Omnivorous couple poisons baby with meat
A while ago, there was a news story about "Vegan Couple Starved Toddler". I said then:
Every so often babies or young children are killed by e. coli poisoning from meat, yet somehow the headlines don't read "Omnivorous couple poisons baby with meat."
Case in point: "Parents of Sickened Children Ask for Tighter Rules on Food":
The parents tell similar accounts of children who suddenly fall ill with stomach aches, fever and diarrhea. In days, the children are in pediatric intensive care units, and doctors are explaining that the cause is E. coli bacteria, probably from tainted meat. For Barbara and Michael Kowalcyk of Madison, Wis., the story ends in the death of their 2-year-old, Kevin, in August 2001.
Meat industry blah blah blah tougher penalties blah blah blah cooking more thoroughly blah blah blah. Naturally, no one mentions the turd in the punch bowl here: why feed meat to small children with immature immune systems?
...well, because all babies are different, and some need meat. My friend Shannon's son Cian is violently allergic to lactose and to vegetable protein, and if she didn't feed him the odd bit of meat he'd be malnourished. For most babies, yes, a vegetarian diet is healthiest, absolutely, but there are always exceptions.
Posted by Rachel on October 24 2002 13:52
i grok you, zed. but what i see in your example is an indictment of the US food industry at large, if i may, not merely a point where vegans and meat eaters clash.
here's my spin: when a kid goes down from an e-coli infection caught from beef bought at the local supermarket, we *never* hear, "filth-ridden meat industry's unsanitary practices to blame." we hear, "is this a job for food irradiation?" every time you see the USDA enforcng another meat re-call, like the one currently i motion, what you're really seeing is a political platform for the implementation of a national irradiation program. and once it happens, it will be for *all* our food. not just meat.
this isn't a conspiracy theory, by any means. it's american business as usual, and a nationwide system has been in place for many years. nearly every state has a food irradiation company just waiting for the american public to read about one too many e. coli related deaths and finally soften up on irradiation.
but if the USDA were encouraging sane, humane treatment of our farm animals (free roaming, smaller herds on smaller farms) and localized butcheries (many, smaller meat markets instead of fewer gigantic Conagra "meat processors") the number of e. coli infections would drop drastically.
instead, we'd rather have post-apocalyptic meat factories cranking out infected beef, only to have it zapped by irradiated material afterwards.
so go vegan, eh? or at least, eat organic meat that's cut onsite at your local co-op.
Posted by barth on October 25 2002 07:04
If you think America is bad....
In Japan right now the meat companies are lucky that the media is entirely focused on the Abductees. It's working in a Wag the Dog sort of way to make people forget about the recent rash of food scandals.
Mostly it's a matter of mislabling. A lot of the beef marked as Domestic is actually from America, along with a bunch of other lax procedures has led to bouts of food poisioning all across the nation. And most of the execs involved were also involved in a Milk scandal two years ago.
And anyone who thinks that the Japanese quisine is healthy and organic is required to come to Mito and eat school lunch and go out to dinner. I have never eaten so many fried foods in my life. Meat wrapped in chicken skin and deep fried....*shudder*
Posted by Ann on October 25 2002 08:41
Schools to Be Allowed to Serve Irradiated Meat
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 — Schools will be allowed to serve children meat that has been sterilized through irradiation, the Agriculture Department has decided.
Irradiation sterilizes food by using low levels of gamma rays or electrons to kill bacteria and parasites, like E. coli and salmonella.
In 1999, the government approved the sale of irradiated meat to the public, but irradiated meat was prohibited in the school lunch program. The farm bill approved in May changed that, said Alisa Harrison, spokeswoman for the Agriculture Department.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/27/national/27MEAT.html
Posted by carl on October 27 2002 12:47