Mission
- To promote availability of torture-free and hygienic meat to consumers.
- Right to occupation and inclusion of communities traditionally involved in meat industry (SC/ST/Sikh/Punjabi and others) and promotion of an egalitarian environment in society.
- To help people practise their tradition of consuming Jhataka meat.
- To network all involved in Jhataka meat business for addressing their concerns and for providing them an effective voice.
- To enhance consumer choice in what type of meat they consume.
Absence of Torture
Currently, most of the meat available in Bharat is by killing the animal in a very torturous and traumatic way. Here, the animal’s windpipe, food-pipe and jugular veins are cut in a single stroke, but its neck remains intact. Thus the animal is left to die while its blood flows out slowly.
The Jhataka method of slaughtering animals is far more humane. Here, the animal is slaughtered from the back of the neck cutting the spinal cord as well as the entire neck in a single, heavy stroke. Thus the animal dies instantaneously, and does not experience torture.
None of us want to consume food that comes from the torture of a living being. So even if you are not religious, Jhataka should be your meat of choice.
Jhataka Promotes Inclusion in Society of SC/ST/Sikh/Punjabi etc.
Over the last several decades, lakhs of people who have traditionally slaughtered animals using the Jhataka method, have been pushed out of business and their markets have been aggressively taken away in an organized way. Today, Jhataka meat sellers find it almost impossible to get licenses for their meat shops, operate slaughterhouses, and have access to wholesale markets. Almost all large-scale meat consumers in Bharat (airlines, big restaurants, fast-food chains etc.) do not, by policy, buy Jhataka meat. Further, Jhataka meat producers cannot produce halal meat as it by definition cannot be produced by non-Muslims. Thus, tens of lakhs of people, primarily Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, have lost their livelihoods. Most of these people are Sonkars, Valmikis, Khatiks, Arya-Khatiks, Pasis etc., who have been in the meat profession for centuries.
Helps You Practice Your Religious Requirements Related to Meat
The idea that any meat consumed should be torture-free is very old in Bharat. Several Shakta and Shaivite traditions in Bengal, Punjab, Nepal, and the North East require that any meat consumed should be from Jhataka-slaughtered animals only. Similar practices are also followed in Rajasthan and several other regions. In the Khalsa Code of Conduct, Sikhs are required to strictly abstain from kutha (i.e. halal) meat and consume, if any, only Jhataka meat. However, people are unable to practice their faith as Jhataka meat is not easily available across the country. Promoting Jhataka meat helps you practice your traditional and religious dietary practices, and strengthens your faith.
Diverse Supply Chain
Jhataka meat comes from a diverse group of suppliers, rather than from a single group. More consumer choice is always good. It promotes competition, quality, innovation, service standards, and reduces waste and costs.
Jhataka – The Healthier Option
Jhataka meat is better because it comes from animals that do not experience trauma during their last moments. The Journal of Animal Science and researchers at the University of Milan's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine found that “fear experienced during slaughter significantly elevates meat's levels of stress hormones—adrenaline, cortisol, and other steroids” . Studies have shown that consuming such hormones can adversely affect our health, reproductive systems and mental state. Further, many traditional Jhataka meat-sellers wash the meat in turmeric-water, after slaughter. This disinfects the meat, as well as the area where it is kept. This is another reason why Jhataka is the healthier option.
