20 May 2003
Mad Canadian Cow

Well, here we go again!

Canada reports mad cow case. Canada reports its first case of mad cow disease in a decade, in the western province of Alberta. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition]

I wish my non-farming friends would take a close look at exactly how BSE is spread - it's not passed animal to animal, rather, it's passed by eating infected material. In the case of cattle, they get it by being fed "nutritional supplements" that are infected, usually bone meal. Just Google for BSE transmission vectors - the knowledge is out there. Or better yet, read Deadly Feasts.

Now, most folks are well aware that cattle are not normally omnivores - unless we feed it to them, they won't eat bone meal! So why do we persist in this practice? Simple - money.

Large agribusiness corporations have a vested interest in keeping cattle on the feedlot and out of the pasture. Cattle have been bred over the years to require supplemental feed sources, and if the patent madness continues, it may become a legal as well as a biological necessity to supplement their natural food - grass.

Grass fed livestock is demonstrably healthier - and consequently healthier for us to eat! It's not rocket science. And we (as a society) had best wake up and smell the coffee on this issue before we've destroyed our food chain.

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