Britain’s Prince of Wales has blamed food production methods for the recent horsemeat scandals during a conference in Germany
The future king of England voiced his opinions during a conference in Germany on regional food security, insisting more needs to be done to avoid such incidents happening again, describing them as “external shocks”.
Speaking to the Langenburg Forum at Langenburg Castle in the state of Baden-Württemberg – which he was invited to by his distant relative Philipp, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg – Charles said: “It may appear that things are well, Big global corporations may appear to be prospering out of operating on a global monocultural scale, but, as I hope you have seen, if you drill down into what is actually happening, things are not so healthy.
“Our present approach is rapidly mining resilience out of our food system and threatening to leave it ever more vulnerable to the various external shocks that are becoming more varied, extreme and frequent.”
The 64-year-old royal continued to suggest using cheaper food and substances, which earns bigger profits for the providers, decreases the values of the products and farmers who distribute supplies, forcing them “into the ground”.
He stated: “The aggressive search for cheaper food has been described as a ‘drive to the bottom’, which I am afraid is taking the farmers with it. They are being driven into the ground by the prices they are forced to expect for their produce and this has led to some very worrying shortcuts.
“The recent horsemeat scandals are surely just one example, revealing a disturbing situation where even the biggest retailers seem not to know where their supplies are coming from.
“It has also led to a very destructive effect on farming. We are losing farmers fast. Young people do not want to go into such an unrewarding profession.”
- Horsemeat: Millions Of UK Ready Meals Thrown Away (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Horse-meat found in 4.66% of tested beef products (horsetalk.co.nz)
- U.K. to Announce Review of Food Safety Over Horsemeat (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Arrests, Culprit Named in World-Wide Horsemeat Scandal (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Post-horsemeat scandal food standards (bigpondnews.com)
- Dutch trader arrested over horsemeat (bbc.co.uk)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Well it’s a wonderful day when Prince Charles speaks out on horse slaughter and the threat to global meat supply. This is an article to share with all the senators and congressmen on the ‘fence’ regarding the SAFE Act. We’re doing well getting congressmen/women to co-sponsor but we need the senate’s support also.
I say share/share/share! Thank you R.T. for another excellent article.
LikeLike
and that’s what happens when randomly sourced animals are permitted into the food chain..no one can say where they originated from , much less account for the years, and change of ownerships, medical/drug history prior to KB ownership..and yet all it takes is a worthless pc. of paper (EID)signed by a contract killbuyer to deem them as a food source..
LikeLike
Picture seems a little mean considering he is essentially speaking out against these practices involving horses. The royals DO love horses.
LikeLike
Yes, but why didn’t he say so. He could have easily spoken about the wonderful horse and how it cannot be humanely slaughtered.
LikeLike
In my opinion Prince Charles is the most influential public figure to date to have spoken about this scandal. I had read somewhere that Princess Kate is not eating meat during her pregnancy because of the risk to her developing fetus of exposure to any potentially adulterated food, especially horse laden beef, no matter how often an agricultural minister pronounces it “safe.” She is right not to take a chance – however small (they say) – with her baby’s health. Pregnant women in this country are advised against eating fish because of the high mercury levels. There are always alternatives and mothers-to-be cannot be too careful.
Prince Charles is right about food in general. Genetically engineered (GE) and genetically modified crops (GMOs) in the past few decades have produced “frankenfoods” for mass consumption that may be substantial contributors to the epidemic in obesity, diabetes and cancer rates. Add to that the growth hormones we used in animal products that are banned in Canada and the EU because of linkages to very specific hormonal related cancers, the overuse of antibiotics to kill diseases from feedlot filth, plus the way we need to chlorinate chickens – previously soaked in their fecal stew – to try to kill all that contamination, and it is no wonder we are a sick nation. The way cheap food is “produced” ensures that we will have very high medical expenses.
What can you do? Seriously cut way back on processed and fast food. Buy organic as much as possible, grow a garden, shop at the Farmer’s Markets/Fruit Stands and/or little country stores and ask the vendors how they grow their food. Help demonstrate a market for healthy food even if in the short term you pay a little more. You may have fewer medical problems/bills and the knowledge that you did not ingest horses in your “hamburger.” Isn’t that worth it?
LikeLike
This whole thing is appaling and disgusting. They need to start arresting some people in this country too, as I am sure they are involved. After all, its all about the almighty $$$. I wonder how many of the Kentucky Derby horses are going to market now, since they didn’t win. Humans are the worst animal on this planet.
LikeLike
Sent article to congressman Pat Meehan, and Senators Pat Toomey & Bob Casey – fyi
Meehan is a just lawman against horse slaughter, the PA Senators are wishy-washy and only tend to re-act when it’s re-election time which doesn’t impress me or capture my vote. I want the Senate to get off it’s “high horse” persae’ and take action to stop horse slaughter and transportation beyond US borders.
Pass the SAFE Act now before the USDA is forced to allocate funding for horse slaughter plant inspections.
LikeLike
“Corporations are people” (so says our Federal Courts) as such have rights in court but unlike us can buy their way out of anything, even crimes. Consequently our food. air, and land are all at risk we the people pay for their profits with out health and well being. Our American Mustangs and domestic horses are but $ in the never ending quest of PROFIT and GREED. Only when some calamity happens do we pause to think. I fear it’s too late to change the system it has overwhelmed us.
LikeLike
Prince Charles is correct about losing good honest farmers. Once they are lost they will never come back. Farming is hard work and you don’t get many days off. We need good farms in the U.S. and not factory farms. We need to pass the SAFE ACT and not let any slaughterhouses for horses open in the United States. This would be totally crazy to allow horse slaughter to resume again in the United States with all the facts on the table.
LikeLike
I certainly agree we need to keep our family farms alive and well. I didn’t mean to imply that that is not an important issue when I said the Prince was babbling about farm economy. I’m just disappointed that his remarks were oblique references to horsemeat rather than outright comments against horse slaughter.
LikeLike
I would have been more excited by the Prince’s comments if he had actually said how horrific horse slaughter is instead of just babbling about the downward spiral of farming. Would he like one of his polo ponies to end up on someone’s plate?
LikeLike
That probably hasn’t crossed his mind. I don’t think that the rich and elite worry about such things.
LikeLike
Diana, my sentiments exactly! He may have spoken out about over-all food & safety, but, he did not actually come out & say he’s against killing horses for food in the first place! Guess what, world, if stupid humans didn’t decide they just had to add horses to their menu, we wouldn’t have ever had this problem in the first place! Humans are disgusting selfish killing machines, & we have been, since the beginning of time, whether our intended targets or victims are other humans, or animals, or, even all the forests & other green spaces.
LikeLike
How did we slip out of this so quietly as if this did not hit our shores?
LikeLike
How do you know its not on our shores? Where have all of the wild horses gone the past years? I know that horse kill buyers get them cheap and Iimagine they are on plates in Europe, compliments of the good old U.S.A. I hope that I am wrong, but its a gut feeling.
LikeLike
One must wonder if not our food then what is really in our dog food?
LikeLike
Our dog food used to have horse meat in it years ago. I don’t know about now, as I don’t have a dog, so haven’t read the labels. I bet they will try to sneak horsemeat into our food chain, if this scandal is allowed to pass by without anything done about it. I don’t know if Obama was aware before the European horsemeat scandal happened, but I sure hope he is now. I hope that Salazar rots in Hell, if he is guilty and was part of the whole thing.
LikeLike
Oh yes, horsedrag and Judy G. Horse “by-products” are still in dog food, along with rendered euthanized cat & dog from kill shelters – and the phenobarbital used to kill them (which is not supposed to survive the rendering process if you believe what you are told). It is called “meal” and or “digest” on the package. Pet owners are used to cleaning up vomit as this concoction often makes there animals sick or worse. In cats, kidney disease is rampant as a result, especially with the more popular low end types of food found in grocery stores. Vets will tell you not to buy these brands.
Pet food is a largely unregulated industry and much of it is imported from Asia where even more poisonous substances sometimes are inadvertently included in the kibble – like melamine. Lots of pet deaths scandalized the country a few years ago attributable to imported pet food from multinational companies that used to be American. See “Foods Pets Die For” for more information. I believe the author’s name is Anne Miller (I loaned my copy out, sorry or I would check for accuracy).
The Ken L Ration company (now defunct) started using our “surplus” military horses for pet food after WWI. It was the first commercial pet food and an interesting bit of history. Later Americans became appalled and now pet food companies are careful not to list less socially acceptable forms of protein (other than lamb, cow, chicken, fish). The term protein “meal” is highly suspicious as they do not have to say what that is, but, again, whistleblowers have documented their findings and horse entrails were just some of the more disgusting ingredients.
The US imports horse meat from Canadian slaughterhouses to feed to zoos. We are the 6th largest importers after the European horse eating countries and Japan. This blog has an article with a graft that detailed the amount in tons.
LikeLike
http://www.cmc-cvc.com/en/about-us/industry-statistics/veal-lamb-horse-poultry
Information on horsemeat imported to the US and elsewhere.
LikeLike
Thanks for the info. What does the US use the horse meat for? I am assuming animal feed. Or, do our rich and famous like horse filets too?
LikeLike
Yes, Judy G. Zoo food. No, most “normal” Americans do not eat horses. See comment above about horses used for pet food.
LikeLike
I found this video and it is talking about BP Oil, the conspiracy behind the Wild Mustangs being round up, it is a MUST SEE I mean they have documentation to back the claim and how some of BP people go back and forth in positions at BLM and BP oh my god READ EVERYONE!!!
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/mustangconspiracy/part2.html
LikeLike
F— BP Oil. They will do their best to take down this country, because they don’t care. Its all about money.
LikeLike
I just got a answer back from Sinikka Crosland from Defend Horses Canada. She said they only have stats to the end of March 2013. That month the number of horses slaughtered was 5,531 as opposed to 5,768 in Feb.2013. This number was far down from March 2012, though, when 9,414 horses were slaughtered during that month. We did hear about slowdowns at the slaughter plants in March of this year, but the 2013 stats don’t really reflect a huge difference, month by month. At this time we’re not sure why.
I believe this is for all of the horses including the ones from the US along with the Canadian horses. This does seem to be a lower number after the horse meat and beef mess.
LikeLike
I have a greater respect for the prince after reading this. It’s good that he is speaking out about the issues and he is right from is financial standpoint, i read nothing about eithics in this article but still… right is right and he is siding with us and the horse..
LikeLike