New York Times article on mad-cow disease (B.S.E.)
Posted by Pierre Igot in: SocietyJanuary 13th, 2004 • 4:51 am
As someone who was still living in western Europe in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, I am all too aware of what mad-cow disease is. In fact, the simple fact that I was living there at the time — whether I actually ate beef or not — means that I am not allowed to donate blood here in Canada today.
Yet at the same time North American farmers continue to feed cattle with cattle meat, as a New York Times article by Michael Pollan reminds us.
Highlight:
The Fore of New Guinea were nearly wiped out by kuru, which bears a striking resemblance to B.S.E.; they spread it among themselves by ritually eating the brains of their dead kin.
Why we as a society find it acceptable to feed cattle with meat — let alone meat from their own species — is beyond me. These animals are herbivores, for crying out loud.
I barely ever eat meat. I used to say that it wasn’t for ethical reasons. But this mad-cow business makes me think that it is, after all, for ethical reasons.
This stuff is simply shameful.