Birth and death at closed. Until the end, this Charolais heifer will have seen the light of day. No unnecessary stress, long truck rides, or trampling at the slaughterhouse door. A little knock on the hindquarters and she followed a few seconds a course between barriers along the straw bales before going through the door of the truck and being immobilized. This is where the matador came into action. An operation carried out under the supervision of a veterinarian.
“Huge pressures”
They are five to work every day in this first mobile slaughterhouse created by Émilie Jeannin, a breeder of Côte-d’Or. “For the first time in my life, I was able to benefit from training”, explains a former slaughterhouse employee. ” And that changes everything “, he explains with a smile.
“I launched this idea when Stéphane Le Foll was still Minister of Agriculture”, explains this tall blonde woman with a warm smile, holder of a license in psychology.
We did not rush to support her. And especially not Bigard the number 1 in the sector. “I was under tremendous pressure. ” The idea however gained ground. Today, the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, is even convinced of the interest of this project which has received financial support as part of the recovery plan. The Public Investment Bank (BPI) as well as a participatory loan with the Miimosa platform completed this round table.
Belly ball
Agriculture is a harsh world where you don’t give yourself freebies. When her father fell into a coma following a car accident in 2006, Emilie Jeannin worked at the chamber of agriculture and was expecting her first child. Some of its neighbors are already eyeing the 260 hectares they could share. Anonymous calls to the veterinary services, opening of the enclosures where the Charolais are located, nothing will be spared him.
First alone then with her brother who has come to join her, she holds on, rediscovers the passion to breed on this organic farm. Corn “With a lump in my stomach” seeing the Charolais take the road to the slaughterhouse. How to do otherwise? Go further than his father, who had created a direct sales channel after the mad cow. A trip to Sweden where she discovers a mobile slaughterhouse created by a Swedish breeder will convince her that other solutions exist.
Go until the end
“We take it for granted that ever larger industrial tools are needed because that’s the only way to generate some profitability. But this system remains very opaque and results in aberrations. It is in the territories where there are the most animals that there are the fewest slaughterhouses. “
His company, named Ethical beef, was born from this long reflection. “ I wanted to go all the way. Focus on quality over quantity. The work of INRAE researchers (National Research Institute for Agriculture) from Clermont-Ferrand have also shown that stress has an impact on the quality of the meat ”, adds Émilie Jeannin.
Strict specifications
About thirty breeders have already signed a contract. The calendar is full until Christmas. The commercial relationship is made by taking into account the production cost indicators of the sector and with prices in a range 20 to 30% higher than the market.
But again on an ethical basis: animal welfare, link to the soil, preference for fattening with grass, no use of palm oil and urea. The meat is sold to bistros and brasseries, a starred chef but also in a central kitchen in Dijon.
The Assises of Agriculture, Food and Health
The fifth edition of these meetings organized by West France will take place on Thursday 2 and Friday 3 December 2021 at the Cité des congrès de Nantes (Loire Atlantique). In addition to debates devoted to food sovereignty, grading and animal welfare, a master class is organized with young people from agricultural high schools and future engineers. More information on the website evenements.ouest-france.fr/assisesdelaterre.
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