could we also minimise the impact of detrimental emotive arguments used by animal activists?
A recent question put out to NSW Farmers' delegates at its annual conference was whether to slaughter or to process meat? After a discussion, they made the decision to change the use of the word "slaughter" when referring to the livestock industry and would use the term "processing" in lieu of, and to the complete exclusion of the term "slaughter".
The land reported that Jack Skipper (from the Southern Highland branch) who put forward the motion said there was unfortunate connotations with the word slaughter in the animal food chain. "The word slaughter is not appropriate for our industry as we are processing animals through the various stages that end up for food. It's not a mass murder."
This public image also relates to our legal system. A Senior Manger within the industry recently heard a court case where a judge was really concerned with the terminology being used when lawyers were referencing ‘kill floors’ and ’slaughterhouses’.
It is already happening in some abattoirs within Australia, with some currently working on changing the terminology. Not only are they trying to improve the culture and their image, but they hope to attract new people to the industry whilst also dissuading people that may have other unwanted interests.
Here is an example of what these new terms could look like
- Abattoir or Slaughterhouse could be a
- “Food Processing Facility”
- Kill Floor or Slaughter Floor could be a
- “Harvest Floor” or "Processing Floor"
- Boning room could be a
“Fabrication Room”
- Offal could be
“Revenue”
- Loadout could be
“Cold Chain Distribution”
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think we should change the terminology or stick to our guns and normalise the reality instead? Do you have any ideas of what new terminology could look like?
References
Adrian Osuchowski - Director @ Orion Search
Orion Search assists Primary Processors (Abattoirs & Boning Rooms) and Further Processors (Value Added Meat, Ready-To-Eat & Smallgoods) within Beef, Lamb, Pork and Poultry employ their hard to find, permanent staff all across Australia.