My dad, husband and I had quite the thrilling evening last night. After a nicely grilled chicken, some steamed asparagus and a glass of beer and wine respectively, we settled into the sofa and recliner for a viewing of Food, Inc. This was the second time my husband and I had seen it, my father’s first time.
My dad just watched in awe. Much the same way my husband and I had the first time we had seen it. The footage, the facts, the stories — they are all just astonishing the first time you hear it. Of course some of us have heard the health food, animal rights/cruelty rhetoric before, but for some reason, when it’s all compiled into an extremely credible film, it is just a touch more astounding.
The second time around, my husband and I both focused in on some of the more detailed imagery and staggering facts and notions introduced within the film. Two particular things stood out to me this time around. One was the fact that meat is bathed in ammonia. Second was the story of the woman’s three year old son who died of E. Coli from tainted meat.
Ammonia Hamburger, Please
Let’s talk about this ammonia bath concept. How on earth has our food chain gone so haywire that regulators, the government, the scientists developing these quick-fixes think that treating meat, our food, with ammonia is okay? Why in the world would eating ammonia be safe for human consumption? I am speechless. I don’t understand. It doesn’t take a genius with an IQ of 180+ to figure out that ammonia is a dangerous and irresponsible substance to be using in animal feed and as a food cleaning agent. An excerpt from Wikipedia (click here for full article):
Antimicrobial agent for food products
As early as in 1895 it was known that ammonia was “strongly antiseptic .. it requires 1.4 grams per litre to preserve beef tea.”[44] Anhydrous ammonia has been shown effective as an antimicrobial agent for animal feed[45] and is currently used commercially to reduce or eliminate microbial contamination of beef.[46][47][48]The New York Times reported in October, 2009 on an American company, Beef Products Inc., which turns fatty beef trimmings, averaging between 50 and 70 percent fat, into seven million pounds per week of lean finely textured beef by removing the fat using heat and centrifugation, then disinfecting the lean product with ammonia; the process was rated by the US Department of Agriculture as effective and safe on the basis of a study (financed by Beef Products) which found that the treatment reduces E. coli to undetectable levels.[49] Further investigation by The New York Times published in December, 2009 revealed safety concerns about the process as well as consumer complaints about the taste and smell of beef treated at optimal levels of ammonia.[50]
First and foremost, why does beef contain E. Coli? Well, that’s another conundrum that humans have thought of and created almost entirely out of thin air…
From Sea to Shining Sea
Ever notice when you’re driving from state to state within the midwest (and much of the west as well) that all you see is field after field after field of corn? It gets a little redundant on those long trips. I’ve made the trip from Cleveland to Phoenix or Vegas four times. Believe me, it’s nothing to look at.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (hardee har har — protection?!), “the United States is, by far, the largest producer of corn in the world… In 2000, the U.S. produced almost ten billion bushels of the world’s total 23 billion bushel crop,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.
That is an astounding, ridiculous figure.
TEN BILLION BUSHELS?!
Wow. It really is true — from sea to shining sea.
Corn, E. Coli and Capitalism
Now that we’ve established that America has more corn than it knows what to do with, we can continue on with our discussion of beef contaminated with E. Coli. Unfortunately, the production/assembly line model has reached the farming, agriculture and livestock sector of American business. In order to keep costs down, promote capitalism, and put a lot of money into a few “farmers'” pockets, our food supply has taken the backseat to safety, health and well-being.
Livestock is fed a corn-based feed. Cattle are not able to properly digest corn. They are, by nature’s design, grazers. What this means is that they are supposed to eat grass. As you may have noticed in recent times, there are a few beef products that are now labeled as “grass fed” beef. This is very important to note. E. Coli has many strains and is a normal part of the digestive tracts of many mammals, including humans. However, when a cow is fed corn, a byproduct of the digestion of corn is a strain of E. Coli that is responsible for many foodborne illnesses, and even death.
Grass-fed animals produce as much as 80% less of the strain as the corn-fed animals.
Common sense would say, “well, if we want to be safe and eat healthy foods, then our beef should be grass-fed.” Think again. Because feed lots are factory models, are generally very, very profitable and have bottom lines to meet, the food industry would rather not resort to large acreages of pasture allowing livestock to graze. Instead, they partnered with scientists, biologists and probably corn producers to develop a way to kill the E. Coli during processing and before packaging. The answer?
Ammonia! But of course! Why wouldn’t we use ammonia to kill the E. Coli?!
Well for one thing, ammonia is dangerous. And besides being dangerous, it’s just downright disgusting. Every time I take a bite of steak or hamburger, all I’m going to do is think of the ammonia bath the poor cow guts endured at the factory meat packing plant.
Gross.
(Shaking head in disbelief.)
Kevin’s Law
In 2001, a little boy named Kevin died in Colorado after eating contaminated meat. The meat company didn’t pull it off of grocery shelves until 16 days after the little boy had died. Kevin was two years old.
Kevin’s Law, in honor of Kevin’s life, would hold meat packers accountable for unsanitary conditions, putting tainted meat into our food supply and for overall basic health standards. Unfortunately Kevin’s Law never made it past a committee in Congress. Why? Because meat packers didn’t want it to. They argued that Kevin’s Law, holding them accountable, would increase the cost and production of food.
Click here for Kevin’s story.
In Conclusion
I know I didn’t delve into a lot of specifics, and I hope you forgive me for that, but I had a lot to say and I wanted to get it out on the table before my little boy woke up from his nap. We don’t eat much meat in our house, but I worry now. My heart goes out to Kevin’s family. I can’t fathom what it would feel like to lose Boo to a known pathogen found in the very substance that is supposed to sustain life.
I provided links and pointed you in the direction of finding additional information. I hope you decide to follow those links. I hope you decide to educate yourself and your family. And to learn as much as you can about the foods you eat and the foods you feed your family.
I know I preach a lot about health and food and yadda, yadda, yadda, but it has become a very important topic to me in the last year. I can’t help that I am passionate and concerned. Take it with a grain of salt, but do try to educate yourself and make the best decisions you can for yourselves and your families.
If you want to change the way we eat, change the way American policy makers make decisions, affect the profit margins of the big guys controlling our food supply, I urge you to educate yourself. Affect change now. One way? Rally behind the rest of Kevin’s Law supporters. Click here to view Kevin’s Law and to send a letter to your representatives.
Together, — with our wallets, with our votes, with our attitudes — we can change the way America does food.
And for the love of everything holy, see Food, Inc. It will change the way you view the food on your plate — for the better.
