How do you feel

Jpshostr · November 28, 2001

I just found out that this week's West Wing on NBC will have another episode on bad things in America, this one an outbreak of mad cow disease in the USA. This troubles me quite a bit as I raise beef cattle, but it also made me wonder something.

Nearly all of you here are the final consumers of our product, beef, which you buy and don't raise. How safe do you feel about eating this meat? On that token, how do you feel about all food in American, grains, meat, everything? No need to suck up to me at all, I just want a small guage of how the general public feels about this.

HillHound · November 28, 2001

I think alot of the television reporting on the topic is slanted in such a way that it scares the public more than is maybe necessary. It has to be sensational or it would'nt be worth reporting, right. There are certainly some concerns but I think it's overhyped.

My opinion is that, in general, our meat is very safe. Most incidents are probably due to localized carelessness in handling/storage and I'll bet usually in violation of some laws which are put in place to protect us.

Two of my uncles raise beef so we buy from them twice a year to keep the freezer full and I feel it's just better quality meat. Also we eat alot of venison which I harvest and work up myself so I can account for the storage and cleanliness of 95% of the meat that we eat at home. The stuff we get at restaurants when we eat out...well you tell me? Sometimes I wonder.

Shaners · November 28, 2001

I agree with HillHound. I worry more about poultry than I do beef, and I probably worry more about seafood than I do poultry.

I also worry more about food in restaraunts than at home. My old roomate from college spent about 4 years working for the Allegheny Dept of health (pittsburgh) and he did alot of restaraunt inspections... Some of the violations were pretty horrific!!!

chevy4x4trucks · November 28, 2001

I'm not too concerned about most of the stuff on the news. A lot of it is just bull (pardon the pun), most is targeted towards those w/ no common sense. I saw a report before about the dangers of microwaves. I wasn't sure what it would be about, turns out it was about being careful when you take the saran wrap off of your food when it comes out and stuff like that. I guess to me that's just common sense. But, I'm not really concerned about mad cow disease or stuff like that. If it's your time, it's your time. What most people don't know that you can only get mad cow disease if you are genetically pre-disposed to it, so some are immune. Also, we've got pretty strict regulations on foods here and if there were an outbreak it would be taken care of quickly.

GreenRado · November 28, 2001

I agree w/ Hillhound and chevy4x4trucks, probably lots of media hype - afterall they got to have something to report, right?

Maybe I am all hyped up about antibiotics, being on the news a lot lately, but I am more worried about overuse of these. I know there are benefits in terms of raising broilers (best man in animal husbandry) up fast, but I wonder about the long-term effects.

You ag guys out there correct me if I'm miss-informed, but wasn't the mad cow disease problem worsened by the feeding practices (ground up organs) in GB? I don't think we do this in the states, do we?

Overall, I believe our food is very safe, and with a little common sense applied our risk is relatively small. My 2 cents.

pacodiablo · November 28, 2001

i don't eat as much pork and beef as i used to, but i can't stay away from fried chicken!

jp- is that one of ur cattles in ur avatar?

Frank S · November 29, 2001

Nevermind.

I read the topic line and thought this was going to be a promo for Trojan ENZ or something.

pacodiablo · November 29, 2001

Nevermind.

I read the topic line and thought this was going to be a promo for Trojan ENZ or something.

did u really think jp would make a post on condoms?

mjsmith1223 · November 30, 2001

Beef. It's what's for dinner! ;)

You keep raisin' 'em, I'll keep eatin' 'em. Gotta keep those Monfort(sp?) trucks rolling down I-80.

MountaineerTom · November 30, 2001

To be honest, the thought never crosses my mind. I'm not worried about it at all.

raventai · November 30, 2001

You ag guys out there correct me if I'm miss-informed, but wasn't the mad cow disease problem worsened by the feeding practices (ground up organs) in GB? I don't think we do this in the states, do we?

that was my understanding of it the brits were feeding the slaughter house loftovers (including brains) to the livestock, this is a stupid practice :stupid: I guess they have less grain to feed with being a small cold wet country,

we dont do this in america do we JP?

mad cow desease is quite scarry from what i have read it is not a virus nor bacteria, it is a misshaped protein that causes the protein in your brain to becom mishapen, sience it is not alive it cannot be killed by cooking unless u get past some realy high tempratue that breaks down the protien

but seams to me if u have sanitary feed and practices it should be no problem

http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/medicine/medicine14.html

Elwood · November 30, 2001

I don't worry too much about it. When I do it's usually a restaurant though. I worry about how they handle and store it sometimes. I've worked fast-food, and had friends work in many restaurants of many kinds. I could really teel you some horror stories. And I used to help with inspections of restaurants too when I first started working for the city.

Like I say, I don't worry too much, but when I do it's the restaurants not the providers or processors.

Jpshostr · November 30, 2001

Yes, it is illegal in the USA to feed slaughterhouse waste or ground up dead animals (in other words, protein of meat origin) to livestock. Years ago it was common practice for rendering factories to pick up dead animals off the farm and convert them into feed. That has since ended. There have been a few instances of animals being fed this lately illegally, one feedlot in TX a little over a year ago for example, but if this is found to be going on, all animals that have been fed this are not allowed to be slaughtered for human consumption. Be assured though, this is not nearly a common practice. Everyone has realized that doing so would be a grave mistake for the industry as a whole, especially since this protein can be replaced with feed made from soybeans or other feedstuffs. The flare-up in the UK of mad cow disease was traced to infected sheep being fed to livestock. The UK only outlawed this practice fairly recently, within the past five years I believe (don't hold me to that), but no one knows why the heck it took them that long to do so.

My opinion on meat safety after I've seen all your responses is that the actual meat is safe from the farm, after all, it is in we as farmers and ranchers best interest to provide the best quality we can. However, once it hits the slaughterhouse is where things can go wrong. E-coli and other bacterias can enter the meat at this point, however if the meat is prepared as it should be this is a moot point as the germs would be killed. The outbreak of mad cow disease in the UK has really put a spark on us in the USA to come up with plans in case a case was found here. The plan now certainly isn't foolproof, but we are much more prepared to deal with it than we were before this.

pacodiablo · November 30, 2001

do u feed the cattle protien rich pellets?

Jpshostr · November 30, 2001

jp- is that one of ur cattles in ur avatar?

No, this isn't a bull that we own. However, we have used him through AI (artificial insemination) to help bring other genetics into our herd. I found a picture when I was going through an online catalog and figured it was time for a new avatar for a while.