Rumors behind the BS…e

The fourth U.S. case of BSE (a.k.a. Mad Cow) was found in a central California cow this week, and I must say, we’ve come a long ways! In a few short weeks – I think the industry learned from the “pink slime” fiasco.

In December of 2003, when the USDA announced the first BSE case in the U.S., beef markets plummeted and exports saw a $3 billion drop in 2004. Those exports just fully recovered in 2011. In 2003, the U.S. set a record, exporting $3.19 billion with 9.6 percent of beef produced in the U.S. exported. In 2004, the U.S. only shipped $631 million, according to USDA data. The other two U.S. BSE incidents appear to have had little effect on the markets.

While the futures market did take a huge dive on Wednesday, based off rumors alone since USDA had yet to make an announcement, the overall fallout on this has been relatively uneventful. The nightly news I watch gave it all of 30 seconds….to my surprise.

I have seen a few articles, mostly blogs with an anti-meat slant, adding to their list of reasons the world should give up beef. But for every one of those, there are probably five counters from others, posting the facts about BSE.

My favorites have to be from the ag women. One “mad cow” doesn’t stand a chance against “momma rancher” when someone tells her, “your beef isn’t safe.”  

Many of you remember Mrs. Stanko from elementary school in Steamboat.

"You may hear that today BSE was confirmed in a dairy cow in Central California. What does that mean to you at the meat case? It means that the meat you choose is nutritious and safe. I buy my meat at the store just as you do because I am confident that my meat will be safe to not only eat myself but to serve to my two grandchildren. In 2007 the World Health Organization classified the US as a controlled risk country; that means that the controls in place here is the US are so effective and that fresh beef and beef products regardless of age are safe enough to be sold at home and traded with other countries," she wrote after the news came out.

My hope is over the next few weeks, reporters and consumers do their research, and find out the facts if they decide to add more to the BSE story. I know – I’m probably wishful thinking!

BSE facts…

The cow detected on April 24th with BSE never entered the food supply.

You cannot contract the human form of BSE from eating meat such as steaks and roasts.

The current case of BSE is Atypical, meaning it is sporadic and NOT from the cow eating contaminated feed.

Atypical BSE cannot be transferred from animal to animal, so the cows herd mates are not at risk.

BSE is only found in central nervous tissue and not in the actual meat of the animal.

And for more...go to

http://www.bseinfo.org/BSE.aspx

And the winner is…the war on extreme stupidity

I know, my title is a bit harsh, but really…did you know we are at war? Like a real war! Remember… Afghanistan? I just read an article today that said two-thirds of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan has not been worth fighting. But in reality, we really don’t hear much about it anymore, at least not since the killing of Osama bin Laden. We got a little on the soldier that went on a shooting rampage recently, but over-all, we don’t hear or read much.
But here at home, the wars rage on, and our media makes sure to cover everyones battles. We have the war on agriculture, the war on drugs, the war on terror, the war on guns, the war on poverty, the war on Christianity, the war on science, the war on music, the war on homosexuality, and on and on. Most can even be broken down into smaller pieces – for example there is the war on confined animal feeding operations, and the war on fur, and the war on animal antibiotics. Seriously! There’s even a website called waronbullshit.com. And a book titled The War on Moms. And now, insert drum roll, we have the war on women.
Here I am in the media business, focusing on agriculture, and was clueless to this new war on women. You would think, since I happen to be a woman, I would have gotten the memo. But apparently the message was sent via smoke signals…and got blown up someone else’s….   Anyway…
I was on Facebook, when in my newsfeed up pops a cartoon that caught me up to speed on this latest war on, none other than, “me”. It was a two screened cartoon, on one side stood a woman placing a ticket in a box – the ticket said GOP; and on the other side was a picture of someone in a giant chicken costume, placing a ticket that said KFC in a Vote box. The punch line – I guess it was supposed to be a punch line… “A woman voting republican, is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.” It honestly took me awhile…I had to do some research. I just wasn’t drawing the connection.
But it didn’t take much searching before I got it. According to media reports, my “womanhood” was being attacked and I needed be very wary…of big bad wolves (aka Republicans).
War is defined as “a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state.”  It’s all about interpretation, right?
Just for the record – as a woman – I don’t get it. I actually feel more empowered than I ever have. Do we live in a perfect world? I’m sure there will always be room for improvement, but if we are going to create a fictitious war to wage, can we, as women, ban together and pick something important!
I have a sneaky suspicion this war on women idea was created by male politicians, against male politicians, and is really just an undercover ploy to see if they can’t suck us in so they can watch a cat fight! All I can say is…don’t cave ladies!
And I think maybe we all need to take a moment for a reality check –there is really only one meaning of the word war, and the majority of us in the U.S. are incredibly fortunate to be living in a free country, protected by those willing to go to “war” for our rights to stay home and fight over silly things.
Did you know?
In 1900, men outnumbered women in the U.S.: 38.8 million versus 37.2 million, a ratio of 95.9 women for every 100 men. By 1999, it had reversed: there were 139.5 million women versus 133.4 million men, a ratio of 95.5 males per every 100 women.
In 1900 a woman's average life expectancy was 48.3 years. By 1998 women on average could expect to live to 79.4 years.
In 1900, 23 PhDs were awarded to women. In 1998, 515,000 women received doctorates.
In 1900, 63 homicides were committed by women. In 1998, the figure was 1,241.
Between the start of the women’s movement in the 1960s and the beginning of the 21st century, women in the workforce grew astronomically. But during the 21st century, there has been a withdrawal of women in the workforce. Why? So many possibilities here…But I’m just going to go with….
We’ve come a long way, ladies! ;)