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I have been researching all of this, because of the scary nature of
mad cow disease being detected in the US and what I was finding out about
prions. The most hair raising thing for me was the comparison between the World
Health Organizations recommendations for medical personnel regarding
attempts to sterilize surgical equipment used on patients with variants of mad
cow disease.... and the absolutely cavalier attitude of slaughterhouses and
"rendering" plants about mixing the various animals' "stuff" or using the same
equipment for two or more species... Even if the laws about not feeding cow
by-products to cows were adequate (which they are not) and even if the
laws were being followed to the letter (which they are not), it's not going
to protect anybody if the same equipment is used for cows and then used for pigs
or sheep, etc. In the rendering plants (talk about a euphemism!), where they are
making feed for these animals out of the same animals, they are
cross-contaminating everything such that the laws are completely beside the
point. It's merely a public relations gesture, as is the "Humane Slaughter Act"
that we have had in place for decades. My head is swimming from what I have been
finding.
My next area of research was to find out who these multinational
companies are that are responsible. One of the main ones is Cargill. This is a
monster of a company that has, over the past 75 years, closed the cycle by
acquiring companies in each part of the cycle between growing crops and animals,
slaughterhouses, rendering plants, and supplying feed for animals. It's a closed
loop. They are also funding a lot of research into genetic modification and
giving grants to agricultural schools (over 10 million dollars in one grant,
according to an article I found on their website...) and these are being
tested in many, many countries. This company has net earnings in the billions of
dollars, gross earnings in the 12 figures! They say they employ almost 100,000
people in 61 different countries. They own Purina, for God's sakes! They are a
huge presence in Canada and I would not be surprised if the source in Canada of
Mad Cow disease is through this company, from one arm to another, or via feed
made at one of their rendering plants. They are building "bio-refineries". They
are working on things like "bio-products development". This company has more
presence around the world and more "GNP" than most of the countries it has
presence in. I don't know about you, but that kind of information scares the
bejeezus out of ME.
Other companies owning processing plants: Archer Daniels Midland,
ConAgra, Tyson/IBP, Smithfield Foods. I haven't researched those yet to see what
kinds of partnerships are involved, but take a look at Cargill and get a feel
for some of the scope of this company. Then start buying all your food at local,
certified organic outlets. Even if you find organically grown meats somewhere on
the internet, check to see where they have their animals slaughtered. Some send
them to slaughterhouses, which defeats the purpose. I am looking into Kosher
meats, to find out about their practices. Preliminary results are that the
slaughter of these animals is much more hygienic but there is no specifics on
how they are raised, so the feed issue is a big concern. Purina animal chows are
used everywhere. I have fed all my dogs Dog Chow, all my life. That's about to
change.
Thank heaven for the internet, that's all I can say!
Judith
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