The U.S. “Regulated” Meat Industry

A West Virginia livestock owner, Shirley A. Rhodes, continued to introduce animals into the food supply after being put on probation by the FDA. The FDA initiated the probation after illegal levels of drug residue were repeatedly found in her cattle. The punishment for Rhodes introduction of adulterated animals into the food supply (during her probation) is… another six-months probation. After probation, Rhodes must have her record-keeping system approved by the FDA. Once approved, she can go right back in to drugging, raising and selling dead cattle.

Here’s what the FDA writes:

The U.S Department of Agriculture routinely tests tissue samples from animals intended for food in order to monitor drug tolerance levels. USDA fully supports actions taken against repeat offenders to further protect the food supply from potentially unsafe products.

That’s a load of manure. Unfortunately, we cannot trust the FDA or the USDA to protect our meat. Twenty years ago, the USDA was testing 1 out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals for chemical residues (that’s .0004%). What’s worse, it was only testing for 10% of the toxic chemicals that were known to be in the meat supply. In 2000, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (agency within the USDA) analyzed a total of 368,004 laboratory samples from livestock and poultry. Unfotunately, 8,680,811,661 livestock and poultry passed the eyes of the USDA inspectors (if you follow the link, see page 59). If each analyzed sample represents one animal, the USDA is chemically testing .004% of all slaughtered animals. I suppose that’s a bit better than 20 years ago…

Considering this lack of testing, lots of questions arise; What are the other livestock owners giving to their calves? Why was Shirley Rhodes picked out? Was she just one of the unlucky few to be part of the testing percentage? Is she representative of other livestock owners (i.e. over-medicating cattle, selling tainted meat, etc.)?

“It’s not good. Instead of improving husbandry practices, which would make the animals healthier, we just shoot ‘em up with drugs. It’s cheaper that way and because this is a competitive business I’ve got to do it too. But in the meantime, the general public is catching on and getting afraid of residues in the meat. And I’ll tell you something. I don’t blame them.”   Herb Silverman, cattleman (From Diet for a New America).

The FDA has enough on their hands and too many conflicts of interest to try to clean up the meat industry. And the USDA, though it employs many who are passionate about cleaning up agricultural practices, is really a corrupt, hot mess. Interestingly, the USDA has spent lots of time and money to prevent private companies from testing their own meat. In 2006, an interesting court case ensued after the USDA told Creekstone Farms they couldn’t test their own cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as “mad cow disease”. The USDA tried to prove that the BSE testing kits that Creekstone wanted to use were “worthless”. Funny, those are the same testing kits the USDA uses… Creekstone came out the victor at the end (however, the USDA has appealed).

The USDA had some interesting points in the case regarding false-negative testing concerns and the increased costs that livestock owners would accrue if they had to test all of their cows. But, is that the genuine concern of the USDA? Or are they trying to protect the big beef companies from being shut down? Some countries won’t even allow the export of U.S. meat because of safety concerns. Yet, U.S. meat-eaters are stuck with untested and potentially tainted meat.

If you are a meat-eater, it is your responsibility to seek out safe meat– the U.S. government is not going to do it for us. It is important to know the company that you are purchasing from. Also, remember that grass-fed animals produce meat that is more nutritionally beneficial than grain-fed. Organic is a bonus. And a business that follows humane slaughtering procedures is a must. Find a local farm to source your meat from and ask them about their animal raising and slaughtering practices. It’s definitely true, a happy animal will provide safer and healthier meat. 

“Look if you want beef, this is the only way you can have it. There’s no room in this business for a ‘be nice to animals’ attitude. There’s work to be done, and that’s all there is to it.”   George Kennedy, livesotck auction worker (From Diet for a New America).

“It doesn’t bother me [charges on animal cruelty]. We’re different from any other business. These animal rights people like to accuse us of mistreating our stock, but we believe we can be most efficient by not being emotional. We are a business, not a humane society, and our job is to sell merchandise at a profit. It’s no different from selling paper-clips, or refrigerators.”   Henry Pace, auction owner (From Diet for a New America).

The Farm Animal Welfare Council proposes 5 freedoms that farm animals should have. These are; Freedom from hunger and thirst, Freedom from discomfort, Freedom from pain, injury and disease, Freedom to express normal behavior and Freedom from fear and distress.

You can start your search for healthy meats by visiting the Local Harvest website. In the search box, type in “meat” and then put your zip code in. This should give you a few good options to seek out. 

Another great site to check out is Eat Wild. You can learn more about the benefits of pasture raised animals and find local grass-fed meat, dairy and eggs. 

Breathe in, Peace out…
Aimee