Meat + Poultry - April 2006 - 72

The Insider
Hitting the road

Best books

Toward the end of his
presentation about dealing with extreme animal
activists during this year's
International Poultry
Expo, Dr. Kellye Pfalzgraf, director of Tyson
Foods, Inc.'s office of animal well-being, gave industry representatives a head's up
about one of the leading complaints from consumers on an
unrelated topic. Pfalzgraf said in isolated incidences, live
chickens being transported to processing plants, too often
don't make it to their destination and end up "hitting the
road," literally.
"It's important to focus on cages and transport," said
Pfalzgraf, because the perception of hundreds of cringing
drivers driving by an injured or dead chicken on the highway, in the heart of poultry country, doesn't benefit anyone.
Pfalzgraf told attendees the No. 1 customer concern he
hears about in his office are reported by people "driving
and seeing birds on the highway."
In our travels through the Springdale, Ark., region
we've witnessed roadkill of the poultry variety. Most recently we saw a truck transporting chickens at highway
speeds with an escaped chicken balancing itself between
the trailer and the truck hauling it. Obviously fear was not
a factor for this bird.

Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State Univ.,
Fort Collins, and a MEAT&POULTRY
contributing editor, was recently
asked to choose her "best books" for
the March 10 edition of The Week, a
weekly news magazine.
The article featured six books along with brief commentary about each selection by Grandin, who wrote the 2004
bestseller, "Animals in Translation." Grandin, who is autistic, selected several books dealing with autism and mood
disorders, including "Touched with Fire," by Kay Redfield
Jamison and "Last Child in the Woods," by Richard Louv.
"If all the genes that cause autism or bipolar disorder were
eliminated, it would be a boring world," Grandin wrote in her
commentary about Jamison's book. "Many famous writers
had mood disorders. When I read this in 1993, it made me
realize that abnormality and creativity are linked."

Brought to you by
MEAT&POULTRY Magazine
Cartoon by Bob Bliss

Prime Ribbing

Over herd
"When it comes to food, there's
a thin line between joy and disgust."
- Jason Conti, a decorated superstar of competitive eating
contests, who calls himself a "gustatory gladiator."

Kosher hogs?
"We're in a couple of categories that are very
trendy," said Gary Malenke, president of Sioux
Preme Pork, Sioux Center, Iowa, while leading a
forum on "Carving Out Your Own Niche Through
Marketing" at last month's North American Meat
Processors Association's 49th Management Conference. Malenke was referring to the niche markets such as organic and natural pork produced at
his operation.
A member of the standing-room-only crowd, in
an attempt at humor, quipped, "It still escapes me
how you can have an organic or natural pig."
Mike Satzow, owner of North Country Smokehouse, Claremont, N.H., who also was leading the
forum with Malenke, quickly retorted, "He says
he's got some kosher ones too," triggering thunderous laughter throughout the room.
Have an item for The Insider?
E-mail it to: theinsider@sosland.com

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