Don't settle for pink slime and mad cow

More bad news for the beef industry. A case of mad cow disease turned up in a dairy cow in California. Mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a fatal disease that attacks an animal’s brain and spinal cord essentially turning them to mush. People can become infected with the disease when they eat beef products. In the worst outbreak in the United Kingdom, mad cow disease killed 144 people in the 1980s and 90s. Since the infectious agent in mad cow disease is a protein, not a virus or bacteria, cooking the meat, even to well-done, will not eliminate it.

A random test turned up the latest case of mad cow disease at a rendering plant which processes dead animals from dairy operations. The animal would not have made it into the food chain. Last month, we were treated to the news that much ground beef sold at supermarkets is cut with pink slime – a filler made out of beef scraps.

Over the last several years there have been recalls of millions of pounds of beef containated with e. coli. The latest one, issued on April 11, removed about a ton of beef from the shelves. (For a list of current recalls go here.) It’s enough to put you off your beef.

But the beef by itself isn’t the problem. The problem is that our industrialized food system is geared to churning out cheap food and maximizing profits. To do that, meat packers raise millions of cattle on crowded feedlots. The animals are slaughtered and processed at what are essentially “disassembly” lines that can spit out millions of pounds of meat a day.

The entire production process – from raising the animals to the slaughter houses to the distribution system – is woefully under-regulated. And the government continues to cut back inspections. Last week the United States Department of Agriculture announced that it is laying off 1,000 inspectors at poultry processing plants.  They will be replaced by “monitors” employed by the industry.

Industry watchdogs and safe food organizations have lobbied for years for changes to make our food supply safer. They have not been successful working with the regulatory agencies or Congress. What has been effective is consumer action. Supermarkets pulled ground beef cut with pink slime from the shelves in the face of overwhelming consumer revulsion. To tap the growing market for meat raised in more humane ways, Burger King announced yesterday that it will phase in a program that will ensure that its chickens, pork and eggs are not raised in crowded cages.

In Pennsylvania we are fortunate to have a thriving sustainable agricultural community with many farmers who sell directly to consumers. As they deal face-to-face with their customers, they are immediately accountable for the quality of their products. The state has scores of farmers’ markets, hundreds of farm stands, and thriving community supported agriculture operations that engage their customers in food production. Many supermarkets in the state now carry meat, vegetables and fruit produced locally.

Consumers do not have to accept a system that puts profits over safety and quality. Industrialized agriculture is not going to change any time soon. But we don’t have to buy its products. We have lots of other options in Pennsylvania. Find out where you can connect with local producers at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture’s website.