Tainted beef, no moo-re

Before biting into that hamburger, it’s important to check which plant the meat came from. The… Before biting into that hamburger, it’s important to check which plant the meat came from. The Associated Press has reported that 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse have been recalled. This is the largest beef recall in the United States since 1999.

The slaughterhouse in question supplied meat to school lunch programs and is under investigation for animal abuse. The recall has come about after the slaughterhouse violated health regulations. Most of the meat has already been eaten. It has been stated that the chance of a health risk is low, but I disagree.

Meat consumed in the United States comes from cows that consume more steroids than Roger Clemens. We all should be forced to testify in a Congressional hearing about our abuse of growth hormones. According to an article from 2002 on ScienceNews.org, two-thirds of the 36 million beef cattle raised each year are jacked up on steroids.

A video that recently surfaced from the slaughterhouse shows workers kicking, shocking and pouring water down animals’ throats. That should be more than enough to raise eyebrows about the living conditions of things that end up in our stomachs. If that doesn’t bother anyone, the content of the consumed animal should.

The growth hormones and steroids used for beefing up beef have long-term effects, including a possible risk of developing cancer. Because of this, I have created a general rule of thumb for buying beef. If Vince McMahon would allow the cow I’m going to eat into the WWE, then I take a pass.

That’s right. I prefer going for the wimpy, meek vegetarian cow that didn’t eat the animal equivalent to McDonald’s while it was alive. I think all frozen beef should be recalled because of all the garbage the animals were fed.

The Organic Trade Association states that the purpose of organic production is to meet health needs and maintain the natural behaviors of the animals. So animal-abuse issues aside, doesn’t it just make more sense to grow healthy livestock?

Really, the only benefit to ranches like the one that has recently recalled its product is how cheap production is. The negatives that stack up against this type of place include the health risks and the poor living conditions of the animal.

All cheap jokes about baseball players aside, we should hold the same standards to what we eat that we hold to our professional athletes. Constantly, these athletes are forced to speak out and say that there are no shortcuts when really what they mean is that there are no shortcuts