Beef industry′s dirty little secret: Feeding public downer cows. Report states hundreds of thousands in US may be dying of undiagnosed mad cow disease, but the USDA refuses to release mad cow records to media.

See news item on http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=20030721-102924-4786r
and http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031223-103657-3424r

This info came from VegSource!

http://www.vegsource.com/happy_holidays.jpg
Jeff & Sabrina

Officials investigating America′s first documented case of BSE said yesterday that they had quarantined a second herd of cattle to contain the health scare.

Two calves were born to the Holstein cow, which was confirmed this week as having BSE. One of those calves was traced to a 4000-strong herd, where it was being fattened for market. Apparently there is the risk that the infected cow could pass the disease on to her calves. But the infected Holstein, four-and-a-half-year-old, probably became infected by eating contaminated feed.

If so, it is impossible to estimate how many other animals may have been infected. The incubation period is between 4 and 5 years.

It is all but certain that an entire 4,000-strong herd will have to be slaughtered so that the brains and spinal tissue of the animals can be tested.

With two dozen countries having already suspended imports of US beef, an equally pressing task for federal officials is to calm consumer fears. But somehow meat eaters are very brave, and continue chomping away on their hamburgers, come what may.

Brave?

Just can′t read or won′t listen.

Stupid?

Seems a bit mean to call them stupid, especially when their own health minister and others in the govt tell the public that it is quite safe. Didn′t we all used to eat meat?

Quite often we only listen and act upon what we want to, and ignore everything else. It′s the same with gm products - most vegans couldn′t care less, completely ignore warnings, and continue to eat soy protein that is mostly gm. Mostly people will ignore what they don′t want to know about.

Well, as far as I know there was no BSE around when I was still a meat-eater, and it is, after all, fatal for those who contract it.  There seems to be no dispute about that.   And I think it has been fairly well publicised - so to continue to eat beef, particularly hamburger, once it is known that BSE is in the market place, to my mind, is stupid.

There is still some debate over GM, and in fact there was even some criticism from a member of our committee who wanted to know why the True Food Guide had been included in the mail-out.  This person not only felt that there was nothing wrong with GM, but that it had nothing to do with vegetarianism.

So, as we have all agreed, there are many different points of view even in small groups like ours, and I think each of those people is quite entitled to his or her opinion.

Provided Dark Horse has the last word?

I don′t believe genetic modification is fundamentally wrong. Like any technology, its applications can have their good sides and their bad sides. Humans have been modifying plants for centuries, it′s only our tools for doing so that have changed in recent times.

It′s just not a moral issue for me, unlike vegetarianism.

I′d never really had an opinion about GM foods (feeling that anything that minimized chemical use was good) until recently when I learned the GM Canola planted in NSW was not designed to minimize chemical use but rather maximize it.  It is herbicide resistant and not surprisingly, the company that planted it also owns the herbicide it′s resistant to.  The company being Bayer.  Now I have very little faith and trust in GM foods and feel the most sustainable form of farming is organic.

As regards BSE, I was actually living in England when BSE first came out.  I ate beef before and after.  I was so poor at the time that I was grateful for the fall in beef prices.  Now of course I feel very differently about it and all I can say to explain my lack of concern is a combination of denial and apathy.  I was only in my early 20′s and at that age my last concern was BSE.

This is from the website of Compassion Over Killing:
"It is both legal and standard in the US to feed chickens to other chickens and pigs to other pigs, forcing these animals to become cannibals. It is also legal and standard to feed cattle, even sick or “downed” cattle, to poultry and pigs. These animals and their manure can be—and are—then ground up and fed back to cattle.

The rampant cruelty endured by all farmed animals—chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, cows, and others raised for food—along with lack of government regulation, has set the stage for mad cow disease to surface in the US. And because the incubation period for vCJD, the human variant of mad cow disease, is so long, possibly decades, there is no telling how many Americans may be infected.

Mad cow disease is only one reason among many to eat vegetarian fare. Being vegetarian helps prevent animal abuse and environmental degradation, and is also a great way to help safeguard our health."

By the way, regarding gm, I must agree totally with Rachel, that gm crops require more, not less, herbicides. Just recently Monsanto has been given the ok for its Ready roundup canola crops to be planted. Then the carmers can inundate their fields with Monsanto Ready Roundup, knowing that the canola can survive. However, it has already been shown that weeds which are supposed to be killed off, gradually become resistant to the herbicide, and grow bigger and better.

As for gmellor′s comment that humans have been modifying plants for centuries, sorry gmellor but it′s not just a question of crossing one plant with another, but actually inserting parts of bacteria dna, and parts of animal dna into plants. That is quite another matter, making it a moral issue for many. I don′t wish to eat animal dna when eating tomatoes!

Just because some unscrupulous companies have put profits ahead of the greater good, doesn′t make it impossible that somebody may modify a crop in such a way that it *would* require fewer pesticides / herbicides.

Of course adding animal DNA to our diet is undesirable, but I don′t think that makes ALL genetic modification bad. I still believe that in principle GM is a useful scientific tool. It′s not inherently bad, it′s just that some of the ways it′s being used are wrong.

i too feel very strongly about GM foods and am trying to learn what i can about them. i am sure many people have read "DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA" by John Robbins and in his follow up book "THE FOOD REVOLUTION", there is a whole chapter dedicated to Genetic Engineering.

there are SO many issues that concern me about this so called "technology" but too many to write about here ....

one excerpt from the book >>>

" The clean fields, devoid of all weeds, that monsanto likes to tell us will help end malnutrition, may be doing something very different. Dr Vandana Shiva, director of India′s Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Resource Policy, points out that killing every single weed in a field can deprive the poor of needed sources of key nutrititional elements. "In India", she says, "at least 80% -90% of the nutrition comes from what the agricultural industry terms "weeds". (Agribusiness) has this attitude that the weeds are stealing from them, so they spray (Roundup or other herbicides) on a field which has sometimes 200 species that the women of the area would normally use in various ways as food, medicinal plants or fodder." (page 313 - the food revolution - john robbins)  

** Dr Vandana Shiva is one of the worlds foremost experts on world hunger and transgenic crops. http://www.vshiva.net/

another issue that concerns me is seed saving. for many many centuries, farmers have been saving the seed from one years crop to plant the following year. BUT with GE crops, the seeds may only last one time meaning the farmers have to continually buy seeds from the manufacturer. Monsanto have developed a system which renders the seeds sterile, a system known as "Technology Protection System" or more commonly known as "Terminator Technology". if this technology were to be employed, it would ensure that farmers CANNOT save their seeds, but they would have to purchase new ones from monsanto year after year ......

it isn′t just monsanto who want to do the sterile seeds but also others in the biotech/pharma industry such as astra zeneca , novartis, and others! (page 320 from the food revolution!)  

so i just can′t help but feel that these large chemical and biotech companies care only about $$$$ and not human health! it is sickening!
i′m happy to be eating only organic foods, i feel just a little bit safer about what i put into my body.

an australian website >>> The "Network of Concerned Farmers" is an Australia wide network of conventional and organic farmers who are concerned about the economic, environmental and social impacts of genetically modified crops.

http://www.non-gm-farmers.com/

want more info? check out the "Save our Seeds" website - they are dedicated to keeping conventional and organically grown seeds free of genetically modified organisms. In a joint petition 300 organisations representing over 25 million members and 100.000 individual citizens of Europe demand a strict EU law to protect the purity of seeds. Seeds are the kernals of life, the foundation of our food supply and humanities oldest heritage.

http://www.saveourseeds.org

p.s. i was very happy that the "the true food guide" was in with the magazine and newsletter. thankyou VVSQ!

Glad we were able to help re the True Food Guide, R.O.C.  Is it of any use to you in Germany?  Are many of the brands available over there?  Anyway, you will have to come home SOMETIME so guess the guide will be of more use to you then -- or maybe there will be a new one out by that time?

hi darkhorse!!

yes, due to the fact that so many brands are owned by the multinationals, they seem to be available all over the world. there are many brands that i see here that i know we have at home also!

alot of the brands i boycott already (like kraft, nestle, maggie or mccain) so it′s not too hard to avoid them!

you′re right though, the guide will certainly be useful for when i do come (eventually!)