The confronting ABC Four Corners footage of Australian cattle being grossly abused and slaughtered in Indonesia abattoirs has caused a flurry among the general public and animal activist groups. As a result, the Federal Government announced a ban on all live cattle exports to Indonesia until safeguards were put in place by all Indonesian abattoirs.
The move, unfortunately, didn’t go down too well with everyone: farmers within the cattle industry lost their jobs and meat suppliers and retail owners watched their meat sales slump.
In a rather bold move, Sydneysider Julian Kennedy launched a Facebook page / event inviting his mates and their mates (and their mates) to support Australian farmers by eating Aussie beef tomorrow night.
On his ‘Eat Australian Beef 17th June 2011’ page, Kennedy writes:
“As a double whammy to cattle farmers, the ABC reported on the 6th of June a dramatic fall in beef sales all around Australia. This puts further pressure on farmers, who we all know are doing it tough after years of drought, floods, cyclones and financial crisis. Our livelihoods depend greatly on our Australian farmers, so lets do our best to get behind those who need us most right now!”
As I write this, 2549 people have declined Kennedy’s invitation, but a whopping 9101 others (and this number seems to be increasing rapidly with every sentence I write) have said yes (including me) to eating a plate of Australian beef tomorrow night.
I want to know – has Four Corners’ footage deterred you from eating Australian beef?
Image: chilcottsbutchery.com.au