Our blog won its category at the San Diego Press Club’s 36th Annual awards event on October 20, 2009, when yours truly was honored with the SDPC’s prestigious Excellence in Journalism Award.

According to the judges, my “Slaughterhouse Blues” exposé of the beef industry (posted a click away under our “Food Safety” section) won this coveted award for its merit as an “Extremely detailed and researched story on the sad and scary state of beef production today.”

Not to brag–OK, just a little–this Award reinforces the FreeRangeClub’s original mission and our unflagging dedication to serving you as both a food safety watchdog and information resource for healthy gourmet cooking, economical meal planning, waste prevention, smart grocery shopping and proper food handling.

I am also proud of the fact that from the beginning, this blog has been swimming against the Web-based tide of sloppy reporting and recycled, often invented or otherwise unreliable information; and continues to pursue such rock-solid “old journalism” values as craftsmanship, ethics, in-depth research and multiple-source fact-checking in order to provide you with the most accurate and timely information–and thus earn your trust and following.
Dina Eliash Robinson
Editor in Chief

Slaughterhouse Blues

by Dina Eliash Robinson

Scary Video —- Earlier this year, an undercover video shot by members of the Humane Society of the United States revealed that Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. of Chino, California—a major meat processor—was using torture to move ‘downer’ cows to slaughter and into the nation’s food supply. ‘Downer” is a name used for animals who collapse and cannot move under their own power. Since these symptoms are associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow” disease, federal law prohibits the inclusion of such non-ambulatory, or ‘downer’ animals in the human food supply.

the rest of the story……..