Modern Meat Industry Insights: Health, Safety & Sustainability

I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me. --A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh - Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?" --Tom Stoppard -

MODERN MEAT THE USDA CANNOT RECALL MEAT. IT CAN ONLY TEST AND PUBLICIZE THE RESULTS. THE MEAT INDUSTRY HAS LOBBIED CONGRESS TO BLOCK MANY OF THE USDA’S TESTING PROPOSALS. WE MANUFACTURE MEAT. WE DON’T GROW IT. A HAMBURGER IS A COLLECTION OF MEAT FROM MANY DIFFERENT COWS. UP TO 20% OF THE COWS IN A FEED LOT HAVE E. COLI 0157H7 IN THEIR GUT.

THE USDA HAS APPROVED THE USE OF IRRADIATION AS A SAFETY MEASURE IN RIDDING MEAT OF HARMFUL BACTERIA. IRRADIATION IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR GOOD SANITATION. IT WILL KILL ANY REMAINING BACTERIA, INCLUDING E. COLI O157H7. SAFETY STUDIES HAVE BEEN GOING ON OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS. IRRADIATING FOOD DOES NOT MAKE IT RADIOACTIVE.

OTHER PROBLEMS WITH MEAT AND MILK: OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS HORMONES PESTICIDES IN FOOD BSE OR MAD COW DISEASE

MAD COW DISEASE • SCRAPIE IN SHEEP • BSE IN COWS • CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IN DEER AND ELK • CREUTZFELDT-JACOB DISEASE OR KURU IN HUMANS • WHAT CAUSES IT? • THE PRESENCE OF AN ABNORMAL FORM OF A PROTEIN (PRION) THAT OCCURS NATURALLY IN BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD TISSUE.

WHAT HAS THE U.S. DONE ABOUT IT? • FDA RULES: • DOWNER COWS CANNOT BE USED AS FOOD • DOWNER COWS CANNOT BE USED IN COW FOOD • NO BRAIN OR SPINAL CORD OF A COW OVER 30 MONTHS OF AGE CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO COW FOOD • PRIMARY ROUTE OF TRANSMISSION IS INGESTION OF BRAIN OR SPINAL CORD TISSUE OR MEAT AND BONE MEAL PROTEIN (mbm PROTEIN) FROM AN INFECTED ANIMAL.

GREAT BRITAIN HAD A PROBLEM WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF COWS IN THE 1980’S. FROM 1995 TO 2006, THERE HAVE BEEN 195 CONFIRMED CASES IN HUMANS WORLD WIDE. THERE WERE 162 IN THE UK, 20 IN FRANCE, 4 IN IRELAND, AND 2 IN THE U.S. THE NUMBER OF CASES PEAKED IN 1999. IT TAKES SEVERAL YEARS TO EXPRESS – ABOUT 4 YEARS IN COWS. BETWEEN 1988 AND 2010, THERE WERE 180,000 COWS IN ENGLAND THAT WERE FOUND TO HAVE THE DISEASE. MILLIONS OF CATTLE WERE SLAUGHTERED AS A RESULT.

THE U.S. REQUIRES SRM’S (SPECIFIED RISK MATERIALS) TO BE DISPOSSED OF FROM EVERY COW OVER 30 MONTHS OF AGE. PRIOR TO THE BSE OUTBREAK IN ENGLAND, EVERYTHING FROM A COW HAD VALUE – LUNGS, INTESTINES, BRAIN, SPINAL COLUMN, THROAT, ETC. THESE MATERIALS PAID FOR THE COST OF SLAUGHTER. HUMANS ONLY CONSUME ABOUT 58% OF A COW.

A MAJOR FOOD PROBLEM IN 2008 WAS THE PRESENCE OF MELAMINE IN MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS IN CHINA. 300,000 PEOPLE WERE SICKENED, 860 BABIES WERE HOSPIALITIZED, AND SIX INFANTS DIED. MELAMINE WAS ADDED TO MILK TO INCREASE THE PROTEIN ON TESTING.

A RECENT FOOD PROBLEM IN THE U.S. IS THE PRESENCE OF SALMONELLA IN PEANUT PRODUCTS.

SALMONELLA IS A TYPE OF COMMON BACTERIUM. THERE ARE OVER 2,000 DIFFERENT STRAINS. SOME ARE DANGEROUS TO HUMANS. SALMONELLA LIVE IN THE GUTS OF ANIMALS AND HUMANS. SALMONELLA ARE THE LEADING CAUSE OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS IN THE U.S. ONE, SALMONELLA TYPHI, CAUSES TYPHOID FEVER. A COMMON SOURCE OF SALMONELLA CONTAMINATION IS FROM CHICKEN AND PORK.

KEY IDEAS • FOOD PRODUCTION HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY SINCE 1950 • SOIL IS ERODING FASTER THAN IT IS BEING FORMED. MUCH OF IT ALSO SUFFERS FROM SALT BUILDUP. • ONE OUT OF EVERY 6 PEOPLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IS UNDERNOURISHED. • ONE OUT OF EVERY 4 PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IS OVERWEIGHT. • MODERN AGRICULTURE HAS A GREATER HARMFUL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT THAN ANY HUMAN ACTIVITY.

3/4 OF THE WORLD’S COMMERCIALLY VALUABLE MARINE FISH SPECIES ARE OVERFISHED. • 80% OF THE WORLD’S FOOD SUPPLY IS PRODUCED BY INDUSTRIALIZSED AGRICULTURE • 20% IS PRODUCED BY SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE

PARTS OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION USE OF SELECTIVELY BRED OR GENETICALLY ENGINEERED HIGH YIELD VARIETIES OF KEY CROPS PRODUCE HIGH YIELDS BY USING LARGE INPUTS OF FERTILIZER, PESTICIDES, AND WATER INCREASE THE NUMBER OF CROPS GROWN PER YEAR ON A PLOT OF LAND THROUGH MULTIPLE CROPING

THE U.S. HAS BEEN USING THESE TECHNIQUES TO PRODUCE 17% OF THE WORLD’S GRAIN. MUCH OF THIS IS NOW GOING TO ETHANOL PRODUCTION.

WINGED BEAN PROMISING NEW FOOD CROP. YOUNG PODS TASTE LIKE GREEN BEANS. LEAVES TASTE LIKE SPINACH. FLOWERS TASTE LIKE MUSHROOMS. ROOTS ARE EDIBLE.

EDIBLE INSECTS • - SOME SPECIES OF INSECTS ARE TASTY, NUTRITIOUS, AND EASY TO RAISE • SOME ARE HIGHER IN PROTEIN AND LOWER IN FAT THAT BEEF, PORK, OR CHICKEN • INSECTS ARE EASY TO RAISE. • RAISING INSECTS IS ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY. INSECTS HAVE A HIGHER MEAT TO FEED RATIO THAN ANY OTHER MEAT SOURCE. • NO ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST HAS EVER PROTESTED KILLING INSECTS.

YOU CONSUME MORE INSECTS THAN YOU REALIZE. INSECTS ARE MILLED ALONG WITH FLOUR AND OTHER GRAINS THEY APPEAR AS TINY BLACK SPECKS IN YOUR BREAD AND CEREAL.

HOW CAN YOU GREEN YOUR MEALS? BUY ORGANIC - NOT ONLY PROTECT YOUR BODY, BUT PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AS WELL FAIR TRADE - FAIR TRADE CERTIFICATION INCLUDES PROTECTION OF LOCAL WORKERS AND ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS BUY LOCAL WHEN POSSIBLE - FOOD TRAVELS ON AVERAGE 1500 MILES TO REACH YOUR TABLE.

4. BUY UNPACKAGED OR MINIMALLY PACKAGED FOODS. 5. EASE UP ON THE MEAT - MEAT REQUIRES MORE ENERGY AND WATER TO PRODUCE 6. JUST ENOUGH - PLAN MEALS SO THAT YOU COOK JUST ENOUGH 7. COMPOST LEFTOVERS - AVOID USING THE LAND FILL INFORMATION FROM WWW.TREEHUGGER.COM

TWO GREAT BOOKS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FOOD: THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMA BY MICHAEL POLLAN (2006) FOOD MATTERS, A GUIDE TO CONSCIOUS EATING BY MARK BITTMAN (2009)

Modern Meat Industry Insights: Health, Safety & Sustainability