That's it! I am boycotting beef - a rant

[TriadLeftist]

I am not a boycotter usually, but the arrogance of the beef industry and this pathetic administration have pushed me too far. When ConAgra successfully lobbies Congress to allow the processing of "downer" cows I have to take a stand. These injured or sick cows are slaughtered and put right into the mainstream beef supply without being checked for e. coli or mad cow disease - and the reason is money. It's all about money. Now the feds are saying that we don't need to test ALL cattle, as Japan does, saying it is "far too premature" to begin testing. Bullsh*t. In the meantime the story has virtually dropped below the radar on CNN and MSNBC - telling me the fix is in to sweep this story under the carpet so the mighty beef industry can continue to reap profits at the expense of the public both domestic and abroad. But try to buy a less expensive life-saving drug from Canada and the drug makers and feds both cry that it is unsafe. It is OK to ensure the safety of the public when it lines the pockets of Glaxo but safe-guarding the public from mad cow when it might deplete ConAgra's pockets is "premature."
I will miss my steaks and burgers - but for now I will stick to swine and poultry.
Thanks for listening.

[rjbcar27]

1. When BSE hit the UK

I went out of my way to support british farmers and buy british beef. I still do.

There was a total and utter over exaggeration of the risk.

[Kolesar]

2. Welcome to the club. I have been boycotting beef since 1997

I read an Utne reader collection of articles about the way the animals are treated and the antibiotics, steriods, and cement dust that they are fed and decided I could not patronize such an industry.

[Racenut20]

3. This would have been::::

The first year in 4 that my "wealthy"????(yeah right) family would have made a profit on beef production. Don't know what you have been reading, but it is not the growers who are getting rich.

[TriadLeftist]

5. OK

Prove to me it has been tested and I will buy it - until then, sorry.

[lazarus]

4. Good job

Make sure you boycott the small ranchers that practise good animal husbandry, too. They deserve to be punished, as well.

Don't buy beef from small local ranches that raise their cattle eating nothing but grain and grass, so they'll go out of business, leaving the industry completely in the hands of the big companies.

Lord knows we don't need the small ranchers gumming up the works and confusing the issue.

[radwriter0555]

9. How are we supposed to know? With all the lies and labeling BS

that's going on, unless we're paying $30 a lb for our beef, how can we be sure what we're getting?

And now with the EPA sewage bs, those dang cows could be eating feed grown in raw sewage-watered fields.

Nuts I tell ya.

[lazarus]

45. Yup

And who knows what's being used to fertilise the fields your beloved vegetables are grown on, what with all the lies and labeling BS?

Time to become a breatharian, I guess.

[Kolesar]

28. But I like eating oatmeal !

I am quite serious. I like the food I eat. I never did bother to look into beef produced to better standards or with humane methods.

Consider that most of the grain grown in our country is fed to livestock--this is a huge use of our resources just to create gourmet meals. It consumes soil, petroleum, and water resources.

[lazarus]

44. if you like it

Then go for it. But eat what you want because you like it. Trying to attach some great good to it simply puts an air of superiority on your diet choice that invites a response.

In this case, I'd say that in a nation that pays farmers to lets fields lie fallow, and has grain rotting in silos, and produces so much grain that we have to have price supports to keep our farmers in business, feeding it to cattle isn't raising the price of a loaf of bread, is it?

[TrueAmerican]

6. Please pass the word

Please keep up the boycott. I enjoy getting my beef at reduce prices. I have a big freezer, and when I see the price down as far as I think it will go, I will buy all the beef I can.

Thanks for saving me some money.

[SOS]

19. Enjoy your discount

This downer dairy cow was dragged onto the truck and shipped to a USDA approved slaughterhouse for human consumption.
http://www.nodowners.org/gallery/CA_downer3.htm

[baggypants]

7. Ya better boycott everything

....cause if you don't grow it yourself there is an inherent risk. Growing, feeding, fertilizing, processing, canning, packing, slaughtering all have a certain risk involved with each step. The question is, what is the degree or risk.

Gee, you'd better stay at home, never cross the street, never ride in a car, plane or boat and God knows don't drink a Coke--the water may be bad that it was made with.

Hyperhysteria isn't the solution.

[OldEurope]

8. To want downers out of the food chain is no hysteria.

Here in Germany we did this since 50 years or so. You can buy cheap meat of animals that were slaughtered out of necessity at special stores, but these are under control of vets, and you´ll never find there meat of animals which had a serious desease.
I really cannot see why any other developped country in the world could not do the same.
I do not boycott anything, but I simply don´t buy non-organic food.

[INTELBYTES]

10. As a Texan, I highly oppose boycotting beef.

As a carnivore, I couldn't boycott it if I tried. This hysteria is a lot of crap. One cow, or two, much less a hundred won't change my eating habits. They caught it, they are isolating it, no big deal. The media hounds are trying to whip the public up on a slow news day. Steak and eggs for breakfast baby!!! :9

[rjbcar27]

11. Damn right. Steak for EVERYONE!

mmmmmmmmmmmmm cow.

[uncle ray]

27. yes!

that would be a great start! people seem to fail to realize, the big problem with things like downed cattle, is on processed meat, hot dogs etc. give me a juicy cut of beef, off of a cow that was raised locally, and butchered in a small local butcher shop, and sold fresh, that is fine eats, folks. it don't get any better. it gets to be a problem when you buy the cheapest meat you possibly can, that has been run through processing machines who know where, along with thousands of other animals.

i know its not easy and cheap, but it is easier and cheaper than you might think, to find real butchers and farmers, arrange to buy a half or quarter of beef, fill your freezer, and sleep well knowing that you know where your food came from.

[Bridget Burke]

14. As a Texan, I don't oppose the boycott....

Not joining in myself--will occasionally pay through the nose for a good steak from Central Market or Whole Foods. For my own health (& better taste) I also try to get my pork & poultry from the same sources. There's no need to have meat at every meal, anyway--I'm an omnivore.

But the boycott is not so much for health reasons but to send a message to the beef industry. They've successfully fought off regulation by paying off politicians. Perhaps they ought to put that money into cleaning up their act.

[BiggJawn]

12. Too Late Now.

Don't forget, this is just the first one they CAUGHT. Who knows how many have already slipped into the market?

[zeemike]

13. I am a part time vegetarian

In that some times I eat meat and sometimes not. But I have no trouble doing that because I like vegetables and do not miss meat.

But for those that just can’t live without it may I suggest that you look for some one in your county that raises beef and will sell you a live steer that is ready for slaughter. That is easy to do and makes a higher profit for the farmer. You would have to pay to have the steer delivered to the slaughterhouse (there are a lot of these small slaughterhouses around in most of the country) and pay to have it killed, cut up, and frozen but you will still come out ahead of buying it from the supermarket.

[Indiana Democrat]

15. Sigh...Check into the reality of statistics...

When Britan was hit with Mad Cow (Rush Limbaugh?), there were 200,000 infected cattle. This lead to 150 human deaths.

We've had one cow identified. You do the math.

[INTELBYTES]

16. Good point!

I think our chances are better catching SARS or being hit by lightening, or being sniped by one of bushes thugs.

Steak and eggs for breakfast, hamburgers for lunch and fajitas for dinner!!

[FlaGranny]

18. The math of only one cow

with BSE isn't nearly as important as the potential disaster of the consumption of sick animals. Would you eat a steak from an animal that you knew could not stand on its own feet, with mucus dripping from its eyes and nostrils, and with a bad case of scours? Probably not on purpose, but - you already have.

[Indiana Democrat]

23. Steaks come from Steers.

Cows (Females) are used for milking mostly. Then when the time comes, they become mostly feed for other animals and various by-products. Some ground beefs and VERY low great meats come from cows, but not much.

But the bottom line is, if you want to avoid the possibility of contracting Mad Cow, you can do so and still eat steaks.



***And I am generalizing quite a bit here***

[FlaGranny]

30. Using "cows" generically.

Actually aware that steers are "cut" bulls, and females are "cows." :-)

The fact is, though, that if sick animals (not necessarily BSE) get into the food chain, that can't be a "good thing." I doubt that many of us would eat a sick animal, if we were aware of it.

[MISSDem]

55. "They" said that this cow was a dairy cow and was ground up

and sold as ground beef.

[AngryAmish]

22. Darn tootin'

One of the things in general is that some people have such poor critical reasoning skills and poor numeracy.

Just because something can happen does not mean it will happen. One has to look at the risk and do a cost/benefit analysis.

Another problem is observational bias. A great example is many people fear that there is a great increase in tornadoes, hurricanes and severe weather generally. Well, have you ever considered that these events make for exciting news and are now covered much more often by the national press? And with modern satellite technology makes the pictures more accessible? And a 24 hr cable channel devoted to the weather?

Please, look at the risk. We all take risks all the time. Again, as everyone knows driving is much more dangerous than flying commercially. Yet I know friends who will not fly because of the perceived risks. It more has to do with not being in control of the vehicle than actual risk. Yet psychologically they cannot understand this.

When we by a steak we do not know where it came from because so few of us have spent time in agricultural settings. Many people think an "organic" farm is some idyll where all the animals gather around the barnyard in the evenings for cocoa and a few sing-alongs. In reality, instead of chemical fertilizers they smear the farm fields with feces. And that is perfectly acceptable and safe. But the way things are phrased mean a lot.

People invest so much of they self-worth in the food they eat. Again, vegetarianism is a religion. It is based on faith and is cannot be argued with for many vegetarians. Which is fine, but just as I will not listen to the Moonies at the airport, I will not listen to vegetarians.

end rant

[Indiana Democrat]

24. Haven't you seen the "America caused the Iran Earthquake" threads?

Rationality is not part of the game for some.

[Pobeka]

39. OK, let's do the math

The dept of agriculture does not test every cow (or steer for the gender-conscious).

They only test a small fraction of the cows headed to slaughter.

As I recall, it is only 1 in 100,000 cows.

So that 1 cow actually represents 100,000 cows.

But that's not the whole story, because the sampling is so small, that the error in predicting the actual number of infected cattle is HUGE. So, we could conclude that there could be anywhere from 0 to a half million infected cattle, just based on catching that one case with such a low sampling scheme.

The dept of agriculture spokespeople said that the whole purpose of their testing was only to determine if mad cow disease existed in the USA or not.

The bottom line is we know it's here, we just don't know the percentage of herds/cattle that are infected.

That kind of math makes me want to only get beef from a trusted source.

[bambo53]

17. I'm gonna boycott eggs too

I'm gonna boycott eggs too

I hear the yoke is nothing but a baby chicken fetus.

And milk too, I hear that's stealing milk from a baby calf for me to drink, then they kill the baby calf, for veal cutlets & such.

Then there's fish, all the neighbors around the lake are flushing their human waste right into the poor fishes food chain.

I ain't eating plants either. Sometimes, late at night, the birds & bees and strange animals pee & poop on the plants and I know them varmits ain't been tested.

What's a poor boy to do?

Seriously, you would not believe how strict and tight the inspecting is at slaughter houses. I've been in farming and cattle raising all my life and I've never once seen slipshod work by a USDA inspector or anyone working at the facility. We all eat the same food!

We should be overjoyed that they caught it! Someone actually did their job!

[FlaGranny]

21. You wouldn't eat a fish you

caught in a sewer would you? Would you buy a chicken and wash it in the toilet before cooking it?

Every bad thing cannot be kept out of our food, but we should do everthing we can to make sure our food is as wholesome as possible.

[Indiana Democrat]

31. I live on a lake...

...And between farm runoff and leaking septic tanks, it might as well be a sewer. But we swim in it and eat fish out of it all summer long.

[FlaGranny]

32. Yech!

Be my guest.

On edit: When I was a kid in the country, my mom used to throw out spoiled meat and such, and the racoons, birds, rats, or whatever, would have it cleaned up by the next day. One day, she heard the neighbors kids out there and caught them eating rotten hot dogs. They evidently didn't get sick. So, I guess, whatever you can get away with. Personally, I'd prefer my food to be as pure as I could get it.

[DS1]

20. I haven't eaten red meat in 2 weeks

It's surprisingly easy, even an unconscious act

[Nlighten1]

25. It isn't just beef though

after reading up on this I have found that the processed cow ends up in thousands of products that we use.

[Mairead]

26. Some people here (not the basenoter) really must be idiots.

It's just incredible.

[bearfartinthewoods]

29. are you boycotting fruits and veggies too? they aren't 'tested"

as the recent deaths from spring onions proved.

[bambo53]

33. Meat processing plants have USDA inspectors

They're like a Dr. or a CPA, and VERY much like a judge. Nothing happens unless they say so and they can shut down the whole shebang with just a wave of their hand.

These are highly trained specialists who do nothing but inspect every animal that passes through the facility, hundred and hundreds of them every day all day long, for ten, twenty, thirty years or more. They know exactly what they're looking for and the big thing is that THEIR INTEGRITY is on the line with each decision they make,,, just like a good Dr. a CPA, or indeed, exactly like Judge, because they really are the judge. Neither side can buy one of these inspectors off any easier than one could buy off a judge or a Dr.

Have we grown so cynical that we no longer trust anyone? I hate that feeling too, but I feel it more & more...sigh

[Hell Hath No Fury]

36. And do you know...

that a good number of those professional inspectors will NOT eat the same meat they test?

I was very surprised to read that a few years back. I'll dig up the article if I can.

Am still looking for the article I noted, but did come up with this on poultry inspectors:

www.wearsthebaby.com/articles/mayallbefed.html

By John Robbins

In 1991, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published the results of interviews with eighty-four federal poultry inspectors from thirty-seven processing plants in the five states that produce over half of all American chicken. If the poultry inspectors are to be believed, the chickens available for sale nationwide represent a health disaster. In fact, sixty of the eighty-four poultry inspectors interviewed said that based on what they observe they no longer eat chicken.... According to these inspectors, every week millions of chickens leaking yellow pus, stained by green feces, contaminated by harmful bacteria, and marred by lung and heart infections and cancerous tumors are sold to consumers. They said they are routinely cursed, rebuked, and harassed by company officials or by their own government supervisor if they dare halt a speeding production line to scrutinize questionable meat. A seven-year inspector explained:

It used to be that if a bird had a severe contamination, you condemned the sucker. Nowadays my own supervising inspector says, "There can be no more bad birds n your tally. You've had too many."

[SOS]

38. Not cynical...

The following is testimony from USDA inspectors and slaughterhouse workers. Everything said in these transcripts violates the Humane Slaughter Act. Inspectors do nothing.
Also a FOIA request of US District 65 shows that 60-80% of diseased or crippled cows are passed for human consumption. Including animals with gangrene, cancer, hepatitis, pneumonia Here's some testimony:

INSPECTOR:Ê We donÕt see 95% of whatÕs going on in the slaughter process.Ê We donÕt monitor the unloading of the animals either.Ê IÕd bet the veterinarian only goes out there once every three months to check things out.

INSPECTOR:Ê These days, unlike in the past, the way the plants are laid out, it is impossible to monitor the slaughter process or killing floor.

INSPECTOR:Ê I canÕt conceive of an inspector stopping the line for humane violations.Ê WeÕll only get in trouble from the meat processing company.Ê YouÔre only going to get your hand slapped so many times before you quit trying to enforce certain regulations.

WORKER:Ê The preferred method of handling a crippled animal is to beat it to death with a lead pipe.Ê It is called ÒpipingÓ.

WORKER:Ê The USDA used to come and inspect us but not anymore.Ê We donÕt see the USDA.Ê I think the company and the USDA kind of made a contract with each other not to mess with each otherÕs affairs.

INSPECTOR:Ê If a cow falls through the bottom of the restrainer device, workers have to keep the line moving quickly so they simply wrap a chain around the cows neck and hoist it up. You can hear the sound of bones cracking in the process.

WORKER:Ê We use pitchforks to get animals to move.Ê We jab them in the eyes, head, and anywhere, breaking the wooden pitchfork handles in the process.Ê We end up hitting them so hard with boards sometimes to get them to move we break their backs.

WORKER:Ê In the Òknocking boxÓ you have to work real fast, the animals come into the box and they are jumping around.Ê If you do not shoot the animal just right to knock it out, you have to let the animal go up the line conscious.

WORKER:Ê An animal that goes up the line conscious and alive makes loud bellowing noises, moving their noses and blinking their bugged out eyes as their legs get chopped off.Ê One out of ten animals is still alive while it is being bled, skinned and processed.

WORKER:Ê IÕd say 10 to 12 hogs an hour go into the scalding tank conscious. They hit the water and just start screaming and kicking.

[MISSDem]

57. Anyone who could read this and know this happens and still eat meat

has thicker skin than I.

[Pobeka]

41. They can only inspect what they can see and smell

Cattle with no visible symptoms but infected with BSE will still sail through undetected. That is the problem -- it takes a sophisticated lab setup to find BSE, no human inspector is going to spot anything except the advanced cases. I don't know about anyone else, but given the indestructable nature of these prions, I really, really don't want 1 single prion entering my, or my family's bodies.

[nostamj]

34. toon

[Kolesar]

35. this thread needed some humor

[Bush loves Jiang]

37. hehe...Thank God :)

We buy half of a locally slaughtered steer every year.

[bambo53]

42. Here's the wierd part,

Your "local",,, out in the country,,, processed meat is much, much easier to process WITHOUT an inspection! They usually ask you to bring them in AFTER dark or closing time,,, right?

Downer livestock is usually meant to be an animal with a broken leg or such that cannot walk very well. This happens quite often when hauling livestock, due to the stress and excitement and sudden shifts in the trailer while being loaded and hauled. If slaughtered right away there's no big problem. If they've had a broken leg for several days or weeks, a fever sets in and that's not real cool.

The buyers know the inspectors probably will not accept the animal, so the farmer brings it back home and has his local buddy butcher it for him, and he usually keeps it for himself. No one wants to make another sick with their product. We all have pride, but the big processers have many more "eyes" on them.

Enjoy

[Don Claybrook]

40. It's not the risk of disease, it's the lack of reverence

Allow me to explain my evolving thought process on this matter.

Maybe it's true that I'm much more likely to be hit by lightning than to get BSE from an infected cow. To me, though, the issue is more about respecting the animals that die so that we may eat them. Historically, many cultures have held the animals that provide their meat in high regard. There were lots of ceremonies in which people basically thanked the animals for dying on their behalf.

Now all of this meat is just a commodity that comes in a shiny package on a sterile white styrofoam tray. Ask some where hamburger comes from and you might hear "it comes from the back of the grocery store".

So I don't think that there's any reverence left for the animals that die in order to sustain us. On top of that, the meat industry as a whole (not talking about the small farmers here) has been taken over by the same corporate types who let 9-year olds in China manufacture their wares in order to save a few cents and get a better bottom-line profit. As a result, we end up eating chickens that never move more than a few inches in their virtual straight-jackets for their entire miserable lives. We get hamburger meat from cows who couldn't walk and had to be dragged with chains to the slaughter. We eat turkeys that are bred to have an unnaturally large breast and almost nothing else.

As a result, there are health risks, such as getting some superbug immune to all of the antibiotics these animals are jacked up with. Or BSE, or whatever else. But I believe that the bigger danger is that we have become more removed from the oneness of our earth, the interconnected nature of all things. We've turned animals (and the rest of our environment, for that matter) into just more consumable quantities, subject to streamlining measures and productivity increases. We're all worse off for it, too.

I say all of this as an occasional meat eater. But I'm thinking more and more about that meat and where it came from and its true price tag. For me, I think it's time to make some more changes.

Thanks.

[Pobeka]

48. Reminds me of Aldo Leopold

Who said:

The problem with our society is that we think heat comes from the furnace and food comes from the grocery store. -- or something very close to that.

As we get more disconnected with the basic facts of our existence, the more peril we face in the real possibility of really, really screwing up the planet and ourselves in the process for some very short sighted greedy people.

[CivilRightsNow]

50. Great post.

I whole heartedly agree.

One of my new years resolutions was to discontinue my eating of all meats. I havent eaten read meat or swine in a couple years and now no more poultry. I may eat certain types of fish, if I caught them from a trusted water source.

I think that as humans, we have evolved to a point that no longer makes meat eating a nessecity. If the ways in which we slaughtered animals were humane, Id have no problem with it.. if we all raised a cow a year and were forced to participate in it's slaughter, Id have no qualms because it would require involvement... but you are right, we have no reverance, no appreciation for what has been given to us. Conditions are riduculous and the things they do are absolutely barbaric. Now, we find more and more that the meat isnt even healthy for us. Especially the sedentary American lives that most of us live.

The hindus belive that if you eat an animal, you take its suffering into you. I'd rather be safe then sorry.

[MISSDem]

58. Thank you Don Claybrook

My sentiments exactly. I became a vegetarian many years ago after reading about the inhumane treatment of the animals.

[FlaGranny]

60. Well, Don, I agree with everything you said.

I eat poultry and fish, and red meat almost never. But, from now on, I'm doing some thinking on the subject too.

[YNGW]

43. You mean we ain't sposed to whoop them bovines and eat their carcass?

I went to the Outback Steak House a week ago. Yum! Yum!

[PissedOffPollyana]

46. Why not just shop at Whole Foods or other organic grocery?

There are other alternatives and this is a good one. Not only does it reward responsible producers, it helps the organic industry and could help to defray the higher costs & bring consumer prices down if enough people support organic markets.

We started shopping exclusively at Whole Foods (the closest & biggest organic market) in the last few months. Overall, our grocery bill is not higher. We cut back on the processed crap and buy only natural & organic produce, meat & dairy. Our regular food bill went from about $150/wk to about $180/wk, which was offset by the lack of processed snacking & convenience foods so we're about even in overall expenditures.

Sure, it may involve driving further than the conveniently located on every damn suburban corner supermarket, but in the end isn't it worth it? It may cost a few more dollars than the potentially hormoned, processed, tainted products at your local supermarket but budget dollars are easy to find when you are ready to make a commitment to healthy eating.

There is always another way. I think there is a link to stores which provide certified organic meats at meatrix.com (and you get to see a really well-made animation to boot).

[FlaGranny]

61. Where I live, Publix stores are carrying

a pretty good selection of organic foods. I got my organic chicken there. They also sell organic fruits, vegetables, and grain-fred chicken eggs - so another option is to buy organics at the grocery. If the demand is strong, the supply and variety will improve.

[depakid]

47. Looks like the pro-beef people are out in force

coincidence with a rash of article in the newspapers over the past several days. Hmmm.

However, when you look at the facts, it's easy to see that they distort and ignore the issues, just like their corporate brethren. The beef supply in this country IS NOT safe, and not only because of the probability that BSE has been around for many years. One can argue until the cows come home as to the extent of the contamination, what the multiplier effect is and how many people have been exposed. The bottom line is that the industry has no intention whatsoever of giving up the practices that led to the problem in the first place, despite the fact that they have been warned repeatedly by scientists (and indeed by more responsible ranchers) for over a decade now.

Of course, BSE is just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty of other nasty diseases that riddle the beef supply. Read any one of the number of well researched and documented books that have been written about beef production and you'll find amply grounds for not touching beef again. On top of this, the beef industry is extremely environmentally destructive. From the leveling of rainforests to graze cattle to the desertification of large parts of Africa to the polluting of streams, degradation of large portions of the American range (often at taxpayer expense), extermination of wildlife and degradation fishery resources there are tons of reasons not to eat beef.

I feel no more sorry for a lot of these welfare cowboys than I do for for tobacco farmers and RJR Nabisco. The industry is equally corrupt, deceitful and callous about the public health. If people want to eat beef or smoke cigarettes, that's their own choice- though in most cases it's neither a healthy nor a socially responsible one.

[bladegrip]

49. Beef is good

I love beef

[Superfly]

51. Has Angus beef been affected?

Because I just came back from Hardees.

[TriadLeftist]

52. Thanks

I was really discouraged after the first few responses - but now I feel better about my decision. And the chicken sandwich I had for lunch was darned good. My whole point to this rant was that I am tired of my safety being sacrificed for the profits of a particular industry.
There is nothing I can do to avoid a lightning strike - I can avoid BSE and will do so until I am confident that this particular industry is putting my safety ahead of profits.

[Superfly]

53. Don't be so sure...

Beef and beef by-products are used in more items than just steaks...

[Pobeka]

54. Unfortunately, they feed cattle products to pigs

I don't know about poultry, but that wouldn't surprise me either.

Keep in mind this is more like a chemical than a living micro-organism. It may well accumulate and or multiply in pigs just like it does humans.

[drdigi420]

62. pigs are nasty animals

i have a strict vegetarian diet

i only eat vegetarians

:)

[Hell Hath No Fury]

56. Uh oh...

Don't read my posting up thread about chickens then! ;)

[curse10]

59. Good for you!

The beef industry is one of the more powerful lobbying groups out there. And Con Agra is one of the worst offenders.

And the beef industry has had the FDA in their pockets for years! Read "Fast Food Nation"-- excellent information on the beef industry and their despicable ways.

[KFC]

63. Be scared of everything

The new American way!

[West Coast Democrat]

64. I haven't eaten beef in over 15 years

or chicken or pork for that matter. And I don't feel that I'm missing anything.

[takebackthewh]

65. This is really gonna screw up my Atkins diet.

How the hell am I going to get thin now? Wish they'd bring back Fen-Phen.

[dawn]

66. I never eat beef, anyway.

I don't like how I feel after I eat it. I haven't touched it in a few years.

No, I'm not a total vegetarian. I still eat fish. But for some reason, I just don't want to eat cows.

By the way, I lived in England during their mad cow scare and I did eat burgers a few times. I was never worried abotu mad cow back then...maybe I should have been? I will never be allowed to give blood because of it.

[West Coast Democrat]

67. I lived in England during the mad cow scare also

although I did not eat any beef while I was living there 1993-94. It is my understanding that even though I didn't eat any meat while in the UK, I am still unable to donate blood.