How in the world do you recall 142 million pounds of beef after most of it has already been consumed? And most of it consumed by unsuspecting children at 150 public schools. Circling the wagons yesterday on NPR, a female spokesperson for the beef lobby declared the meat in this country to be safe and "As a mom" she's not concerned in the least. It was a random check by the Human Society of America that happened along Hallmark Meat Packing Company in California only to find cattle being unceremoniously scooped up by fork lifts and jabbed with electric prods to get them on their feet for slaughter. James O. Reagan, chairman of the Beef Industry Food Safety Council of the National Cattleman's Beef Association agrees with the recall but declares the beef supply in America to be safe. The Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer announced the recall and echoed the same sentiment, that is, the beef supply is safe. Safe that is until the Humane Society does another undercover investigation.
I for one am sick and tired of beef recalls due to unfit cattle being propped up for slaughter. If these animals are too sick and old to stay ahoof, why in the world are they ending up in the food chain? How can any conscionable person allow these inhumane practices to go on; and how can "A mom" declare publicly she's not concerned with the beef industry in this country. Please, spare me the rhetoric.
Without hesitation I declare the beef industry to be unsafe. Until the USDA takes the inspection practice of slaughter houses seriously and stops this wholesale pollution of the beef supply, the beef offerings (mostly to public schools and food programs) should be considered tainted until proven otherwise.
WG
No comments:
Post a Comment