So I am sure that you along with everyone else in the world have been watching this Mad Cow scare that is going on in the United States.. ( I swear we need to come up with a schedule for these things now so we can have the appropriate party favors... I mean one week it's "SCARED OF WMDs" week, the next its "SCARED OF POSSIBLE TUNISIANS ON AIRPLANES IN FRANCE WEEK", the week it's "SCARED OF MAD COWS WEEK".) I think the United States just likes to be scared these days. ;/
Anyway, if you have been living under a rock (seen Osama or some WMDs there, btw? *wink*), you can look at this article to get the low down. My favorite part that keeps being pounded into our brains is this statement:
“The recalled meat represents essentially zero risk to consumers,” said Petersen, of the USDA’s food safety agency.
He said the parts most likely to carry infection — the brain, spinal cord and lower intestine — were removed before the meat from the infected cow was cut and processed for human consumption.
Okay people, those of you who have ever been to a butcher or meat market, hands up! Okay... for the rest of you, let me tell you something:
Beef Brain is a food that is eaten by some people in the United States. Yes, it features in some ethnic cooking. In case you don't believe me:
3 eggs
1 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. minced parsley
Pepper
1/2 c. butter
1 tbsp. white vinegar
Salt
1 1/2 lbs. beef, lamb, pork or veal brains
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Rinse brains well under cold running water. Combine 1 quart water, the vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt in saucepan and bring to boil. Add brains, and boil briskly, uncovered, 10 minutes. Drain and plunge into very cold water. When cool, drain well on paper towels.
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Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
Amid all the furour and blame-throwing over where the cow came from, I keep missing anyone asking the question:
"Why was an obviously diseased bovine (it was falling down and couldn't get to its feet) sent to a meat processing plant?"
Remember kids, brains are for zombies. Must eat bbrrraaiiiinnnnnnssssssss!
2 - Mac Diva
Hey, I remember folks eating the traditional Southern breakfast of brains and eggs. Already picky as a child, I stuck with grits.
Partly because the mad cow at issue turned out to be from my current neck of the woods, the Pacific Northwest, I will be blogging the mad cow issue today. I found myself getting a bit nauseous sipping eggnog while I wrote the entry last night. There is all sorts of gruesome stuff involved in what animals are fed, folks.
Jim, the answer to your question is greed. The entire body of that cow should have been destroyed instead of having the meat made into hamburger. But, then, the dairy farmer, a veterinarian incidentally, would have lost a few hundred dollars. Now, because of that bad decision, he is likely to lose a heck of a lot more -- his other 399 cows.
3 - Ms. Tek
And excellent book to read is "Fast Food Nation". Look it up on Amazon.
Now maybe I might be making this up somewhere but I seem to recall reading that if you have a truck of swine and one doesn't get up, you cannot process it's meat because it might have some sort of swine disease that can be easily passed to humans. Cattle on the other hand, unless they are acting crazy, you can process even if they are "downed". With the way they transport cattle, its expected that some will break their leg or something and not get off that trailer easily. Who care if it is humane or not... they are all going to be killed to be eaten anyway.
I'm going on a bit of a tangent here but I am not against eating meat if that is your thing, however I do think the way most food animals are raised is very inhumane. Why put their short lives through such pain? Sure you are going to kill them anyway, but why make them miserable? That's what makes me sad. I like animals.
Off on even another tangent, I used to have dealings with the Amish in Indiana quite a bit when I used to work for a carriage company. I remember going to an auction once and seeing a horse in a pen that just kept spinning in circles. You knew something was very wrong with her. Same this this summer when I went to a sheep farm up in the highland of Scotland. There was a pen and in one of them was a sheep that just kept spinning, spinning in circles. It was scary to watch. =(
And yes... it is all about greed. I spoke about this before... its when the profit comes before the soul that problems come. I have read reports that to implement changed to our food supply to make it more humane and safe would be upwards of 7 to 10 cents per pound. To me, when you think of what you gain, is that really that expensive?
4 - Mark Saleski
also worth check out is Spoiled...if you can find a copy of it.
5 - Federation of Metro Toronto Tenants Associations
My big concern is where beef byproducts end up in the food chain.
Just about anything can go into "all beef" hotdogs and historically this included the high risk brains.
But gelatin comes from cows and is widely used in many other food products and in the majority of candies.
6 - Mac Diva
And toothpaste. So, if it contains gelatin, we are putting a cow byproduct right into our bloodstreams whenever we brush.
So, as I said at Mac-a-ro-nies, even those of us who are veggies are exposed to the stuff.
7 - Natalie Davis
Goodness, this newly minted vegetarian never considered that.
8 - Natalie Davis
Speaking of which, AF&O is running a poll on this very subject. The question is: "Will you stop eating US and/or Canadian beef because of the mad-cow scare?" Drop by and register your opinion. The poll can be found in the tall yellow box in the sidebar at the right side of the page. I would really like to know how folks are reacting to the BSE situation.
9 - Ms. Tek
If you look online or go to a health food store, you can get toohpaste and candies and other such things that don't have animal by-product.
It costs a bit more, and you have to make more effort but it is possible.
10 - Mac Diva
Natalie, I have two blog entries at the bigger one on the topic, partly because this is a Pacific Northwest story. The cow, dairy, renderer and processor are all from this area. (Bad news for this lover of eggnog.) From what I've learned, area meat eaters have largely not responded to the situation. A story in the Oregonian said that folks are even still buying beef brain tacos from food carts and bodegas.
We're thoroughly snowed in in Portland, so I intend to do some more reading on BSE and its human variant.
Vic, I'm going to check the label on Tom's. Maybe it doesn't contain gelatin.
11 - BB
Brains, brains.. me want more brains - 'Night of the Living Dead'.
Well written and informative MD. Keep up the good work.