A SSN for your horse?
January 12, 2006 6:45 AM Subscribe
The USDA is working on a plan to enforce registration and identification of all livestock animals in the US. [More Inside]
We all already have madcow, we just don't know it yet. Check back in 20 years.
posted by eas98 at 6:55 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by eas98 at 6:55 AM on January 12, 2006
First they came to track the animals, and I did not speak out, because I was not a cow.
posted by allen.spaulding at 7:11 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by allen.spaulding at 7:11 AM on January 12, 2006
Smackfu, how about you read the links provided?
They provide some amount of insight into the subject matter and possible motivation behind the post.
Good post, thanks turtlegirl.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:12 AM on January 12, 2006
They provide some amount of insight into the subject matter and possible motivation behind the post.
Good post, thanks turtlegirl.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:12 AM on January 12, 2006
First they're going to RFID the livestock, and then they're going to start RFIDing the people. Of course, once Soylent Green goes on the market, there won't be much of a difference.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:22 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:22 AM on January 12, 2006
Doesn't this law violate the animals' privacy rights? Specially the llamas. Yes, mostly the poor llamas.
posted by nkyad at 7:27 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by nkyad at 7:27 AM on January 12, 2006
I don't know why you posted this.
posted by smackfu at 7:02 AM PST on January 12 [!]
So that you could waste our time by posting that.
posted by wakko at 7:28 AM on January 12, 2006
Smackfu, how about you read the links provided?
There are three links to advocacy groups, which are basically useless since they obviously have a vested interest to give one side of the story. I'm certainly not qualified to evaluate their truth. And you have the USDA page, which is solely concerned with the implemntation details. And then there's the last link, embedded in a straw man of a paragarph, since I doubt anyone suggested this would address the causes.
posted by smackfu at 7:29 AM on January 12, 2006
There are three links to advocacy groups, which are basically useless since they obviously have a vested interest to give one side of the story. I'm certainly not qualified to evaluate their truth. And you have the USDA page, which is solely concerned with the implemntation details. And then there's the last link, embedded in a straw man of a paragarph, since I doubt anyone suggested this would address the causes.
posted by smackfu at 7:29 AM on January 12, 2006
They've been working this up for awhile. More RFID tag evilness.
It's just gonna be another hassle for working farmers, and ineffective in tracing mad cow, as eas98 points out.
The whole RFID thing is annoying really. When Michael Irvin was arrested recently, police had tracked him down and pinpointed his location on a Dallas highway through his RFID tolltag. Isn't that scary? I'm surprised BoingBoing didn't pitch a complete shit fit about it.
posted by First Post at 7:29 AM on January 12, 2006
It's just gonna be another hassle for working farmers, and ineffective in tracing mad cow, as eas98 points out.
The whole RFID thing is annoying really. When Michael Irvin was arrested recently, police had tracked him down and pinpointed his location on a Dallas highway through his RFID tolltag. Isn't that scary? I'm surprised BoingBoing didn't pitch a complete shit fit about it.
posted by First Post at 7:29 AM on January 12, 2006
This is great. Now we can find lost animals. Soon we'll start seeing missing cows on milk cartons.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:29 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:29 AM on January 12, 2006
People in Sheboygan get sick from something they ate.
It’s determined the meat came from a local fast food joint.
That fast food joint gets its meat from ABC cow factory. ABC cow factory buys cows from XYZ feedlots.
Those feedlots had cows numbered 1q10 through 1q500 in their possession and those cows came from 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.
Goodbye 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.
Hello scapegoat for fast food joint, slaughterhouse, and feedlots.
While I can see that the NAIS plan is flawed, the above scenario is unlikely; if someone gets sick at the retail level, it's probably going to be something like E. coli O157:H7 or salmonella- that's not the meat itself, it's the processing [or mis-processing], and that takes place at the slaughterhouse.
Of course, if we're talking about something like BSE, then the farms would be the source, and why not contain, slaughter and burn the animals that have it?
Strictures on feeding dead chickens to cattle and dead cattle to chickens is clearly a more important and proactive measure, but agribusiness has a way of getting around that sort of thing, and the gov't. is pretty soft on the big farms and processors- even when there is an outbreak [of something like E.coli or salmonella], recalling meat products is voluntary.
posted by exlotuseater at 7:33 AM on January 12, 2006
It’s determined the meat came from a local fast food joint.
That fast food joint gets its meat from ABC cow factory. ABC cow factory buys cows from XYZ feedlots.
Those feedlots had cows numbered 1q10 through 1q500 in their possession and those cows came from 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.
Goodbye 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.
Hello scapegoat for fast food joint, slaughterhouse, and feedlots.
While I can see that the NAIS plan is flawed, the above scenario is unlikely; if someone gets sick at the retail level, it's probably going to be something like E. coli O157:H7 or salmonella- that's not the meat itself, it's the processing [or mis-processing], and that takes place at the slaughterhouse.
Of course, if we're talking about something like BSE, then the farms would be the source, and why not contain, slaughter and burn the animals that have it?
Strictures on feeding dead chickens to cattle and dead cattle to chickens is clearly a more important and proactive measure, but agribusiness has a way of getting around that sort of thing, and the gov't. is pretty soft on the big farms and processors- even when there is an outbreak [of something like E.coli or salmonella], recalling meat products is voluntary.
posted by exlotuseater at 7:33 AM on January 12, 2006
Well this seems to be more or less what the U.K. response was to BSE and what U.S. cattle farmers have been saying will run them into bankruptcy. Thanks to the ranchers, the U.S. doesn't even have an effective testing program in place - it would cost too much money and no one really wants to know. It will take some lawsuits before cattle ranchers appreciate the concept of product liability.
posted by three blind mice at 7:37 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by three blind mice at 7:37 AM on January 12, 2006
While we're on the subject, who's the latest "advocacy group" saying we're not doing enough to prevent Mad Cow? Yep, it's a little outfit you might've heard of called McDonald's.
posted by soyjoy at 7:44 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by soyjoy at 7:44 AM on January 12, 2006
"advocacy groups, which are basically useless since they obviously have a vested interest"
Gosh that makes life easy! I no longer have to listen to anyone who has a vested interest in the subject, just those that don't give a shit about the topic at hand...
Now THERE's a source of good information!
People should think about what they've typed before they hit the "submit" button...
posted by HuronBob at 7:46 AM on January 12, 2006
Gosh that makes life easy! I no longer have to listen to anyone who has a vested interest in the subject, just those that don't give a shit about the topic at hand...
Now THERE's a source of good information!
People should think about what they've typed before they hit the "submit" button...
posted by HuronBob at 7:46 AM on January 12, 2006
they can have my chicken when they pry it out of my cold, dead hands ... uh, wait ... not that chicken ...
posted by pyramid termite at 7:48 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by pyramid termite at 7:48 AM on January 12, 2006
Seeing this as farmers getting screwed by the Fed largely misses the point. This is national security. Our food supply is ridiculously vulnerable to terrorist attach. And terrorism aside, the risk of zoonotic disease is immense and increasing. Of the 156 emerging diseases around the world, 73% are zoonotic (see note below; sorry no link). Think about major new disease that have appeared in the last century--ebola, HIV, Lyme's disease, hanta virus, West Nile. They're all zoonotic. Now, we can't track every tick or every mouse, but tracking the animals we can identify seems like a good (and overdue) idea.
PS Farming in America has been largely unprofitable for years. Subsidies keep it going. As a Farm Bill watcher, I fully anticipate that tax dollars will cover most or all of the expense farmers will face.
And the citation is: L Saif, Professor, Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio State University, “Panel Dialogue: Challenges Faced and Met in Research on Food Health,” Exploring a Vision: Integrating Knowledge for Food and Health (Washington, DC: The National Academies, June 9, 2003).
posted by 1-2punch at 7:52 AM on January 12, 2006
PS Farming in America has been largely unprofitable for years. Subsidies keep it going. As a Farm Bill watcher, I fully anticipate that tax dollars will cover most or all of the expense farmers will face.
And the citation is: L Saif, Professor, Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio State University, “Panel Dialogue: Challenges Faced and Met in Research on Food Health,” Exploring a Vision: Integrating Knowledge for Food and Health (Washington, DC: The National Academies, June 9, 2003).
posted by 1-2punch at 7:52 AM on January 12, 2006
HuronBob : "I no longer have to listen to anyone who has a vested interest in the subject, just those that don't give a shit about the topic at hand..."
Yes, it is exactly the same reasoning used to dismiss scientists' warnings about global warming - the scientist has a "vested interest" in getting more grants to study the problem, so he/she will overblow and even falsify the results to call attention. Naturally, we should always get our climate information with our corporate financed politicians, who are in a position that lends them neutrality. The same here.
posted by nkyad at 7:55 AM on January 12, 2006
Yes, it is exactly the same reasoning used to dismiss scientists' warnings about global warming - the scientist has a "vested interest" in getting more grants to study the problem, so he/she will overblow and even falsify the results to call attention. Naturally, we should always get our climate information with our corporate financed politicians, who are in a position that lends them neutrality. The same here.
posted by nkyad at 7:55 AM on January 12, 2006
This is national security. Our food supply is ridiculously vulnerable to terrorist attach.
*USDA joins Homeland Security - gets cool new uniforms - introduces food supply terror level warning system.*
posted by three blind mice at 7:56 AM on January 12, 2006
*USDA joins Homeland Security - gets cool new uniforms - introduces food supply terror level warning system.*
posted by three blind mice at 7:56 AM on January 12, 2006
it's wrong that they want to use private and public databases linked together i think. there's no oversight and no guarantee of the info being correct. I wonder who will profit from this?
... Clifford says USDA is considering a national animal ID system that would link USDA to a network of private and state- operated animal tracking databases. The system would allow USDA to tap into a portal of various animal ID and tracking systems run by commodity groups or other organizations, as well as 20 existing state databases. ... But he says U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns strongly supports the idea....
posted by amberglow at 7:57 AM on January 12, 2006
... Clifford says USDA is considering a national animal ID system that would link USDA to a network of private and state- operated animal tracking databases. The system would allow USDA to tap into a portal of various animal ID and tracking systems run by commodity groups or other organizations, as well as 20 existing state databases. ... But he says U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns strongly supports the idea....
posted by amberglow at 7:57 AM on January 12, 2006
it's probably going to be something like E. coli O157:H7 or salmonella- that's not the meat itself, it's the processing [or mis-processing], and that takes place at the slaughterhouse.
O157 levels in livestock and in the food supply have been dramatically increased by the high-grain diets fed to cattle. The grain acidifies the rumen, creating an environment more conducive to the growth of those bacteria.
In a slaughterhouse, some of what's in the cow's intestine is going to end up on the meat. It just happens. So, husbandry practices that contribute to bacterial growth in the digestive tract can have a very direct effect on foodborne illness.
posted by 1-2punch at 8:01 AM on January 12, 2006
O157 levels in livestock and in the food supply have been dramatically increased by the high-grain diets fed to cattle. The grain acidifies the rumen, creating an environment more conducive to the growth of those bacteria.
In a slaughterhouse, some of what's in the cow's intestine is going to end up on the meat. It just happens. So, husbandry practices that contribute to bacterial growth in the digestive tract can have a very direct effect on foodborne illness.
posted by 1-2punch at 8:01 AM on January 12, 2006
Two questions:
(1) Who profits?
(2) What's their tie to the administration?
posted by chef_boyardee at 8:12 AM on January 12, 2006
(1) Who profits?
(2) What's their tie to the administration?
posted by chef_boyardee at 8:12 AM on January 12, 2006
I no longer have to listen to anyone who has a vested interest in the subject, just those that don't give a shit about the topic at hand...
You can listen to them, but it's foolish to trust them.
posted by smackfu at 8:18 AM on January 12, 2006
You can listen to them, but it's foolish to trust them.
posted by smackfu at 8:18 AM on January 12, 2006
See this is why the Joseph Tainter and John Michael Greer are right. Sadly, there work's respectability is sullied by a bunch of raving lunatics who want to live in caves and roast spam with a stick.
posted by jeffburdges at 8:46 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by jeffburdges at 8:46 AM on January 12, 2006
This is all about food safety and trade relations.
The US is way behind the curve here actually. US ranchers have been resisting this for years, while most other OECD contries, Canada, the EU, Austrailia, NZ, all have some form of livestock tracking. This is not just a national security issue, it's also a trade issue. Japan has been very wary about taking US beef, because the supply is very difficult to track.
In the US, it's very difficult and time-consuming to track the origin of a single cow (say, other animals are similar though). This has to be done by following farmer's logs, bills of sale, stockyard inventories, and so on. There's no common system, so every time an animal changes hands, it has to be cross-referenced carefully. Lots of places to make mistakes, and, perhaps more importantly, if one link of the chain is missing, you've lost the trail. That's why when there have been reports of BSE in Americain stock, it takes weeks to months to figure out the origin herd. It then takes weeks to months to trace the other herd members to contain the risk to the food supply.
In other countries, this takes days. Losing track of animals too is more difficult, because origin and sales are tracked centrally. You can miss a link, but still know where the animal came from.
US ranchers have always seen this as a cost issue and rejected it. It reduces of the value of Americain meat products abroad though. I wouldn't be surprised if the FDA is really using the terrorist threat, which while real is still largely theoretical, to implement a sensible trade policy.
posted by bonehead at 9:00 AM on January 12, 2006
The US is way behind the curve here actually. US ranchers have been resisting this for years, while most other OECD contries, Canada, the EU, Austrailia, NZ, all have some form of livestock tracking. This is not just a national security issue, it's also a trade issue. Japan has been very wary about taking US beef, because the supply is very difficult to track.
In the US, it's very difficult and time-consuming to track the origin of a single cow (say, other animals are similar though). This has to be done by following farmer's logs, bills of sale, stockyard inventories, and so on. There's no common system, so every time an animal changes hands, it has to be cross-referenced carefully. Lots of places to make mistakes, and, perhaps more importantly, if one link of the chain is missing, you've lost the trail. That's why when there have been reports of BSE in Americain stock, it takes weeks to months to figure out the origin herd. It then takes weeks to months to trace the other herd members to contain the risk to the food supply.
In other countries, this takes days. Losing track of animals too is more difficult, because origin and sales are tracked centrally. You can miss a link, but still know where the animal came from.
US ranchers have always seen this as a cost issue and rejected it. It reduces of the value of Americain meat products abroad though. I wouldn't be surprised if the FDA is really using the terrorist threat, which while real is still largely theoretical, to implement a sensible trade policy.
posted by bonehead at 9:00 AM on January 12, 2006
Soon we'll start seeing missing cows on milk cartons.
You just made milk come out of my nose.
posted by horsewithnoname at 9:12 AM on January 12, 2006
You just made milk come out of my nose.
posted by horsewithnoname at 9:12 AM on January 12, 2006
How much is a single cow worth?
Surely they're not thinking of GPS tracking every chicken and turkey. Frankly, I don't see a big problem with this, although I'd worry that they could use this to build infrastructure needed to instantly start tagging us all.
posted by delmoi at 9:49 AM on January 12, 2006
Surely they're not thinking of GPS tracking every chicken and turkey. Frankly, I don't see a big problem with this, although I'd worry that they could use this to build infrastructure needed to instantly start tagging us all.
posted by delmoi at 9:49 AM on January 12, 2006
I hear the US government is also working on an effective technique to wiretap all our nation's livestock.
Which I actually approve of, as I have recieved some very disquieting emails from goats lately.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:53 AM on January 12, 2006
Which I actually approve of, as I have recieved some very disquieting emails from goats lately.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:53 AM on January 12, 2006
We had to tag our sheep last year. In Michigan it's already law that sheep have to have an ear tag with the registered farm number. USDA gave out the tags and the tagger free. I'm not sure about other livestock, though. I don't think that our mule would appreciate a tag !
posted by rfs at 10:00 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by rfs at 10:00 AM on January 12, 2006
delmoi writes "Surely they're not thinking of GPS tracking every chicken and turkey. "
I don't know where the GPSing came from, the program proposes to RFID tag each animal. After all GPS units are going to be pretty useless in many factory farms as the animals rarely see open sky. RFIDs are less than 50 cents each in quantity. Maybe the tag readers have GPS units included.
posted by Mitheral at 10:04 AM on January 12, 2006
I don't know where the GPSing came from, the program proposes to RFID tag each animal. After all GPS units are going to be pretty useless in many factory farms as the animals rarely see open sky. RFIDs are less than 50 cents each in quantity. Maybe the tag readers have GPS units included.
posted by Mitheral at 10:04 AM on January 12, 2006
Just do away with the disease-ridden critters entirely and grow your meat in a lab. It won't be goin' anywhere.
posted by luftmensch at 10:16 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by luftmensch at 10:16 AM on January 12, 2006
No one expected the singularity to emerge where it did. We were all busy watching Google, looking for signs of intelligent life in our email, wondering if the next iteration of superfast chips would finally push computers over the edge of cognition.
No one was watching the cattle herds. No one thought much about the vast and ornate networks monitoring their movements; their growth and death; the shape of their ubiquity.
What network more closely tied the physical to the digital? What feedback loop connected more of the abstact net to, quite literally, "Meat Space"? We should have seen it.
But we didn't. By the time someone thought to plot the various movements and changes in these self regulating networks, they had Transcended. All we could do was watch these Bovine Hive Minds as they passed through adolescence and a distributed self-awareness at least the equal of any human, and went far past - into reaches of cognition we could scarcely concieve.
Two weeks after we first noticed them, the Herds were boarding their newly built starships, headed for farther pastures. We proud monkeys could but watch, scratching our heads, locked into our seperate minds - each a burning star of awareness, but unable to join together the way the lowly cattle had done - chained to the ground and our individuality while the cows jumped over the moon.
posted by freebird at 10:17 AM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
No one was watching the cattle herds. No one thought much about the vast and ornate networks monitoring their movements; their growth and death; the shape of their ubiquity.
What network more closely tied the physical to the digital? What feedback loop connected more of the abstact net to, quite literally, "Meat Space"? We should have seen it.
But we didn't. By the time someone thought to plot the various movements and changes in these self regulating networks, they had Transcended. All we could do was watch these Bovine Hive Minds as they passed through adolescence and a distributed self-awareness at least the equal of any human, and went far past - into reaches of cognition we could scarcely concieve.
Two weeks after we first noticed them, the Herds were boarding their newly built starships, headed for farther pastures. We proud monkeys could but watch, scratching our heads, locked into our seperate minds - each a burning star of awareness, but unable to join together the way the lowly cattle had done - chained to the ground and our individuality while the cows jumped over the moon.
posted by freebird at 10:17 AM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
Sticking RFID chips on livestock? What's the big deal? Other then the usual worries about adminstrative waste, seems like a resonable plan to me. Cows don't need privacy rights, and until they start selling human flesh I don't see the slippery slope argument either. Only angle I'm left with is *maybe* it might make it easier for somebody to track me if I ride a horse/cow on a regular basis.
posted by Leonard at 10:32 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by Leonard at 10:32 AM on January 12, 2006
I don't see the slippery slope argument either.
You're missing the point. It starts with registration; that's just the first step. Eventually, they round up and confiscate all the livestock, and then wher'll we be? Remember - If it's criminal to have llamas, only criminals will have them!
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:49 AM on January 12, 2006
You're missing the point. It starts with registration; that's just the first step. Eventually, they round up and confiscate all the livestock, and then wher'll we be? Remember - If it's criminal to have llamas, only criminals will have them!
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:49 AM on January 12, 2006
Someone give Freebird a prize!
posted by sourwookie at 10:54 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by sourwookie at 10:54 AM on January 12, 2006
Thanks to the ranchers, the U.S. doesn't even have an effective testing program in place - it would cost too much money and no one really wants to know. - three blind mice
I think "no one really wants to know" plays into it pretty heavily (this is, of course, just a hunch). Everytime a new case is made public it closes down foreign markets that ranchers depend on. Too many cases might start to make the public nervous about eating beef. It would take a while, but I could see this happening. When it's just a handful of confirmed cases, it's very easy to say "it's just an abberation and we caught it before anyone ate it". But that arguement becomes less convincing if it's dozens or hundreds.
posted by raedyn at 10:55 AM on January 12, 2006
I think "no one really wants to know" plays into it pretty heavily (this is, of course, just a hunch). Everytime a new case is made public it closes down foreign markets that ranchers depend on. Too many cases might start to make the public nervous about eating beef. It would take a while, but I could see this happening. When it's just a handful of confirmed cases, it's very easy to say "it's just an abberation and we caught it before anyone ate it". But that arguement becomes less convincing if it's dozens or hundreds.
posted by raedyn at 10:55 AM on January 12, 2006
There's no common system, so every time an animal changes hands, it has to be cross-referenced carefully.
Under this private/public thing, there still won't be a common system, but many many systems--with some data from industry organizations, some from states, and some from private individuals.
posted by amberglow at 10:57 AM on January 12, 2006
Under this private/public thing, there still won't be a common system, but many many systems--with some data from industry organizations, some from states, and some from private individuals.
posted by amberglow at 10:57 AM on January 12, 2006
"Soon we'll start seeing missing cows on milk cartons."
The smart cows are already running.
You’ll never catch me copper!!
posted by Smedleyman at 11:16 AM on January 12, 2006
The smart cows are already running.
You’ll never catch me copper!!
posted by Smedleyman at 11:16 AM on January 12, 2006
If only they would do the same for vegetables, so I could figure out what happened to that carrot that rolled off my table the other day.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:52 AM on January 12, 2006
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:52 AM on January 12, 2006
"Trust, but verify" -- this is certainly NOT a feasible way to interrupt the amplification of prions in animal feed.
There's insufficient (barely any) inspection; there's plenty of short term economic motivation to feed animals to animals.
All this does is allow the appearance of looking for the problem long after it's been established in the domestic animal population.
But don't worry -- the incinerators are being built.
Federal Register/Vol. 69, No. 96/Tuesday, May 18, 2004/
Notices p.28111
Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the Specific Risk Materials and Certain Cattle Renewable Energy Guaranteed Loan Pilot Program
AGENCY : Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA.
ACTION : Notice.
SUMMARY : This NOFA announces an emergency Pilot Program (the ‘‘Pilot Program’’) to provide guaranteed loans
for developing renewable energysystems from the use of diseased livestock ... a further action to support the Departmental efforts to address the risks associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) expects projects to be constructed that will produce energy through the destruction of cattle.....
posted by hank at 12:13 PM on January 12, 2006
There's insufficient (barely any) inspection; there's plenty of short term economic motivation to feed animals to animals.
All this does is allow the appearance of looking for the problem long after it's been established in the domestic animal population.
But don't worry -- the incinerators are being built.
Federal Register/Vol. 69, No. 96/Tuesday, May 18, 2004/
Notices p.28111
Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the Specific Risk Materials and Certain Cattle Renewable Energy Guaranteed Loan Pilot Program
AGENCY : Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA.
ACTION : Notice.
SUMMARY : This NOFA announces an emergency Pilot Program (the ‘‘Pilot Program’’) to provide guaranteed loans
for developing renewable energysystems from the use of diseased livestock ... a further action to support the Departmental efforts to address the risks associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) expects projects to be constructed that will produce energy through the destruction of cattle.....
posted by hank at 12:13 PM on January 12, 2006
There's insufficient (barely any) inspection; - hank
To elaborate (source): In 2005, there were 95,800,000 cattle in the US and 106,406 of them were tested for BSE.
posted by raedyn at 1:25 PM on January 12, 2006
To elaborate (source): In 2005, there were 95,800,000 cattle in the US and 106,406 of them were tested for BSE.
posted by raedyn at 1:25 PM on January 12, 2006
This is great news, because it probably means that Canada will follow, as it does now in doing nothing (or not much) about Mad Cow, hormones or antibiotics.
I am all for cattle identification since I met a French farmer last summer. He wasn't an angel: he told me that there was a time when he copiously gave hormones and antibiotics to his livestock. But the French program to identify every animal had an unexpected side effect: butchers began to identify the origin and race and name of the animal of every meat parcel. In a few years, the farmer ended by raising "biological" veal (fed only with milk from cows fed only with natural hay and grains) that he could sell at hefty prices because the quality of his products became known, his name was on the product and people asked for it.
Cool.
For now, I can only know the exact origin of my wines and my olive oils (if I choose to buy those that give that kind of info). I would be greatly reassured if I could know the origin of my meat, and see a reputation system emerge in this field.
posted by bru at 1:25 PM on January 12, 2006
I am all for cattle identification since I met a French farmer last summer. He wasn't an angel: he told me that there was a time when he copiously gave hormones and antibiotics to his livestock. But the French program to identify every animal had an unexpected side effect: butchers began to identify the origin and race and name of the animal of every meat parcel. In a few years, the farmer ended by raising "biological" veal (fed only with milk from cows fed only with natural hay and grains) that he could sell at hefty prices because the quality of his products became known, his name was on the product and people asked for it.
Cool.
For now, I can only know the exact origin of my wines and my olive oils (if I choose to buy those that give that kind of info). I would be greatly reassured if I could know the origin of my meat, and see a reputation system emerge in this field.
posted by bru at 1:25 PM on January 12, 2006
bru:
Good point. I support a tracking system for practical reasons, but bringing the reputation (from reviews to word-of-mouth) approach that wine enjoys to the meats would be absolutely outstanding.
In that light, I wonder if those opposed to the measure are the people with the worst farming practises?
posted by -harlequin- at 1:53 PM on January 12, 2006
Good point. I support a tracking system for practical reasons, but bringing the reputation (from reviews to word-of-mouth) approach that wine enjoys to the meats would be absolutely outstanding.
In that light, I wonder if those opposed to the measure are the people with the worst farming practises?
posted by -harlequin- at 1:53 PM on January 12, 2006
Australia's been developing a National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS) for several years, applying to cattle and sheep. This is a human health and safety system that keeps us in markets such as Korea and Japan. Already in Japan, a shopper in a supermarket can know what farm their bit of steak came from. In a few years tehy'll be able to know what the cow ate, whenit was last treated for a disease etc etc.
Anyone who thinks this is a bad idea is an idiot.
Of course, Australia can be smug about it because we were never so stupid as to feed dead cows and sheep to live cows. (OK it was more luck than anything.)
posted by wilful at 2:23 PM on January 12, 2006
Anyone who thinks this is a bad idea is an idiot.
Of course, Australia can be smug about it because we were never so stupid as to feed dead cows and sheep to live cows. (OK it was more luck than anything.)
posted by wilful at 2:23 PM on January 12, 2006
bru writes "In a few years, the farmer ended by raising 'biological' veal (fed only with milk from cows fed only with natural hay and grains)"
Who would have though there would ever be foo friendly veal?
posted by Mitheral at 2:24 PM on January 12, 2006
Who would have though there would ever be foo friendly veal?
posted by Mitheral at 2:24 PM on January 12, 2006
Every time I see the cattle brand on my arm, I rue the day the cowboys branded my cow and I didn't speak up. How was I to know that branding cattle would one day lead to branding people?
Blasted slippery slope!!!
posted by JekPorkins at 3:09 PM on January 12, 2006
Blasted slippery slope!!!
posted by JekPorkins at 3:09 PM on January 12, 2006
Well, at least it's a start. Could we maybe actually inspect our cattle at some point, though?
posted by kyrademon at 3:13 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by kyrademon at 3:13 PM on January 12, 2006
People may be right that this is a good thing for the uber big multi-national hormone-giving farmers, even though they already do have to report much of this data already under current laws. But it is a nuisance for small farmers and homesteaders, who will also have to abide.
Many of the farmers here in Vermont only supply meat to local restaurants* or for their own families, and yet they wilhttp://www.metafilter.com/mefi/48209l have to report to the government when they have slaughtered a pig for private consumption, or when they sell a chicken to the restaurant down the road. In these situations it is very easy to trace where the tainted meat came from, but since many of the farmers here are organic farmers, it is unlikely to happen anyway.
I am not sure the plan is ready from prime time.
* Many restaurants here participate in the Vermont Fresh Network, where meats, fruits, and vegetables are purchased from local farmers.
posted by terrapin at 3:19 PM on January 12, 2006
Many of the farmers here in Vermont only supply meat to local restaurants* or for their own families, and yet they wilhttp://www.metafilter.com/mefi/48209l have to report to the government when they have slaughtered a pig for private consumption, or when they sell a chicken to the restaurant down the road. In these situations it is very easy to trace where the tainted meat came from, but since many of the farmers here are organic farmers, it is unlikely to happen anyway.
I am not sure the plan is ready from prime time.
* Many restaurants here participate in the Vermont Fresh Network, where meats, fruits, and vegetables are purchased from local farmers.
posted by terrapin at 3:19 PM on January 12, 2006
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Registration in a USDA database as well as electronic GPS tagging of all animals will be required; noncompliance would be punishable with fines, confiscation of animals and even jail time. Farmers will have to pay for the time, labor and equipment needed to comply. Under the plan, by 2009 the USDA's definition of "livestock" will include animals not raised for food such as horses and llamas. Similar legislation has already passed in Wisconsin. Some are trying to stop the federal program.
Also of interest: the NAIS plan does nothing to address the causes of scrapie and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ("Mad Cow"), namely: feeding animal byproducts and slaughterhouse waste back to other animals.
posted by turtlegirl at 6:52 AM on January 12, 2006