In a rather surprising move, British Airways announced this week that it will no longer be serving beef aboard its (often Hindu-filled) flights in economy (a.k.a. “cattle”) class:
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What will become of me now? What will they pay me in if not in beef? |
British Airways has ditched beef for economy class passengers this summer in an attempt to appeal to a more international passenger base.
The familiar cabin crew inquiry of “chicken or beef?” will not be heard in economy after the airline ditched the national dish in favour of what it calls a lighter, healthier option.
Critics will suspect that the relentless pressure to cut costs that all airlines are facing is behind the move, although BA said cost was not a factor…“We can only serve two options and beef and pork obviously have religious restrictions,” the spokesman added. BA’s second-biggest long-haul market, after transatlantic routes, is to India. [Link]
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p>As might be expected, many Brits were not happy about this. For one thing, what the hell are all the Beefeaters going to do?
The decision to scrap the nation’s favourite fare was described as a “great shame” by the English Beef and Lamb Executive, formerly part of the Meat and Livestock Commission.
A spokesman said: “It is regrettable that Britain’s flag carrier is not proposing to serve Britain’s national dish.
“It is a meal we are rightly proud of. Roast beef and beefeaters are symbols or Britain used to promote tourism.
“Our beef is also much in demand overseas. It is predominately grass fed and highly praised for its flavour. [Link]
What is really regrettable, in my opinion, is that moves like this, made under the guise of multicultural sensitivity, more often than not backfire and may increase resentment of Hindus living in England. “Just another British tradition being erased by the immigrants.” In reality, British Airways did this to save money, not to be sensitive:
… as any Jew, Muslim, Hindu or vegetarian knows, meals that conform to religious belief or personal choice can be ordered in advance. That is why bacon sandwiches are handed out on early-morning shuttle flights without causing a riot.
So something is fishy and it is not just the pie. No, what we have here is space-saver wheel syndrome, or another example of the way the consumer is hoodwinked under the guise of efficiency, health, safety, security or conservation, while the reality of big business is always bottom line, bottom line, bottom line. British Airways may dissemble, but beef being available to those who wish to pay means that better living and religious sensitivity do not enter into it. Beef prices have risen from £2,500 per tonne to £4,000 per tonne in the past three months. If BA was upfront with its public, the announcement would read: if you can’t afford it at home, you ain’t getting it on us. At least then you would know where you stood. [Link]
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p>For British Airways it is easier to “blame” the loss of beef on Hindus than to admit that cost cutting is necessary. A third way of looking at this is that getting rid of the beef on BA flights is actually good for the environment and will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is how British Airways should have justified the decision:
Meet the world’s top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.
A United Nations report has identified the world’s rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs. [Link]
Actually, that sounds the most plausible of all the theories. For ages BA has served something called ‘Hindu meals’ on board its flights from India. I took a India-London-US BA flight as late as Feb this year & because I have a Hindu name, the travel agent filled in the Hindu meal preference against my booking. I had to spend the entire time eating tasteless veggies & bland chicken.
Other passengers with no such hang-ups were asked their respective choices & served accordingly. On this background, BA’s concern sounds about as genuine as [i]tasty[/i] British food.
Don’t forget about the methane emissions from the cows. Would passengers really be upset at the airline for not including beef? I mean come on it’s not like people’s favorite part about flying is the airplane food.
Would passengers really be upset at the airline for not including beef?
people are often more bothered by what they can’t get/can’t have, that what they have. additionally, my personal impression is that for those without religious taboos you can bet that there is less irrational aversion to beef than chicken & fish (i.e., a proportion of people won’t each any given meat/fish because they don’t like or thought it was gross as kids; i would bet this is more of an issue with fish than chicken though).
Beef on the flight menu doesn’t bother me. It’s the heifer spilling over the seat next me on a long haul flight that I wish they banned.
Chicken tikka masala? Or maybe fish and chips if you’re older than a certain age.
Sounds like they have a real beef with BA, which might be too chicken to admit its real reasons. Something smells fishy for sure. I’m sure that the decision-makers just want people to follow like sheep, but they forget that airline travel screw-ups can make people behave like animals. Even in normal circumstances, most people feel like vegetables at the end of a long flight. The only exceptions are the health-obsessed granola types, but they were always nuts.
Keep punning and like that and it will lead you to be slaughtered like a lamb.
Predominately grass-fed, eh? What else do British cows eat? Braaiiinnnnsssss? Or just graaiiinnnnsssss?
And also, does anyone find it slightly unnerving that the spokesperson did not say who has been praising the flavor of British beef? For all we know, it could be other British cows. Braaiiinnnnsssss! Soft spongy braaiiinnnnsssss!
They’ve suspended brain and spinal matter used in feed. fishmeal is still used as protein, as it is around the world.
that said, the choicest cuts are of veal that is harvested before the calf has been weaned. the flesh is butter soft and melt in mouth goodness. the muscle is so delicate and juicy it literally separates in the mouth.
On another note – i personally think fish harvesting is no more or less morally upright than beef farming. For every chilean bass you are enjoying today fer instance, there’s a couple of hundred kilos of lower-end aqualife that got obliterated. At least the cow lives and dies alone – like akela the lone wolf, or like clint eastwood, do ye feel lucky, punk!.
Why can’t BA set the record straight?
Beef in India is awesome – lean, juicy, and flavourful. Syrian beef curry, Bangalore Beef Brinjal, and Bade Miyan’s Boti Kabab in Colaba, the kati rolls at Nizam’s Calcutta, I could go on…
8 · khoofia said
the calf is actually starved for weeks before slaughter to get that butter soft-y goodness of a veal. but i don’t know if they do that in britain as well?? here in America they do.
I’m a Hindoo and I eat beef!
But I don’t care what Brutish Airways serves…flights are always nasty, Brutish and long…
British Airways is my first choice when I fly to South Asia. idea
9 · jyotsana said
I’ve had Indian beef some years ago in Christian Kerala (at a Hindu family’s home). I think that the meat may have been more tougher (or this may have been because of Indian’s over-cooking of meats). Goat meat rules, my friend. Next time, I think that I’ll have to try Indian beef. Did you know that the Brahma bull, which is the predominant meat cow in S. and N. America, came from the Indian zebu cow? Also, there are about 100M cows in the USA and about 400M in India, and on a per capita basis, these two numbers are equal.
Finally, I recently read, maybe on this thread, that cows are the biggest causes of greenhouse gases, and it surpasses CO2 emissions from cars. I find this VERY hard to believe. If this is true, then I will consider removing beef from my diet.
khoofia:
Uh-huh. Not to mention that higher-end aquatic life as well – dolphins, turtles, sharks, even whales are strangled in nets. Not to mention the destruction done to coral reefs by cyanide poisoning and trawler nets. Let’s not forget about those species which are driven to the brink of extinction – cod, eel, yellowfin and bluefin tuna. Unfortunately these days fish is increasingly touted as the healthier option compared to red meat. Fishing is really the least morally acceptable form of animal harvesting!
The link you want to read is the one Abhi quoted. Be advised that the agriculture vs transportation vs industry vs residential/commercial split can get a little fuzzy at the edges. For instance, should the environmental impact of fertilizer manufacture be counted in the agriculture sector or in the industry sector? How about transporting plants/animals/fungi and their derivatives – agriculture or transportation sector? And so on. In most cases, seemingly inconsistent results between different studies are usually caused by such differences in classification, but for any one classification, the year-to-year trends should be easily comparable.
The best meat I had was salt water crocodile. Tender and Soft.
that cows are the biggest causes of greenhouse gases, and it surpasses CO2 emissions from cars. I find this VERY hard to believe.
Link to CO2 from transportation
Link to CH4 from animal husbandry
Since CH4 is 21 times more effective at trapping heat, the 2005 numbers adjusted for the same trapping capacity imply that cows beat cars in the US by about 25%. Get rid of the cow, keep the car, for now!
I love beef. But I won’t miss the mystery beef I have gotten on airlines in the past. I have enjoyed the lamb stuff I ate on international flights.
BA could have done a better job at spinning this. Instead of the Hindu angle they really should have focused on the environment benefits. For the last couple of years, the Hindu meal that I request has been veg stuff, while earlier it used to be chicken curry. In fact 2 years back on Lufthansa, an old desi couple insisted they had requested the Hindu meal and wanted chicken instead of the vegetarian meal they got, the attendant had a tough time convincing them that they were eating the Hindu meal. The bean counters are placing all meats on the chopping block mainly to cut costs. Why be coy and say Hindus will get offended?
a saltie is a great dish especially when cooked with spices. alligators are tougher meat.
but the healthiest meat of the lot is Kangaroos. very lean meat – hardly any fat.
Kangaroo meat is to gamey. It too hard to eat. I once had Kangaroo Korma on the gold coast, won’t try it again.
the economic reasons don’t sound very un-fishy either. beef, if sourced from india, would be cheaper than most other meats. and i thought it was live cows which caused emissions and not dead ones.