Butchers fighting cheap meat | DW Documentary

Mark Junglas is disgusted by conventional factory farming. The trained butcher wants to do better. Eating meat is fine, he says. But only if the animals have led a good, species-appropriate life — and experience a stress-free death.

When Mark was forced to slaughter a calf at the age of 16, it was a terrible experience. It also sparked his life-long commitment to animal welfare. Mark left the conventional meat industry. Three years ago, the 35-year-old took over the management of an ultra-modern organic farm with over 100 cattle. He keeps his cattle in a species-appropriate manner and uses his own slaughtering and distribution processes.

But getting the farm out of the red while holding his own against the influx of cheap meat is no easy task. Even though animal welfare is very much in vogue, few people are prepared to pay more for organic meat. Mark has lots of ideas about how to boost sales: he experiments with meat dishes he creates himself and tries to win over a new, nutrition-conscious clientele via social media channels and marketing. The film accompanies Mark Junglas on his journey. Will he remain true to himself, and his animals, through all the ups and downs? Or will he give up on his mission to strive for the highest animal welfare — and the best meat?

#documentary #dwdocumentary #meat
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33 comments

  1. As much as I love and depend on meat, I don't mind the price going up 20% (I'm not swimming in money, I promise) if that means we have a system that ensures that animals aren't raised to constantly exist in a state of being tortured. As much as I love veal, maybe we shouldn't be eating that one.

  4. Amazing young Man.his generation and my kids give me hope for the Planet.Sometime im ashamed of the mess, mine and previous generations have bequeathed them.There eys are opening to the Scam and planet/ human consuming thing the modern Capitalist model is.

  7. I have stopped eating meat because of the appalling way we treat our animals. However, if I had access to meat like this I MIGHT just be tempted to eat it once a week again.

  9. He said we give the cows a great life before we slaughter them 😂😂😂😂 I loved the massage brushes the cows are using. A happy cow is definitely important

  10. 😵‍💫🤯👿🤬No animal chooses to be your food. Animal agriculture is unhealthy and unnecessary for human survival. These soulless businesses need to close down! Evil animal agriculture is responsible for climate change, pandemics and heart disease.

  11. Why are they in the barn then? Why is the metal, the hay shower, and all the nonsense needed? Cows don't need barns just like deer and any other grazing animal in the wild. If they are calving AFTER green-up, they get rich feed just as the spring flush hits and no calves die in snow. If the animals are aclimatized to the area, there is zero reason to put them in a barn or use metal to rain down hay. Move the animals daily…its not like you don't have 100 hectacres to graze. Give the grass 30-60-90 days or whatever is needed to recover and keep the pasture diverse, and costs go down.

  13. Don't loose faith. People who value this welfare ethos know the effort and standards and are happy to pay for it. We need people like Mark and for the populations to know the difference between the standards.

  14. Exactly. Let's not complain about price changes and demand Beef even though we know the conditions are atrocious. Let's make proper Animal Husbandry, and if you can afford the steak then you can buy it, but we treat it the same as our ancestors, a treat. Maybe I should not be able to get it 16hours /day every single day at every single McDonalds..

  15. Mark is awesome. Here in New Zealand, they about to reverse a law to put live cows back on ships. So horrible the conditions cows are put through. Just for Greed for money.

  18. Mark claims to have been an animal lover since birth. In this doc, we see that he has spent his entire life hunting, enslaving, butchering and murdering animals. He furthermore claims he gives his cows a humane life. Yet he ultimately murders them just like they are murdered in every other situation for human consumption. Maybe their life has been better than that in the factory farm, but there is NO SUCH THING as humane slaughter. He has basically spent his entire life abusing sentient animals, even rabbits, chickens and others. He should be totally ashamed to claim animal welfare. No Mark, it's not food, it's violence.

  21. Over-enthusiastic and kind of spoiled that Mark! You can't do business with just your vision and desire. You have to be relevant! He couldn't even be bothered to change the label, on the advice of someone with much much more experience and industry insight, and put the most important selling point on the front, the quality grade!
    38:09 He was even complaining that people don't lineup to be his customers "on their own accord", and that he has to put in an effort to sell! Unbelievable!

  22. Im too broke to buy real food, but I long for the day I get out of this hole and can save for a farm of my own. However, that will land me in another hole, but I dont have much else I want to do. Politics are so unfair now.

  26. do not forget what has been done to the Netherland's farmer!!! they are coming for us as well as here in the US, using the federal government to enforce their policies. that is why most middle class is for former president!!!!! he will take care of us stopping this nonsense…

  28. It is so refreshing to see such a knowledgeable and passionate person who conducts their business with care in contrast to all the soulless robots seeking nothing but profits. All the money in the world cannot bring purpose or meaning to your life; in fact its so nearly your enemy. The more you can train your mind to gain happiness without the need of money; the more beautiful a creation you will become. Seek the beauty of life without being avaricious or vainglorious

  29. What consumers really care about is taste. If you can show potential customers that treating the animal better results in a better tasting steak (better marbling, flavour, tenderness, aroma) then you will convince many more people to buy ethically raised meat than you would just by saying that it is a better moral choice.

    Like if you can show a restaurant group that your product while more expensive is of higher quality and has the benefit of being more ethically sourced you'd be able to create a steady demand and grow awareness of your products….

  33. I live in the Netherlands and seeing how farmers and butchers here treat their animals breaks my heart. As a country, we're far behind on organic farming and animal welfare. Most farmers here need to be forced to treat their animals with some kind of dignity.

    Often when it's 30 degrees in the summer, you see cows or sheep baking in the sun, with a heap of animals all squished together in the only tiny patch of shade in the whole field. Because the farmers couldn't be bothered to provide some sort of shelter where they get out of the sun if they want. And that's just one example. I've been eating organic since I was a poor student. It's not a question of whether you can afford it, it's a question of whether you're willing to give up something else in your hobbies/holidays/expenses to do it.

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