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Z oila Isabel Sandoval sits on a hard wooden chair in front of the LA Fresh Poultry spice rack, waiting to place an order with the clerk. The basket of her rolling walker is full of groceries. She is in a good mood. Today is her son's 40th birthday, and they will prepare a sumptuous family lunch to celebrate. She plans to make several Guatemalan-style dishes, including arroz con pollo chapina and pollo en jocon, a tomato-based stew. For this, she needs six freshly slaughtered chickens.

Sandoval grew up in the farm town of San Rafael Las Flores in southern Guatemala, where she and her mother raised chickens and pigs at home.

"I like to see them grow up, especially when they have chicks or pigs," Sandoval said in Spanish.

After moving to Los Angeles twenty years ago, she struggled to find a place where she could buy fresh slaughtered chickens.

"I have been eating like this since I was in my mother's belly," she said with a smile.

She felt relieved when she found LA Fresh Poultry, a 2000 square foot market not far from the MacArthur Park Apartments.

This shop sells live chickens, turkeys, quails, ducks, pigeons and rabbits, and its butcher will slaughter them on site. In the eyes of the law, this may make LA Fresh Poultry a "wet market"-a business that may soon be banned in the city of Los Angeles.

On June 10, the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion, which may mark the beginning of the end of the wet market. The motion requires the Los Angeles Department of Urban Planning, the Department of Construction and Security, and the City’s Attorney’s Office to provide an "accurate definition" of the "wet market" and make recommendations on which "institutions and practices should be prohibited."

Bob Blumenfield was one of the two city councillors who initiated the motion. He told us that the information he requested was not a complete wet market ban. Rather, it is a "report on the feasibility of such a law." However, he added, “This is the first step in prohibiting the sale of creatures for human consumption in Los Angeles.”

Although city officials did not provide a definition for “wet market,” California defines “live animal market” (an equivalent term) as “a retail food market in which animals are Stored alive and sold to consumers for the purpose of human consumption.” The California Penal Code PEN § 597.3 further explains that “animals” refer to frogs, turtles, and birds for human consumption, except for poultry. "

According to city councillor Paul Koretz, another sponsor of the bill, Los Angeles City officials are still working with Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer to draft the law. "The focus is mainly on animals that have unknown effects on the diseases that may be transmitted," Koretz told us, although he admitted that there is no guarantee that the regulations will be limited to animals that are normally associated with diseases.

Although in Los Angeles, there is no wet market or butcher shop that is the source of the COVID-19 outbreak, “in terms of how they operate, there may be hygiene issues, as well as animal cruelty in how to raise and slaughter [animals]. "Correz said. He told us that he has no first-hand experience shopping in the wet market in Los Angeles

René Rowland, chairman of the animal rights organization PawPAC, supports the motion. She told us that whether the animals in the wet market are wild (think bullfrogs or sea turtles) or domesticated (think chickens, ducks, and rabbits), "They also endure the terrible experience of being transported and sold in these different containers. ——In the cage, in the truck and in the plane."

"We do not advocate any market closure," Roland said. "We just think we need to stop the practice of on-site slaughter."

According to a list provided by Blumenfield staff, the city of Los Angeles has approximately 4 million residents and approximately 22 stores slaughter and sell animals on their premises. Blumenfield said the list is not exhaustive and may include companies in the non-wet market. In any case, these businesses only account for a small portion of Los Angeles' nearly 1,200 markets and grocery stores.

Koretz told us that he was unaware of any major foodborne illness outbreaks in the vegetable market in Los Angeles, "but some people got sick from eating some more exotic foods." He added that his understanding of cruel problems is Second-hand.

So, why is the motion to end the wet goods market? Why do you want to do this now? One word: Coronavirus.

Blumenfeld said: "The fact that this virus may have originated in a wet market in [China] makes us begin to examine our own situation in Los Angeles and whether we have these cruel and potentially dangerous wet markets."

No one has finalized the origin of COVID-19. Many scientists believe that it originated from one animal species in nature (probably a bat), and then jumped to another species (such as pangolin) before causing serious damage to humans. One theory is that this transfer occurred in a seafood and animal market near Wuhan, China.

The term "wet market" can mean many things. Most of them only sell fresh meat, fish and other perishable foods. Others, such as the one near Wuhan, also sell wild animals such as bats and civet cats. Although scientists may never be able to pinpoint the origin of the virus, this has not stopped politicians, conspiracy theorists, or racists from using "wet market" as a derogatory term and blaming the coronavirus pandemic on those that are usually associated with them. People or culture.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly used the term "Chinese virus" to describe COVID-19. As hate crimes against Asian Americans continue to rise, White House Press Secretary Kelly McKenney recently defended Trump’s use of the term “kung fu flu” by saying: “This is not a discussion about Asian Americans. The president takes seriously. And to reward Asian Americans as this great citizen. Country. This is an accusation against China for allowing this virus to reach here."

In early 2020, most Americans have never heard of the wet goods market. A few months later, they became the enemy of public health #1. Even Canadian Lite Rocker Bryan Adams is involved.

By April, the hate tracker of the Asia-Pacific Policy and Planning Commission had received more than 1,400 reports of abuse, assault and avoidance directed at Asian Americans or Asians.

Racism triggered by the so-called wet market link with the coronavirus has even penetrated into the business world. In late January, as the coronavirus became a growing concern around the world, the number of customers in Chinese restaurants began to decline sharply.

The Los Angeles City Council’s motion to ban the wet market — which only applies to the city’s borders and not to the San Gabriel Valley, where there are about a dozen such markets — will not only affect Asian Americans. It will affect Muslims, Latinos, Armenians and anyone who likes freshly slaughtered animal meat.

Koretz said he understands how the motion is considered discriminatory, but he believes that this explanation is the result of top-down leadership issues. "My only discomfort is that President Trump is unnecessarily trying to use hatred against anyone different," he said, adding that Trump's divisive and racist language are "unfortunate aspects of this problem."

But Koretz insisted that the motion is justified: "We see how destructive this particular virus is. This approach, even if it is culturally related to certain communities, but the underlying disease will not be related to Any community-related. This is for health.” For Zoila Sandoval, the idea of ​​buying meat that is slaughtered elsewhere, frozen, wrapped in plastic, and shipped hundreds of miles away is difficult to accept.

Since LA Fresh Poultry opened 14 years ago, she walks 20 minutes from her home on Vermont Avenue to the store twice a week. The opportunity to buy freshly slaughtered animals is exactly why she came here.

"It was killed here," she said. "It's not frozen and stored for how long. It's fresher and healthier."

She is not alone. Outside the wet goods market, there is a large demand for freshly slaughtered, non-factory farmed, and humanely slaughtered animals, whether it is organic steak from Belcampo Meat Co. or organic air-cooled thighs from Mary's Free-Range Chicken. Never mind those urban hipsters who raise chickens at home, sometimes for food.

In addition to a huge fiberglass rooster (and his little rabbit companion) perched on the roof, LA Fresh Poultry is an unremarkable store on the ramp of 101 Virgil Avenue. Behind the counter, bills from different countries have been posted on the counter. The slogan "I love Egypt" is written on the wall.

The other wall outside the store is painted with colorful creatures—including Duffy Duck and Bugs Bunny—attracting potential customers. "If you can buy fresh ones, why buy frozen ones?" Read the mural. In fact, in addition to the food carried by any such store, LA Fresh Poultry also has a live animal storage room where chickens, rabbits and quails are all kept in cages.

Since opening in 2006, the market has been a staple of the community. It serves customers 7 days a week, from 8:30 am to 6 pm. This is the second store of its kind owned by the owner, Abdel Salam Elhawary. The first, Al Salam Pollería in East Los Angeles, opened nearly 40 years ago and is still booming. He said that between 80% and 85% of his clients are Mexican immigrants, with the rest originally from Guatemala or El Salvador. Elhawary also has a third store, Van Nuys Live & Fresh Poultry, which he opened in 2012.

A 68-year-old Egyptian immigrant taught French in his home country. Elhawary came to Los Angeles in 1980 and worked in a bank for nearly ten years before entering the grocery store.

He started his business to allow Muslims to obtain more halal meat. For meat to obtain halal certification, butchers must abide by certain rules. Animals cannot be unaware. Butchers need to use extremely sharp tools to prevent trips and prolong any pain. The name of Allah must be spoken at the time of slaughter. Then, the animal must be hung upside down so that the blood can drain. (In contrast, in an industrial slaughterhouse, chickens may be handcuffed and electrocuted, while sheep and pigs may be stunned by poison gas before being slaughtered.)

"We have a Muslim community," Elhawary said. "There are approximately 40,000 to 50,000 Muslims around the [Koreatown] area. Most of them are Bangladeshi, but there are also Middle Easterners and others."

53-year-old Hollywood resident Haji Ceesay is one of many customers in this market. Ceesay, a Muslim from Gambia, moved to Los Angeles in 1991. For religious and cultural reasons, Ceesay prefers to eat freshly slaughtered animals.

"Going home is what we did," Ceesay said. "We buy live chickens, which are not the same as the frozen chickens here."

Ceesay left the store with six chickens that day.

Today, Elhawary says that Muslims make up about 40% of his clients. He said his other clients are Los Angeles people from Mexico, Central America, Armenia or South Korea. He is as surprised by the diversity of customers as anyone, but he is very happy to have these customers.

After 40 years of business, Elhawary is not disturbed by the decree that requires him to stop selling live poultry (such as quail and young pigeons). Demand is low. The clause requiring him to stop the slaughter is another matter.

If this works, "I will die," Elhawary said. "I have been doing this all my life. It's not just my shop. Everything is over. Millions of people like to eat fresh."

"Millions" may be a bit exaggerated, but it is undeniable that the live animal market meets the needs of thousands of residents, most of whom are immigrants and/or people of color from almost any angle.

Sam Sammars, a Los Angeles fresh poultry customer who lives in East Los Angeles, said he discovered the market in 2014 and has come once or twice a week since then. For him, this trip is worthwhile. The meat here is fresher than the store-bought factory meat, and the price is good-a large chicken that has just been slaughtered is between 15 and 16 dollars.

"It tastes very natural, just like you are on the farm," he said as he lined up.

Sammars grew up on a farm in Columbus, Ohio, where there are not many supermarkets, so he is used to everything fresh—fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and fresh meats. He said that the 35-year-old traditional agriculture and meat production, coupled with their pesticides, genetic engineering, hormones and antibiotics, produce food that is not so nutritious.

He said that if the law prohibits the sale of live and freshly slaughtered animals in the market, and the law does not distinguish between chickens, ducks and frogs, rare birds and wild animals, "this will be very destructive."

In typical grocery stores and supermarkets, most of the meat comes from livestock raised on “factory farms” (or centralized animal feedlots called by the U.S. Department of Agriculture), then slaughtered in industrial slaughterhouses and transported to the market by refrigerated trucks.

"The wet market is selling live animals or slaughtering them in front of you. This is very different," Blumenfeld said. "When an animal is introduced and killed for human consumption, it completely circumvents the regulatory system."

In fact, California regulates the operation of live animal markets, custom slaughterhouses, and retail poultry processing plants. These facilities are inspected by the California Department of Food and Agriculture to ensure that they comply with health and safety regulations, which are designed to prevent inhuman treatment of animals and the spread of diseases. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health supervises the retail portion of such businesses under the California Retail Food Act.

Regardless of the supervision process, Blumenfeld also pointed out that the motion stemmed from a "cruel issue."

"The idea is: can we stop this cruel practice in Los Angeles?" He said, referring to the slaughter of rabbits, frogs and birds on the spot. "The wet market is the opposite of what you would find in a humane society."

Chef Wes Avila doesn't look at the wet market that way. He said that in 2014, when he launched Guerrilla Tacos as a food truck, he used to buy 50 to 80 chickens a week from the wet market in Chinatown. For Avila, the complaint about the wet market is not about ethics, but about aesthetics. They just make some people uncomfortable.

"People want to pretend that the meat comes from some kind of magical pig or chicken tree. This is not the case. It must come from somewhere."

According to Elhawary, the chickens on his market come from farms in Fresno or Ramona, and he makes sure that all the animals he sells are healthy.

"When they bruise during transportation, we trim them and throw away the broken parts. We use sharp knives to cut the chicken quickly and accurately. We don't let the chicken suffer," Elhawary said.

However, activists who support the closure of the wet goods market prioritize another issue-the transportation process. PawPAC's Roland said that people who want to maximize profits will use trucks or planes to transport as many live animals as possible, which is dangerous and inhumane.

Roland said she believes that slaughtering animals in an industrial slaughterhouse and then transporting the meat to the grocery store is not necessarily more humane, safer or healthier.

However, she said, “There is no factory farm in Los Angeles, so we don’t have to solve this problem.”

The proposal to ban the opening of a wet market in Los Angeles is part of Roland's larger goal: to stop any activities that cause animal suffering or torture. She said she started in California, but hopes this information will sweep the world.

Senator Korets is waiting for the report so that he can decide "whether this is a practicable thing."

Although the report was originally scheduled to be released on July 10 (30 days after the motion was passed), it has not yet been completed. A staff member in the office of City Councillor Koretz said the city expects to see the report in late July or early August.

If officials want to advance the proposal, the city council will have to pass another motion, instructing the city prosecutor Feuer to draft the law.

As officials waited for the city's feasibility report, Elhawary worried. If the proposed measures move forward, he said he might organize a presentation with customers. He worried that if he had to stop selling freshly slaughtered poultry, his three markets would go bankrupt.

Meanwhile, Zoila Sandoval has been watching the workers at LA Fresh Poultry process her order. After she asked for her six chickens at the counter, two licensed butchers snatched them from cages invisible to customers. They take the birds to the slaughterhouse, where they are slaughtered, drained and picked. Then, two other workers took out the internal organs, washed the chickens and handed them to the shop assistant through the open door.

One of the two butchers in this store, Merare Nataneal, has spent 12 years honing his craft. At the age of 66, he worried that if the decree was passed, it would leave him unemployed.

"This is my job, and I don't want to lose it," Natanel said in Spanish. "Knowing that they might want to close this type of business is a disturbing position."

Behind the counter, a staff member weighed, packed and bagged the newly slaughtered birds. After paying at the checkout counter, Sandoval left LA Fresh Poultry under the watchful eye of Foghorn Leghorn. When she rolled down Virgil Ave, six still warm birds piled in the basket of her walker and went home to make for her son. lunch.

LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a public media network supported by members. Listen to our news on our partner website:

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