I know being vegetarian makes me feel odd (to say the least) about barbecues and the cooking of meat. However, this one story seems more gross than all other experiences or tales of barbecues.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080414/tod-uk-uruguay-barbecue-063ac92.html
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=51547§ionid=3510212
In Uruguay, 12 metric tonnes of beef have been cooked in a display barbecue, built by the army, stretching for 1.5 kilometres! This is a self-confessed marketing gimmick, awarded a Guinness World Record. About 1,250 people did the cooking and about 20,000 watched.
Yuk! Imagine the smell of burnt meat. I just hope that all that beef has gone to a good cause, rather than being wasted. If my calculations are correct, the spectators and cooks could not have consumed that much themselves.
It must represent of the order of 100 animals, at a rough estimate, slaughtered, butchered and grilled for a "gimmick".
This seems like a slaughter frenzy. Putting this in context, however, we in the UK killed and burned 10 million cattle and sheep in the 1991 Foot and Mouth (FMD) disaster so I think the Uruguayans still have some catching up to do. Our excuse then was 'to protect' the beef export trade. The Uruguayan motivation was to raise publicity for the Uruguayan beef export trade, currently worth over £400 million to them.
Not to mention a reported 6 tonnes of charcoal and all those carbon emissions. Oh well ......
I cannot and do not expect everyone to share my vegetarian sensitivities but I do feel that respect for our environment and respect for life are precious commodities. I hope that, in amongst the general merriment, the animals were remembered and respected.
[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]