Turn Your Head and Barf: What Happens When the USDA Looks the Other Way

It's been an interesting week in the food world, as most of us know.

We like to do things really big in America, and so, on the one hand, we've witnessed an historical event in the recall of exactly 143,383,823 pounds of raw and frozen beef products produced by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company; on the other hand, as misreported virtually everywhere, the USDA -- that branch of the federal government whose mission statement it is to "provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management" -- did not, in fact, mandate the recall [PDF]. Why? Did you see anything about safety in the department's general mission statement? I didn't.

In a fancy bit of semantics resulting, ultimately, in the USDA washing their hands of any responsibility for this truly stellar turn of events (and forestalling any further investigation into the department's Good job Brownie-like cronyistic bumblings), Secretary of Agriculture and former Republican governor of North Dakota Ed Schafer announced, in a statement released to the press on February 17th 2008, that the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) "determined [the cattle] to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall."

In a remarkable display of what happens when the fox is in charge of the henhouse, the USDA, who fell down on the job to begin with, determined the cattle to be unfit for human food only after shocking videos of downer animals being treated viciously before becoming chopped meat were obtained by the Humane Society of the United States in an undercover investigation, and then released.

The question is, of course, had the Humane Society not released these videos, would what is the very likely common practice of mass processing sick cattle into "food" have ever been questioned or brought to the fore? Would the shockingly cruel treatment of these animals ever been brought to light? Could the USDA floor inspectors--who have doubtless witnessed this kind of treatment of cattle--be counted upon to do the right thing to protect their employers (that would be us, as in We the People)? Or would they simply turn their heads, look the other way, and go home to the little woman and kids at the end of a hard day's work?

This is where towing the proverbial party line comes in; to be clear, this turn of events was obviously underplayed by the USDA, since the February 17th, 2008 Recall Release issued by the USDA determined the health risk to be low, at Class II. (The USDA scales recalls from I to III; Class I involves a health hazard situation in which there is reasonable probability that eating the food will cause health problems, or death; Class II involves a potential health hazard situation in which there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from eating the food; Class III involves a situation in which the food will not cause adverse health consequences.) And how do we know that the health risk is low?

Because, the USDA has insisted, no one has gotten sick, including none of the kids who consumed the 20 million pounds of Hallmark/Westland beef shipped to Federal school lunch programs. But how many reports of meat-related illness have there been from February 1st 2006-February 2, 2008, when the meat was produced? Between January 2007 and October 2007 alone, 272 meat-associated salmonella cases were reported to the CDC in 35 states. Did they result from the consumption of food processed at Hallmark/Westland? Possibly not; then again, possibly so, since the USDA, once they pinpoint the location of tainted meat, isn't required to release that information, as the department's Dr . Kenneth Petersen, assistant administrator, Office of Field Operations for the FSIS indicated in a recent technical briefing following the Hallmark/Westland recall. Asked by New York Times reporter Andrew Martin whether or not the location of this meat could be found, Petersen responded in a profoundly Rumsfeldian manner:

ANDREW MARTIN: I just had a quick question, and that is, do you plan to release the places where this meat went? And if not, why not?

DR. PETERSEN: As some of the folks know, I think you've tracked some of the things we do in FSIS, beginning a couple years ago, it really started with a petition but also through some other external interests in initiated rulemaking to provide for that, meaning notification to the public of locations of distribution as we talked about the beginning, throughout the distribution chain. Store by store.

Currently, and that was really the basis for the rulemaking, that information was considered proprietary information. That is, the customers of the businesses was considered proprietary. That's the regulation that's on our books today. And so we've done a proposed rule, we've gotten comments on the proposed rule, and we're ready to issue a final rule. I can't give you a date on that. It's intended to be sometime this year. Our intent is to final that rule. So it kind of depends on in this particular recall when that rule goes final. And that's not something I personally would have any influence over. But technically today I would not post them. If the rule was issued next week, then theoretically we could post them. That's the rules we're living with today.

As of this writing, the possibility exists that illness resulting from the processing of downed cattle may be impending: today, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the beef industry is already clamoring for a reduced recall, because of its financial impact on said industry. And what would happen then? The other 30 million pounds of school-bound beef processed from these sick creatures will likely be released for consumption. The spiraling problem doesn't end there: the USDA is now considering exempting from recall any Hallmark/Westland meat that has been co-mingled with other supplier's meat, making it virtually untraceable.

My localvore food friends shake their heads in dismay when we talk about this sorry story. "This is a good reason to buy your meat from a local producer who specializes in raising cattle humanely," one of them said, and I couldn't disagree. And so I went on line to my local Connecticut grass-fed beef producer; about to place an order, I detoured to the site's About Our Beef page and found this telling bit of information:

"Our beef is processed in a USDA plant, supervised by USDA veterinarians."

So what? So was the beef processed at Hallmark/Westland.

Who knows how this sad, deadly tale of safety manipulation, cruelty, and greed will unfold; countless hours have been spent discussing the efficacy of the meat distribution process and federal employees who look the other way because either they can't be bothered to do their jobs, or (one surmises) they've been appointed by friends in high places (USDA Secretary Ed Schafer, appointed by George Bush, was formerly governor of a state that produces 90% of our nation's canola crop, 75% of which is Monsanto's Roundup Ready GMO variety). Very limited focus has been placed on the care and respect--in life, and in death--of these sentient beings who spend their lives on feed lots, only to wind up being forklifted to a bitter end. Very little focus has been afforded to the safety of our children, especially the poor ones whose most substantial meal of the day often comes from Federal school lunch programs.

A day or so after this story hit the press, I was driving to work and listening to NPR; the United States Olympic Committee, it seems, is preparing to bring its own food to China for this summer's games. Why?

"It's safer."

Comments

[provoked]

I'd have to agree with the majority of commentators here - seems like we have reached a point where MEat (and the killing of animals) is uncessary. We can gro 6 times as much food on the same land that they grow livestock on.... It's a huge burden to the environment with methane & greenhouse gas - Processing MEat wastes huge amounts of fossil fuels & water.... And too.... maybe it's not nice to kill animals :)

Many who are vegan or vegetarian (like me) see the MEat culture as quite schizophrenic. If you like animals - first (easiest) thing to do is: DON'T EAT THEM :)

[CanCar]

The customers of the businesses was considered proprietary. That's the regulation that's on our books today. And so we've done a proposed rule, we've gotten comments on the proposed rule, and we're ready to issue a final rule. So it kind of depends on in this particular recall when that rule goes final. And that's not something I personally would have any influence over. napervillehumanesociety.info

[BonnieJW]

I hope the Humane Society continues its undercover program to reveal all of these horrible places and makes them all go out of business. I'm betting it's an overwhelming number.

[lefty2026]

I used to believe that meat was part of a healthy balanced diet, however, I'm thriving now without eating any animal products. Most people have no idea what we put in our bodies, and the people who are supposed to protect us are not trustworthy.

I try to not only eliminate animal products, but processed foods as well, and when I can I get my fruits and veggies locally, they taste better that way anyway.

[Pandu]

There is no need to kill animals for food.

[humanbeinghuman]

i had the misfortune of working on a chicken farm for a few days in my teens. i carried the guilt of being part of that horrendously cruel system for several years until 27 years ago i stopped eating animals, just couldn't get the pictures out of my head. some of my best friends in this world have been animals and i thought it best not to kill and eat my friends.

[anelder]

I'm amazed at the thunderous silence of comments. I frequest many sites on Huffington and find unbelievable that all those loudly held comments are silent on this issue.

Sure shows where their priorities in life lie.

[seethelight]

continued from Gladys Osborne Leonard.."­these bad feelings were an indication of the animals suffering but also because it affected the spiritual and mental atmosphere of the earth and had a bad effect on human life and progress." from page 119,120
Mrs Leonard was a famous medium in England around the early 1900's. Her book is called My Life in Two Worlds.

[angelzone]

a quote from Gladys Osborne Leonard from her book "My Life in Two Worlds" She had traveled from this earthly plane into the next and saw many slaughtered animals lying about,barely moving." ...my spiritual guides told me this place lay between the earth and the etheric plane. It's misery was due to the tremendous slaughtering of animals for food that takes place daily; so much strong animal life is forced out of the actual physical condition.­...the air around me was a most definite feeling of fear, suffering,and blind resentment­..my guides told me this feeling was

[angelzone]

a quote from Gladys Osborne Leonard from her book "My Life in Two Worlds" She had traveled from this earthly plane into the next and saw many slaughtered animals lying about,barely moving." ...my spiritual guides told me this place lay between the earth and the etheric plane. It's misery was due to the tremendous slaughtering of animals for food that takes place daily; so much strong animal life is forced out of the actual physical condition.­...the air around me was a most definite feeling of fear, suffering,and blind resentment­..my guides told me this feeling was

[QueenCeleste]

Man can be so damn cruel. I am sickened by all that animals have to endure when they just want to fly, crawl, swim, or walk, and simply live without our interference. God bless them all from the horrors they suffer at the hands of monsters.

[joebaggadonuts]

I think that every agency head appointed by Bush has done his or her level best to prove that government does not work for the people. Instead they want a government that only works for those people short sighted, and selfish enough to think that corrupting the system in their favor so they can rake in some cash is OK.

That it is true WRT our USDA is no surprise. Horrific, but no surprise.

Vote in people like this and you get this kind of government.

Thanks for all you do against them.

[DemandTruth]

This is horrifying and barbaric. I did some research and found a link that people might want to research a little bit more. Check it out:

From Certified Humane Raised & Handled:

http://www.certifiedhumane.org/default.html

Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) is a non-profit organization created to offer a certification and labeling program for meat, eggs, dairy and poultry products from animals raised according to Humane Farm Animal Care’s Animal Care Standards. Developed with the welfare of the individual animal in mind, Certified Humane standards ensure that the animal is treated humanely and in accordance with the highest farm animal welfare standards available today, as the animal is raised, transported and processed.

A consortium of animal welfare organizations, as well as individuals and foundations, fund Humane Farm Animal Care. Some of these organizations include the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), the Humane Society of Vero Beach, the Hawaiian Humane Society, The Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (spcaLA), and others.


They have links to stores around the country where you can buy the products. If we must eat meat, let's do it the way nature does. As humanely as possible and with respect and honor for the sustinance of life from life.

[Sciguy]

"...the United States Olympic Committee, it seems, is preparing to bring its own food to China for this summer's games. Why?"

Because we can sit by knowing that "tortured dairy cow" is on the menu, but we can't sit by if "dog" is on the menu.

I don't think anyone would have noticed that sick cattle made it to the food chain if the HSUS hadn't recorded and displayed the cruelty shown to those poor old and sick dairy cows. Thank you, Humane Society. We needed to know. Perhaps we'll all go to eating more locally-produced and humanely-s­laughtered animals.

But not dogs, si?