10.29.2003
Stop on by a great new Blog: Hell for Halliburton
Another progressive voice making a difference...
10/29/2003
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Do you ever consider where the food on your plate comes from? Most of us don't I'm guessing, maybe a passing thought at most, a flicker of thought dismissed as we are reaching for the fork. Let's think about the journey the meat sitting there took and the lives it has touched on it's way from feedlot to our fridge.
This link (in .pdf format) is to an article Michael Pollan (here interviewed for the PBS offering "Frontline") wrote for The New York Times entitled "Power Steer", a straightforward account of his steer's trip from calf to killing floor.
Joby Warrick documents what he has seen on the highspeed killing floor.
Livestock is not all that suffers the effects of the highspeed meatpacking industry, an industry that has radically sped up in the last 25 years, from 175 to 400 animals an hour; the workers suffer dangerous repetitive work. You and I "the consumers" can suffer too, the rapid pace allows contaminants such as fecal matter to corrupt the meat, putting us in danger of food poisoning.
Concentration by large agricultural corporations has turned high-wage union jobs at meatpacking and food processing plants into low-wage, dangerous, non-union jobs increasingly filled by immigrants, according to Ritchie.
"It has turned the world's safest food supply into a game of consumer Russian roulette, frequently pumping out millions of pounds of contaminated meat and dairy products...
Eric Schlosser brings our attention to the industry inroads into government that put meat safety in peril; as well as alerting us to the why and how of the presence of pathogens there.
"Shielding the Giant: The USDA'sDon't Look, Don't Know Policy for Beef Inspection" is an eye opener that readily illustrates the "profits before people" focus evinced by some in this industry when faced by a "toothless" USDA.
Do you want your food irradiated when simply slowing down its processing will keep it from the contamination of pathogen bearing fecal matter?
If you take the time to read these links you'll know more than the majority of Americans about the meat on your plate. Or you too can take the "Don't Look, Don't Know" path.
Bon Apetite...
Resouces:
Frontline: Modern Meat
Speed Kills, Worker Injuries and Fecal Contamination in Slaughterhouse Production .pdf
The Food Markting Institute gives some background on the pathogens.
Why Oppose Food Irradiation.pdf
Disclaimer: I eat meat and have slaughtered farm animals.
10/29/2003
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