Beef recalled by USDA; Cows set to die were 'mistreated'

We have so much food being recalled lately... scary. Makes me want to start a garden of my own.

Disgusting. Sick cows come from corporate farms and feed lots. Ever drive past a feed lot where the cows are knee deep in manure? You can smell them miles away. They feed the animals antibiotics trying to keep them alive for slaughter. It has the added effect of making us immune to those antibiotics when we are sick and need them. Too bad GWB gutted FDA and there aren't enough inspectors. Too bad about corporate greed.

Is there a slaughterhouse that doesn't mistreat cattle.

You can buy a steer from a small farmer and send it to a small slaughter house yourself. That's the only way I know to get clean good quality meat. My guess is all super market beef goes through the feed lot to slaughter house mess.

I stopped eating red meat in October of last year, not long after that poor, frightened cow escaped a slaughterhouse in Queens NY. I haven't looked back, I don't miss it, and when I read stories like this and see the terrible footage of that poor animal being tortured, I think about all the other living creatures I eat (fish, the occasional bird) and strongly consider veganism...

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. Mahatma Gandhi

I used to eat hamburgers for lunch, now I eat salads, spring rolls, samosas, and even tofu! from Whole Foods. It would be hard for me to go back to red meat.

Grilled tofu in honey dijon glaise... better than red meat!

I haven't eaten red meat in almost a year and I don't miss it. It is also better for the environment.

ok, so there gonna make a recall due to cow mistreatment???

well, if the beef isnt affected or cant affect humans in any negative way, why should there be a recall. you thing a recall will bring those cows back to life....wow this is major bs

They were hauling dying or dead cows in to be slaughtered. Surely you don't want to eat that? I'm sure you have heard about mad cow? There are any number of things they could have died from that would make you sick or even kill you.

ahh! i thought they were saying that they killed the cow in an immoral matter. like instead of a quickkill, they just tortured the cow 2 death

...as opposed the the other countless millions of beef cows who have been treated like royalty for the past several decades....

Meat is sooooo.....Bush administration.
Give it up.

143 million more reasons to become a vegetarian...

Where is the Pro-Life Movement when it comes to animal cruelty? Where are they when it comes to torturing the -- what's the Orwellian euphamism? -- oh yes, the "detainees" at GitMo? Where are they when it comes to capital punishment? I just find in difficult to fathom how any movement that proclaims to be defenders of the sanctity of life can be so absolutely indifferent to the torture of animals. (It's a slippery slope from dismissing torture of animals by saying "It's just a cow!" to dismissing the torture of detainees by saying "Their just Arabs! It's not like they have souls like Americans do!") I mean, these poor cows are raised in conditions that would offend the morality of anyone -- and yet this mass Pro-Life Movement of millions is basically silent. These poor cows are regularly tortured (this smuggled footage is just the tip of the ice berg and this has been going on for decades all the way back to Upton Sinclair!). These poor guys are struggling to run away on broken legs and where are the Pro-Lifers? Why aren't they marching on Washington 10 million strong to stop these factory farm abuses? What this country needs is a Progressive Pro-Life Movement (as opposed to a Bush/Republican Anti-Abortion one) wherein ALL life is respected. That would mean no torture of prisoners, no cruelty to animals, no execution of prisoners and universal healthcare! Being against abortion for moral reasons is understandable, but I just can't understand how people can be offended by abortion and yet condone (by inaction if nothing else) animal cruelty, torturing detainees (who haven't been convicted of anything yet), executing prisoners (a shocking number of whom later turned out to be innocent. Even one is too many) to denying people life-saving medical procedures because they aren't millionaires. Instead of fighting the Pro-Life Movement we need to claim and transform it into an ACTUAL Pro-Life Movement and just not a branch of the Republican "Meat Inspection Is Liberal Big Government" Party.

I am so glad I am a vegetarian. Enjoy the bad karma meet eaters!

CNN reports, "About 37 million pounds of the recalled meat went to school lunch programs and other federal nutrition programs since October 2006, said Ron Vogel of the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service."

crob, EXCELLENT point.

Let's be honest people. Who here ACTUALLY thought that livestock was being treated humanely? Give me a break. The conditions that animals face are beyond words. There is NO explanation, NO excuse, and NO justification for this kind of behavior. Here in California, we have lots of local farms and creameries. So, if you're going to eat meat or dairy products, visit your local farm and speak with the people who actually run the place. You can see for yourself how well the animals are treated, exactly what they are fed, and how they are medicated. You see, that's what is missing in this equation. If YOU want to eat meat, than YOU should raise it. I won't list the numerous reasons why this is a superior method, but I think many of them are pretty obvious. Me personally, I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for a LONG time, and I don't miss it one bit. You heard me right: I DON'T MISS MEAT AT ALL. No poultry, no fish, no FLESH of any kind. To be honest, I'm healthy, clear minded, fit, plus I know that I'm making a (small) difference. I believe that if you are given a choice of what to eat, and can thrive without taking the lives of animals, why would you choose to enslave and slaughter them? Especially considering the environmental implications, our current system of mass production just doesn't make sense. The fact that our food production is so centralized only leaves us open to REAL terrorism, and REAL danger. God save us when someone decides to capitalize on our stupidity. This recall is proof positive that by the time we take action it could be too late.......................... Dbocaz, you are right on target. Start your garden NOW. Many of us wouldn't know how to produce our own food if we had to. Doesn't that seem a little precarious to you guys? You never know, one day your gardening and agricultural skills could be more valuable than you could ever imagine. I hope that day never comes, which means it probably will.

CROB, your point makes PERFECT sense, but there is a counterpoint on their side. You see, in case you didn't know, GOD put animals on this earth as just another resource. It's like that "joke", if people weren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?... But your point still stands because even if you believe it's okay to kill and eat animals, that doesn't make it okay to abuse and mistreat them. Perhaps the answer to that question lies in the type of people who are generally Vegetarian. I'd say that vegetarianism has a distinct "hippie" quality to it...very liberal, wouldn't you say? Animal rights as a whole seems all together too sensitive and liberal for "conservatives" to get in the mix. I'm not saying it makes sense, but I'd say that's why they don't get involved in these issues. They aren't HOT button issues, and paying attention to animal cruelty would probably liken them to much too us hippie liberals.

well the New York story went far and wide, did it not?
of the young cow that escaped the slaughter house, and the people who were spiritually affected by it to a point of no return. They could, by god, no longer eat meat. Their heart bones connected to their mouth bones. We can all empathize and as soon as we do, meat is no longer just meat, it's animal intellect. It's someone's life.

To eat or not to eat?
Whatever the answer, surely not to mistreat!

I think it's issues such as this (animal cruelty)that really, in my mind, illustrates the hypocrisy of the Pro-Life Movement as a political/spiritual organization. I hate to get too far off topic but there is just a massive disconnect between their espoused philosophy (all life is sacred including an unborn fetus) and the reality of their inaction. I hate to pick on any one particular organization like that, but if their claiming the moral high ground then they have a responsibility to be leading the charge --- they neeed to be way, way, WAY out front on these issues; loudly and publicly pressuring government to improve on such issues as animal cruelty, capital punishment, torture and universal healthcare. It would almost be excusable if this loose affiliation of pro-life groups never really did anything -- then we really couldn't fault them for inaction on capital punishment or GitMo torture. But the problem is the movement is very, very organized and motivated when it comes to abortion. They get face time with Senators, they can get media coverage for blocking clinics, they will go to Dr's homes and picket there -- yet when it comes to universal healthcare where are they? I don't think this is an oversight on their part at all. I hate to be too cynical but (in my own mind) I think it's very obvious that the majority of the Pro-Life Movement (at least it's political leadership) CONDONES torture of non-Americas and that they condone the execution of criminals. I may be wrong, but this comes across as a subtle form of racism and classism that is inherent in the Republican/Conservative ranks. Would it be okay (to them) to torture a white American prisoner? Absolutely not. Is it okay to torture a dark skinned non-christian Iraqi? They don't seem to have a problem with it. No problem at all -- only those tree-hugging Progressives seem to be making a fuss. And what of their indifference (or hositlity) to universal healthcare? One definitely gets the impression they (the Conservative core of the Pro-Life Movement) view ALL the working poor as just drug addicted high school drop outs and generally inferior to their better bred (and presumably wealthier) social betters -- and therefore taxing the rich (or, as they call it, "stealing their money") to help these poor people in the form of universal healthcare is an offensive idea. I think it's all connected, personally. You're indifferent to the suffering of an animal, then indifferent to the suffering of a non-American, then indifferent to the suffering of a different ethnic group, then you're indifferent to the suffering of a different social class. I may be wrong, but it sure seems that way to me. The same people that are totally indifferent to the torture of the Iraqi detainee or the same group that seem totally indifferent to animal cruelty issues and totally indifferent (or hostile) to the working poor. To me, it's all connected.

It's why I buy organic

We need a new Upton Sinclair. And no Morgan Spurlock doesn't count.