Are you worried about what you put in your body? Many people, such as yourself, may check the amount of calories that your chicken sandwich has, or check the ingredients of a suspicious looking smoothie. However we, as a society, never really think about where the product has come from, or, even worse; if the manufacturers could be lying to us about the ingredients.
We’ve all heard about the recent horsemeat scandal: it seems like every day there’s a new section on the news about a different company selling sausages containing conspicuous horsemeat. From Tesco to Ikea; this epidemic seems to be revealing itself all over the country. But what do the local people of Surrey have to say about this up and coming scandal?
A music journalist expressed her views strongly and without hesitation, ‘I feel that it was inevitable because people want cheaper and cheaper food and adulterated food is bound to be the result.’ Does she think it’s morally right? ‘I don’t personally find the idea of eating horse revolting but I do think it’s immoral to label something as beef when in fact it’s not.’ This view is echoed by a father and TV editor, who says ‘Using other forms of meat is obviously a cheaper alternative to using actual beef, so it’s inevitable that this has happened. However, that does not excuse it. I don’t mind if I eat horse too much, but the moment someone puts something into my body without my knowledge, whether it be the type of meat or the ridiculous chemicals that are injected into it, I have a problem.’
This seems to be the general view of most people in the area – they don’t mind eating horse, but the fact that the suppliers and manufactures are calling a product something that it’s not means that they don’t know fully what they are putting into their body, and is essentially morally wrong. A big issue for the local people is of course the chemicals that may be injected into the horses, as mentioned before. However, many people feel that this is hypocrisy, such as a local student, ‘Everything we eat has chemicals in it. All the meat we eat, whether it be beef, chicken, lamb; it all has chemicals injected into it that make it tastier and safer for us to eat. The chemicals that are injected into horses are no different.’
Although, that is not the case with some people, as the very thought of eating horsemeat is too much for them. A local horse lover expresses her feelings; ‘I’ve loved and cared for horses all my life, so the fact that I may be eating my favourite animal scares me to death. It’s unjust and immoral.’
The main views of the local people reflect what most people are saying around England - we don’t mind horse, what we mind is the chemicals and lack of morals.
