Molly Ivens on Mad Cow, Meat, and Why Our Food Is Not Safe

[Guest guest]

Weakening the Clean Air Act was Bush's ugly little payoff to the utilities

industry at the expense of public health. Speaking of which, is anyone

actually surprised to find mad cow disease among us? I was amused to hear

a television pundit conclude that mad cow is " not a political issue. " What

he meant was, " not a partisan issue, " in that R's and D's can be found on

both sides of the efforts to prevent this very thing from happening. I

assure you, this is profoundly political. Mad cow disease is exactly about

how our political system is corrupted by special interest money. It is

also a perfect example of how greed leads directly to bone-headed

stupidity.

 

In 2001 and 2002, Democrats introduced amendments to increase and improve

meat inspection: The Republicans and Democrats from cow states opposed

them. Not only could the D's not get more appropriated for food safety, in

2002, the administration held up $239 million that had already been

appropriated.

 

Of course we should have stopped using downer cows for meat. Of course we

should be enforcing feed regulations. Of course we need to inspect more

meat faster. So obvious, so self-evident, but you do know why things like

this keep happening. The cattle industry wanted to protect its profits,

even though downers are not a significant factor to begin with. Greed

leads to stupidity, and stupidity leads to deep doo-doo.

Nor is mad cow disease the only consequence of heavy meat and poultry

contributions to the Republicans (in the 2000 elections, corporate food

production combines donated $59 million in both hard and soft money, 75

percent of it to Republicans). See the chapter " Ready to Eat? " in my book

" Bushwhacked " for the anatomy of a listeriosis outbreak that killed

several people.

 

As Lou Dubose and I conclude, if you must eat while Republicans control

both the White House and Congress, you may want to consider becoming a

vegetarian. I am especially fond of the USDA inspection memo we uncovered

that drew the following reaction from the Government Accountability

Project: " Feces is feces whether it's fibrous or not. ... The USDA is

abandoning the zero-tolerance standard for fecal contamination and

replacing it with a new standard: ‘wholesome unless there is gross

contamination.' It's impossible for this standard to coexist with the

agency's claim that it makes decisions based on science. ‘Gross' is an

inherently subjective standard. "

 

While I agree with the Accountability Project, I think you will find that

" gross " is pretty close to scientifically accurate when it comes to the

Bush performance on protecting the meat supply. I come from a ranching

state, and I find it heartbreaking that this happened just when ranchers

are finally getting back on their feet. But this is an event any

nincompoop could have predicted, all caused by greed leading to stupidity.

 

 

 

Peace is the only battle worth waging. "

--- Albert Camus