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OMG, have y'all seen the videos? I saw it once and just can't watch anymore even though the networks are playing it over and over. It's SO WRONG on several levels -- first, the inhumane and horrible treatment of the cattle; the fact that they were then pushed with bulldozers to slaughter and beaten because they couldn't stand; that they were slaughtered for our food!; and that much of the beef from those poor, sick cows was sent to OUR CHILDREN'S SCHOOL CAFETERIAS!
The final outrage is that this has gone on at this California slaughterhouse for TWO YEARS without FDA inspection and it took the HUMANE SOCIETY to investigate and report it! (Thank goodness for the Humane Society!)
What can we do about this (besides all becoming vegetarians!)?! Myself, I'm going to investigate where the meat our supermarkets sell comes from. (Being in Texas, I should be able to find locally produced meat at our local supermarket chains.) I think I'm going to donate to the Humane Society, too. Any other suggestions?!
I am the last person to put down a hamburger or endorse an animal rights activist... but those videos are ridiculous and actually pissed me off... there was no reason for what they did... at all.
I won't ever become a vegetarian but I think your suggestions are very sensible.
There should be a "business death penalty" for those sorts of violations - if you grind up downer cows into the food supply, your business loses the licensing required to process cattle altogether.
That would make companies implement stronger control measures.
I think "kosher" also refers to the method of slaughter but I could very well be wrong about that. Probably not a possibility for me to buy kosher meat in rural Texas but you never know!
I found the Humane Society of the U.S. website and they've got a very detailed press release on the matter, plus things people can do to change this situation. Apparently, Congress is considering new regulations on slaughtering downed cows.
HSUS Investigation Leads to Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History | The Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/beef_recall_02182008.html - broken link)
I think "kosher" also refers to the method of slaughter but I could very well be wrong about that...
If that is true it may not help the argument because it probably involves the slitting of the animal's jugular as opposed to a hydraulic ram right to the noodle.
Kosher foods are privately certified, and yes beef can be kosher, but not all beef is kosher. There are many rules regarding the slaughter in order for it to inflict as little pain as possible on the animal, and rules about cleanliness, as well as rules about keeping foods separate (using separate utensils for fish and for meat).
I'm not Jewish and I'm not bound by a Kosher diet, but I buy Kosher whenever possible because they have strict standards for cleaniness. Plus I try to practice what I preach, and I preach about eliminating the FDA and replacing it with private certification bodies like the Kosher organizations at every possible opportunity
I am the last person to put down a hamburger or endorse an animal rights activist... but those videos are ridiculous and actually pissed me off... there was no reason for what they did... at all.
I won't ever become a vegetarian but I think your suggestions are very sensible.
Drama queen...where did you think hamburger, pork and chicken come from...elegant animal spas?
(AP) The federal agency that's been front and center in warning the public about tainted spinach and contaminated peanut butter is conducting just half the food safety inspections it did three years ago.
The cuts by the Food and Drug Administration come despite a barrage of high-profile food recalls.
"We have a food safety crisis on the horizon," said Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia.
Between 2003 and 2006, FDA food safety inspections dropped 47 percent, according to a database analysis of federal records by The Associated Press.
That's not all that's dropping at the FDA in terms of food safety. The analysis also shows:
There are 12 percent fewer FDA employees in field offices who concentrate on food issues.
Safety tests for U.S.-produced food have dropped nearly 75 percent, from 9,748 in 2003 to 2,455 last year, according to the agency's own statistics.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the FDA, at the urging of Congress, increased the number of food inspectors and inspections amid fears that the nation's food system was vulnerable to terrorists. Inspectors and inspections spiked in 2003, but now both have fallen enough to erase the gains. """"
Are we "safer" now?
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