Aside from the fact that beef consumption is destroying the
rain forests in Brazil, takes enormous resources and is
pretty revolting in terms of how animals are treated, it may
make you very ill. The USDA doesn't give a damn if you get
BSE, for example. See article below.
I'm not some saintly virgin vegetarian either. I have
ENJOYED a good steak in my time.
George M. Carter ** nytimes.c-nytimes.c-Open ↗
om/2004/04/10/national/nationalspecial2/-
10COW.html
U.S. Won't Let Company Test All Its Cattle for Mad Cow By
DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: April 10, 2004
he Department of Agriculture refused yesterday to allow a
Kansas beef producer to test all of its cattle for mad cow
disease, saying such sweeping tests were not scientifically
warranted.
The producer, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wanted to use
recently approved rapid tests so it could resume selling its
fat-marbled black Angus beef to Japan, which banned American
beef after a cow slaughtered in Washington State last
December tested positive for mad cow. The company has
complained that the ban is costing it $40,000 a day and
forced it to lay off 50 employees.
The department's under secretary for marketing and
regulation, Bill Hawks, said in a statement yesterday that
the rapid tests, which are used in Japan and Europe, were
licensed for surveillance of animal health, while
Creekstone's use would have "implied a consumer safety
aspect that is not scientifically warranted."
snip...[yeah, like I believe that...]