Disease: It’s What’s for Dinner
If folks picked their cattle before dining as they do their lobsters, they probably wouldn’t choose those that drool, wobble, collapse and must be dragged to slaughter. It’s likely this BSE scare wouldn’t have happened if downed or ill cattle weren’t allowed to be sold for food in the first place. December’s mad cow and others under suspicion have been culled but BSE isn’t the only disease that could be served up for dinner.
On December 30, 2003, the U.S. FDA set a ban on selling downer cows for consumption, finally realizing
Some Cows Are Too Sick To Kill for dinner. This move takes 1.8 million unhealthy cattle out of the food chain but will send plenty more to your table.
Cattle, poultry and other livestock, along with wild game, come down with illnesses that should make them legally inedible but don’t. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture will still permit
diseased animals with cancer, hepatitis, gangrene and other unappetizing ailments into the food supply. Health-conscious
Consumers may have a beef with cattle feed once they know what’s in it. If you live with companion animals, read
Nibbles and bits of cats, dogs, and sick cows.
If you were a cow, you might go mad too, if you lived deep in manure in tightly packed pens. It might drive you crazy, if you were force-fed antibiotics and hormones, dead cattle, goats and sheep, manure, diseased poultry, rotten eggs and other sweepings from factory poultry pens.
Cattle and other livestock are natural vegetarians that once grazed in grassy pesticide-free fields. Kids like me worked and played among them. Back then, dairies and ranches were family owned but many families have been driven out of business by giant conglomerates.
Agribusiness’ disregard for the intrinsic nature of livestock produces unfortunate consequences. The factory farm industry’s motto seems to be “waste not, want not” so nothing, no matter how disgusting and inedible, is thrown away and drugs substitute for cleanliness.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) submitted evidence on
Mad Cow Disease The Risk to the U.S. in November 1998 which was largely ignored. In fact, the
U.S. Violates World Health Organization Guidelines for Mad Cow Disease: A Comparison of North American and European Safeguards
Insisting a BSE outbreak couldn’t happen in the USA and with the support of Democrats, the
GOP Congress Scuttled Meat Protection Measure twice in the last two years, despite those warnings. Of course, most politicians eat a better grade of beef than do common folk.
If this stack of facts makes you rethink your diet, that could be a good idea, especially if you have an autoimmune disease. AI illnesses make us exceptionally vulnerable to disease in our environment and in our food. Please see the studies cited on this website. PCRM is ready to help, with their
Mad Cow Disease: Facts, Resources, and Free Veggie Starter Kit and a pantry full of
recipes At the very least, you might broaden your options and wind up serving a tastier, safer menu.