November–December 2009 Vol. 23, No. 6

Published bimonthly by

For the animals. For your health. For our planet. is Making Us Sick

Jo n a t h a n Sa f r a n Fo e r Reprinted from CNN, October 28, 2009 Editor’s note: Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the critically acclaimed novels learned about how the way we raise Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. His latest book, the animals for food affects human nonfiction Eating Animals, (Little, Brown and Co.) will be published in November. health. What we eat and what we ike most people, I’d given extremely uncomfortable. Food is are. Why aren’t more people aware some thought to what meat not just what we put in our mouths of, and angry about, the rates actually is, but until I became to fill up; it is culture and identity. of avoidable food-borne illness? a father and faced the pros- Reason plays some role in our Perhaps it doesn’t seem obvious pect of having to make food decisions about food, but it’s rarely that something is amiss simply be- Lchoices on someone else’s behalf, driving the car. cause anything that happens all the there was no urgency to get to the time—like meat, especially poultry, bottom of things. becoming infected by pathogens— I’m a novelist and never had it Why aren’t more people tends to fade into the background. in mind to write nonfiction. Frank- aware of, and angry about, Whatever the case, if you know ly, I doubt I’ll ever do it again. But the rates of avoidable what to look for, the pathogen the subject of animal agriculture, at food-borne illness? problem comes into terrifying this moment, is something no one focus. For example, the next time should ignore. As a writer, putting a friend has a sudden “flu”—what words on the page is how I pay We need a better way to talk folks sometimes misdescribe as attention. about eating animals, a way that “the stomach flu”—ask a few If the way we raise animals doesn’t ignore or even just shrug- questions. Was your friend’s illness for food isn’t the most important gingly accept things like habits, one of those “24-hour flus” that problem in the world right now, cravings, family, and history but come and go quickly: retch or crap, it’s arguably the No. 1 cause of rather incorporates them into the then relief? The diagnosis isn’t global warming: The United Na- conversation. The more they are quite so simple, but if the answer tions reports the livestock business allowed in, the more able we will to this question is “yes,” your generates more greenhouse gas be to follow our best instincts. And friend probably didn’t have the flu emissions than all forms of trans- although there are many respect- at all. portation combined. able ways to think about meat, He or she was probably suf- It’s the No. 1 cause of animal there is not a person on Earth fering from one of the 76 million suffering, a decisive factor in the whose best instincts would lead cases of food-borne illness the creation of zoonotic diseases like him or her to factory farming. Centers for Disease Control and bird and swine flu, and the list goes My book, Eating Animals, ad- Prevention (CDC) has estimated on. It is the problem with the most dresses factory farming from happen in America each year. deafening silence surrounding it. numerous perspectives: animal Your friend didn’t “catch a bug” Even the most political people, welfare, the environment, the so much as eat a bug. And in all the most thoughtful and engaged, price paid by rural communities, likelihood, that bug was created by tend not to “go there.” And for the economic costs. In two essays, factory farming. good reason. Going there can be I will share some of what I’ve Ea t i n g An i m a l s , continued on p. 14 Dr. Don Forrester, retired Kaiser doctor who does continuing medical education for Kaiser doctors, will speak about wellness and plant-based nutrition. SVS Monthly Potluck Sunday, November 15 • 5:30 p.m. For the animals. For your health. For our planet. 1914 Alhambra Blvd., Sacramento in the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op’s Community Services Room E-mail: [email protected] Mail: P.O. Box163583, Sacramento, CA 95816-9583 Phone: (916) 967-2472 Dr. Don Forrester Web: http://www.sacveggie.org/ Mission Statement: Wellness and Plant-Based Nutrition The Sacramento (SVS) is an association Potluck: Bring a vegan or vegetarian dish for six, your utensils, a list of which recognizes to mean abstinence from ingredients, and mark whether your offering is vegan or vegetarian.We flesh, including fish and fowl. prefer that you bring a vegan dish, so all attendees, most of whom are The Society encourages vegetarians and non-vegetarians to vegan, can partake of all offerings. Free entrance with potluck dish; $4 for participate. those who arrive empty handed. SVS will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, age, or sexual preference. Want to bring a vegan dish to the potluck but don’t know what to fix? Call the SVS Veggie Mentor, Linda Middlesworth, at SVS operates on a non-profit basis. (916) 798-5516. SVS Officers President, Linda Middlesworth Vice President, Marty Maskall Secretary, Angela Lucero Treasurer, Don Knutson Public Relations Coordinator, Mary Rodgers Newsletter Editor, Mary Rodgers Send calendar entries for the Jan.–Feb. ‘10 issue by Jan. 3, to [email protected]. Dine-Out Coordinator, Gurinder Arora Locations are in Sacramento unless otherwise noted. Events Coordinator, Open Librarian, Don McNerney Sat. November 14 Webmaster, Marty Maskall SVS Dineout. 6 p.m. Join us for Vietnamese cuisine at Andy Nguyen’s Vegetarian Restaurant, 2007 Broadway. RSVP at [email protected] or sacveggie.org. Sun., November 15 SVS Monthly Potluck. 5:30–7:30 p.m. Dr. Forrester: Wellness and Plant-Based is published bimonthly by SVS. Nutrition. See above.

Submission Guidelines Thurs., November 26 SVS Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck. 5 p.m. 434 T Street (5th & T), Send submissions or inquiries to: Southside Park Cohousing Common House. If you’ve been hungering for a Editor: m r o d g e r s @m a c n e x u s .o r g . cruelty-free Thanksgiving dinner, bring your favorite vegan holiday dish and join Submissions of articles relating to the various aspects of Sacramento Vegetarian Society members and friends for a delicious vegan feast. vegetarianism, including nutrition, , envi- ronmental impacts of food production, and political issues Free for SVS members and children under 10; $7 for nonmembers. Beverages and are welcome, as are vegan or vegetarian recipes, editorial place settings will be provided. To make reservations and indicate your potluck commentary, book reviews, and announcements of upcom- dish, go to [email protected]. ing events. Submissions are accepted electronically as e-mail attachments. Contact the editor or check the website for Sat., December 12 formatting specifications. SVS Dineout. 6 p.m. Join us for Asian cuisine at Au Lac Veggie, 3500 Stockton Blvd. Submission deadlines for articles: RSVP at [email protected] or sacveggie.org. January–February 2010: Dec. 20, 2009 March–April 2010: Feb. 14, 2010 Sun., December 20 May–June 2010: Apr. 14, 2010 SVS Monthly Potluck. 5:30–7:30 p.m. 1914 Alhambra Blvd. Bring a vegan (preferred) July–August 2009: June 12, 2010 or vegetarian dish for six, a list of ingredients, and your utensils. Free with potluck dish; $4 for those who arrive empty handed.

2 | G l e a N e r November–December 2009 From thePresident The famous, charming author and chef, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau had to cancel her presentation because she came down with a bad flu. The good news is she has rescheduled for February. ome people attending SVS potlucks are just learning the reasons for eat- ing a plant-based diet. We know that the foods we eat can either make Sus sick, or make us well. From the long-term, unbiased studies of Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. John McDougall, we can absolutely identify the foods that increase our risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, diges- tive disorders, autoimmune diseases, etc. Animal protein, whether in the form of meat (including fish), dairy (including all cheeses, ), or eggs is the culprit. By coming to pot- lucks, we can all learn how to replace harmful animal proteins with plant- based foods. Li n d a Mi d d l e s w o r t h We welcome all types of eaters and hope that our informational speakers and DVD presentations will give everyone the tools to improve their own September potluck ur health, help stop animal suffering, and help prevent the devastation of our was another success with planet. great vegan food and an informational DVD from Te c h Al e r t ! Dr.O on the latest Update Your Connection to SVS before January! clinical nutrition studies for 2009. e have a new way of contacting all of you now, so, even if you We learned which foods contain the already signed up on our e-mail list, and/or are a guest or a highest levels of antioxidants and member, please re-sign up at Sac Veg Society Meetup (go to health benefits and which foods are http://www.meetup.com/sacveggie-org/ or type “Sac Veg Soci- harmful or do nothing at all. We Wety Meetup” into your browser). That way, you will get automatic notices know, for instance, that the best about our events. At the end of December, we will no longer be contacting sweetener is either dates or date you through the e-mail list we had before. sugar, as dates contain antioxidants. This message is for all members and guests, past and current. We know that green and white tea with lemon are full of healthy fiber and antioxidants and that we can decrease our risk for cancers drink- Recipe ing this all day long. Best Vegan Mac & Cheese The October potluck, with f r o m VegWeb.com about 70 people, was a smash hit 1 1 ⁄2 lb pasta, (non egg, not enriched, e.g., with great home-made food, Sugar 1 1 ⁄2 cups plain soy milk 100% semolina) Plum Vegan Bakery cupcakes and apple pies, etc. No one went home 1 cup water 1 dollop of mustard 1 hungry or disappointed in the delec- ⁄3 cup tamari or soy sauce Preheat oven to 350°. Boil water in big pot for 1 table food. Our members are mak- 1 ⁄2 cup pasta. ing a real effort to make their dishes 1 tablespoon paprika Blend all ingredients except pasta. tasty. Even if you hate to cook, you 1 tablespoon garlic powder can just pay a $4 admission instead. 1 tablespoon salt Once pasta is cooked, drain, place in a 1 Or go to Papa Murphy’s, order a ⁄4 cup or block of firm relatively large (brownie) pan and pour vegan pizza, bake it for 15 minutes, 1 cup canola or oil (can replace oil cheese sauce over. Cook about 15 min. until and bring it along. with veg broth) crispy (but not too crispy).

November–December 2009 G l e a N e r | 3

Who You Callin’ Vegangelical?

Ar i So l o m o n one cause of global warming. But, are mere feet from meat, dairy, and if someone is an ethical vegan, that Reprinted with the author’s per- eggs. We have a choice. means they’ve chosen to open their mission from the September 17, In case you’re not up to speed, mind and heart to the suffering percent 2009, Huffington Post over 98 of all meat, dairy, of animals. They want to alleviate and eggs produced in the U.S. comes ecently I’ve heard some per- unnecessary suffering where they from factory farms. The conditions plexing criticisms of vegan- can. (There are actually some people in these places are truly horrendous. ism. They go something like who feel that unless you Animals are crammed in spaces so this: vegans are extremists, for ethical reasons that you’re not tight they can’t turn around. They vegans are so preachy, veg- really “vegan,” but that’s a whole literally go insane, lying around all Ranism is like some fanatical religion, other story.) day and night in their own feces. is a cult. There obviously They never see sunlight, have their is some misunderstanding going on beaks, horns, and genitals cut and I’d like to try and stamp out this You can’t discuss your “personal off (without anesthetic) and are issue once and for all. I realize I can’t horribly abused by stressed and possibly speak for all vegans, but choice” of eating animals while desensitized farm workers. We kill this is how I see it: leaving animals out of the 10 billion animals for “food” a year First of all, veganism is clearly in this country—that’s over 27 mil- not some religion or cult. There is conversation. lion animals a day. Most of those no Church of Vegan. Veganism is animals are birds, and all poultry a philosophy. Donald Watson first (chickens, turkeys, ducks, and coined the term “vegan” in 1944. Here’s where things get interest- rabbits—yes, rabbits are considered This was how he defined it: ing. While many of us may feel a poultry under the law) are excluded “The word ‘veganism’ denotes certain attachment to the food we from the barely enforced Humane a philosophy and way of living eat (cheese, anyone?), there is actu- Slaughter Act. which seeks to exclude—as far ally no human dietary requirement Now, before you start at me with as is possible and practical—all for animal foods. It’s true. You some “humane meat,” “happy meat” forms of exploitation of, and don’t need to eat meat, dairy, or eggs bullshit, please take note that all cruelty to, animals for food, to live. animals, whether they are raised clothing, or any other purpose, In fact, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, in the nastiest of factory farms or and by extension, promotes who conducted the foremost study grass-fed, free-range, blah blah blah, the development and use of on human nutrition for over 40 are all sent to the same slaughter- animal-free alternatives for years, detailed in his book The Chi- houses. That’s right, your organic the benefit of humans, ani- na Study how a vegan diet is actually steer is being sent to the same hell mals, and the environment. In better suited for optimal human as a downer cow and will meet dietary terms it denotes the health. This means that people eat the same ghastly end. If you are a practice of dispensing with all animals not because they have to, “humane meat” consumer, please products derived wholly or but because they want to. Now, of take a moment and meditate on the partly from animals.” course I’m not talking about people whole concept of humane killing … Sounds pretty simple right? who live in countries where food bloody, fearful, struggling, scream- Well, nowadays people become is scarce and they’ll die unless they ing, despairing humane killing. It’s vegan for all different reasons. They eat animal foods. I’m talking about never pretty and it certainly isn’t might go vegan because of health you and me. People who shop at “humane.” reasons, or perhaps they’ve read that the supermarket where tofu, beans, animal agriculture is the number rice, , , and Ve g a n g e l i c a l , continued on p. 5

4 | G l e a N e r November–December 2009 Ve g a n g e l i c a l , continued from p. 4 change the stark scientific fact that products, or the person who says, “I There is a video making rounds animals are suffering because of like the way that tastes, so a sentient on YouTube that shows a lone cow our taste buds. Your neatly pack- being needs suffer and die?” shaking in terror as she contem- aged chicken breast, all wrapped in Who’s the real fundamentalist? plates walking down the kill chute. pristine plastic, was once part of an The person who simply speaks the She walks forward, then back. Ani- animal that felt fear and pain. It’s truth about where food comes from, mals can hear and smell the violence called responsibility and culpability, or the person who knowingly choos- and death that awaits them. Their and we’re all to blame. es to ignore it, listening only to the last moments are ones of abject hor- Now, you may try to argue falsehoods of the meat and dairy ror and suffering. If you wouldn’t that eating animals is a matter of clergy? Isn’t the latter more akin to condemn your dog or cat to such a personal opinion or choice, but choosing to believe the earth is again I’d have to disagree—this is 5,000 years old despite clear evi- not about your opinion versus my dence to the contrary? The reality is that veganism opinion, this is about animal suffer- The reality is that veganism ing. You can’t discuss your “personal couldn’t be more different from couldn’t be more different choice” of eating animals while leav- religion. While religion is based on from religion. While religion ing animals completely out of the faith, veganism is based on facts. conversation. Animal suffering is not some ethe- is based on faith, veganism is Think of it this way, if you were real concept, it’s very real. walking down the street and saw All animals deserve to be free based on facts. Animal suf- someone beating their dog, would from unnecessary pain, fear, and fering is not some ethereal you try to do something to stop suffering at the hands of humans. it? The same principle applies How can anything less claim to be concept, it’s very real. here. Since eating animal foods is humane? Do I want more people to a question of want and like versus go vegan, is that why I talk and write need, killing a sentient being, when about it? Of course, but it has noth- fate, how can you pay for others do there is absolutely no need—except ing to do with me or some group it to these poor animals? for someone’s pleasure—becomes So. When a vegan is talking to simply unnecessary and merciless. a meat-eater about these issues, he And if we say we care about We’re not telling you what or she is not “preaching,” “trying to cruelty to animals, then it’s time to eat. We’re telling you what convert,” or any such thing. We’re we start caring about all animals. not telling you what to eat. We’re Yes, dogs and cats are companion you’re eating. telling you what you’re eating. animals, but in terms of suffering Since animals can’t speak a our canine and feline friends feel language humans can understand the same as a pig, cow, chicken, that I belong to. It has to do with (though I think the screams and lamb, or turkey. To pick and choose the animals who suffer every day so terrified moans that fill slaugh- species in terms of whose pain we that we can eat them, wear them, terhouses should be pretty much care about is incredibly hypocritical and do whatever we want to them universal—all living beings want to and inconsistent. Sorry, but if you’re simply because we can. live) it’s up to us to tell their stories eating veal parmigiana or turkey Veganism is the practical and inform people of the suffering sandwiches, you don’t really care response to a social injustice. Instead that goes on conveniently out of the about animals. You may care about of vegangelical, the word should be public eye. dogs and cats but you certainly don’t veganlogical. If, as a meat-eater, being exposed care about birds and baby cows. To see the original article, visit to this reality bothers you, it is not So, who’s the real extremist? The http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ the fault of the vegan. Lashing out person who tries to stop unneces- ari-solomon/who-you-callin- or making up endless excuses doesn’t sary suffering by cutting out animal vegangelic_b_290582.html.

November–December 2009 G l e a N e r | 5

Ve g g i e St a r : Angela Lucero to shine in and help The next day, we threw out all it grow. animal products, and items that A few years later, contained byproducts left in our my husband and I refrigerator, freezer, and cabinets. started practicing Continually becoming informed yoga and defining our and empowered only brings clar- spiritual belief. We ity to what I know is right in my learned about the heart. Soon after becoming vegan, practice of non- my husband and I attended a lec- harming/non-vio- ture by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau lence () that entitled “From Excus-itarian to Paige and Angela ice skating and eating snow in Reno extends to all living Vegetarian: Addressing the Blocks beings, including that keep us from Change.” It was s long as I can remember, non-human animals. At the same there that we were motivated to I’ve had extreme admira- time, I became active in signing read by T. Colin tion and empathy toward petitions to end the cruelty, mis- Campbell and explore the works animals, both human and treatment, exploitation, and of John Robbins. It is these men- non-human. However, I murdering of non-domesticated tors and many others who con- definitelyA was conditioned to sepa- animals. But it didn’t add up: Why tinue to inspired me beyond words. rate the connection between those was I striving to save the lives of Living according to my beliefs animals and the food on my plate. gorillas, dolphins, wolves, etc., but and values is the best thing I have Upon growing out of adolescence, not the animals I was still consum- ever done for myself and the a seed of awakening started to ing? This was when I became animals. My husband and I have sprout. I started to question what familiar with the term “species­ become more active in speaking up we’ve been told, and to become ism.” My seed was growing but for the animals with activism and more educated and informed­ and had only become a bud. continue to educate and encourage aware of the connections our soci- In December 2007, shortly after people to make informed choices. ety and culture teach us to ignore. hosting a Thanksgiving of prime- I want to continue to transcend It was about eight years ago—I rib and turkey for my family, our the paradigm that generates cycles was overweight and not excited seed of realization had sprouted, of violence. Thankfully, I do see about the idea of “dieting”—that and my husband and I made the this happening more and more, I decided to take care of myself by choice to go vegan. Our last straw every day. learning how to eat for optimum was watching the movie Earthlings. In addition to my own reve­ health. More and more, I realized I could only stomach about 10 lation, I have been fortunate to that the Standard American Diet to 15 minutes of it … and spent witness my niece Paige have her (SAD) was not contributing to the rest of the evening crying in own epiphany. A few months ago, my well-being, and I started notic- agony and pain from the suffering at the young age of four-and-a- ing that it was animal products I witnessed; my husband was half, she was dining out with her that were causing tremendous only able to watch 30 minutes of parents and asked her mother what health problems that outweighed it. Seeing the neglect, abuse, and she was eating. Her mom told her their nutritional benefits. The seed violence and the murders of other that it was the legs of crabs. Paige was planted, but needed more light living beings was the last straw. Ve g g i e St a r , continued on p. 7

6 | G l e a N e r November–December 2009 by Dr. T. Colin Campbell Th e Ch i n a St u d y and Thomas M. Campbell II

Reviewed by Li n d a Mi d d l e s w o r t h dairy and fish was not beneficial to of these chronic diseases of afflu- human health. ence! To me, Dr. Campbell is an h e Ch i n a St u d y is the long­ Dr. Campbell does not tell you obvious choice to receive a Nobel est study of human nutri- what to eat, but he does want you Prize! tion ever conducted. Unlike to make informed decisions about I have seen people stop cancer most nutrition studies, your choices. He wants you to progression using only plant foods which often subjectively test understand the shocking results and lower cholesterol 100 points Tfood ingestion, this body of work, of his work, which show that we using only plant foods. I have seen ranging over 27 years, was carried can acutally stop and/or reverse people lose 80 to 100 pounds, too. out using non-subjective blood chronic diseases by the food So, if you are tired of being sick samples to measure health. The choices we make. or know someone who is living a China Study, done in conjunction As you will see, animal foods, life on the sick side instead of the with Dr. Junchi Chen at the Uni- including all dairy, eggs, fish, goat, well side, please read this book. It versity of China, and others, pro- pig, cow, or chicken, turkey, etc., could save your life or that of duced more than 8,000 statistically promote heart disease, cancer, obe- someone you know. significant associations between sity, diabetes, digestive disorders, Linda Middlesworth, SVS President, is various dietary factors and disease. and autoimmune diseases such a Certified Personal Trainer and is in Dr. Campbell is not preaching as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid training to receive a Cornell Univer- to you, he is just providing scien- arthritis, etc. sity Nutritiion Certification. tific facts. He went into this study The best news here, however, is truly believing that a balanced diet that we have hope now because by that included dairy and fish protein eating a whole-foods, low-fat, Ve g g i e St a r , continued from p. 6 would benefit himself and others. plant-based diet, we can prevent replied in disbelief, “Why would He was shocked to find that eating and stop the progression of most you eat its legs?” She was appalled. After thoroughly questioning every item on the table—and my sister A Limited Diet? explaining to her that they were eating animals­—she made the con- “Is the vegetarian more limited in choice than the meat eater? Of the nection and decided that she did more than 2 million species of animals in the world, only about 250 are not want to eat animals. My sister domesticated and eaten. Of mammals and poultry, only nine species make realized that Paige actually has up 100 percent of the world’s meat protein: cattle, chickens, ducks, geese, given this feeling some thought, so goats, pigs, sheep, turkeys, and water buffaloes. And of these, beef and hasn’t conditioned her to separate pork—in approximately equal amounts—make up 90 percent of the that connection. Instead, my sister world’s nonpoultry production. honors her daughter’s opinion “There are roughly 250,000 vegetable and species. Of these, 600 and ensures, as best as possible, are cultivated and eaten, including fifty different vegetables, two dozen that my niece does not consume varieties of beans and peas, twenty different fruits, nine varieties of , animals. and more than a dozen types of seeds and nuts. Many of these hundreds Paige continues her stance and of nourishing plant foods are relatively inexpensive and plentiful through- has also become the-little-activist- out the United States and other Western nations. The most common prob- that-could. She recently told my sister “Mom, I wanna write on a lem surrounding vegetarianism, then, isn’t a lack of resources but a lack of piece of paper ‘please don’t eat any understanding.” animals’ and put it in everybody’s –Vic Sussman, The Vegetarian Alternatiave: A Guide to a Healthful and Humane Diet mailboxes. How do we put it in ©1978, Rodale Press everybody’s mailboxes, Mom?”

November–December 2009 G l e a N e r | 7

E. coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection Mi c h a e l Mo s s Reprinted from the October 3, 2009 New York Times tephanie Smith, a children’s known as O157:H7 since 1994, after slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas, dance instructor, thought she an outbreak at Jack in the Box and Uruguay, and from a South had a stomach virus. The restaurants left four children dead. Yet Dakota company that processes fatty aches and cramping were tens of thousands of people are still trimmings and treats them with tolerable that first day, and sickened annually by this pathogen, ammonia to kill bacteria. Sshe finished her classes. federal health officials estimate, with Using a combination of sources— Then her diarrhea turned bloody. hamburger being the biggest culprit. a practice followed by most large Her kidneys shut down. Seizures Ground beef has been blamed for 16 producers of fresh and packaged knocked her unconscious. The outbreaks in the last three years alone, hamburger—allowed Cargill to spend convulsions grew so relentless that including the one that left Ms. Smith about 25 percent less than it would doctors had to put her in a coma for paralyzed from the waist down. This have for cuts of whole meat. nine weeks. When she emerged, she summer, contamination led to the Those low-grade ingredients are could no longer walk. The affliction recall of beef from nearly 3,000 cut from areas of the cow that are had ravaged her nervous system and grocers in 41 states. more likely to have had contact with left her paralyzed. Ms. Smith’s reaction to the virulent feces, which carries E. coli, industry strain of E. coli was extreme, but research shows. Yet Cargill, like most tracing the story of her burger, meat companies, relies on its suppliers The ingredients—ground through interviews and government to check for the bacteria and does its and corporate records obtained by The own testing only after the ingredients together at a plant in Wiscon- New York Times, shows why eating are ground together. The United ground beef is still a gamble. Neither sin— came from slaughter- the system meant to make the meat houses in Nebraska, Texas, and safe, nor the meat itself, is what This summer, contamination led consumers have been led to believe. Uruguay, and from a South Ground beef is usually not simply to the recall of beef from nearly a chunk of meat run through a 3,000 grocers in 41 states. Dakota company that processes grinder. Instead, records and inter- views show, a single portion of fatty trimmings and treats hamburger meat is often an amalgam States Department of Agriculture of various grades of meat from (USDA), which allows grinders to them with ammonia to kill different parts of cows and even from devise their own safety plans, has different slaughterhouses. These cuts encouraged them to test ingredients bacteria. of meat are particularly vulnerable to first as a way of increasing the chance E. coli contamination, food experts of finding contamination. Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a and officials say. Despite this, there is Unwritten agreements between severe form of food-borne illness no federal requirement for grinders to some companies appear to stand in caused by E. coli, which Minnesota test their ingredients for the pathogen. the way of ingredient testing. Many officials traced to the hamburger that The frozen hamburgers that the big slaughterhouses will sell only to her mother had grilled for their Smiths ate, which were made by the grinders who agree not to test their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007. food giant Cargill, were labeled shipments for E. coli, according to “I ask myself every day, ‘Why me?’ “American Chef’s Selection Angus officials at two large grinding compa- and ‘Why from a hamburger?’” Ms. Beef Patties.” Yet confidential grind- nies. Slaughterhouses fear that one Smith said. In the simplest terms, she ing logs and other Cargill records grinder’s discovery of E. coli will set ran out of luck in a food-safety game show that the hamburgers were made off a recall of ingredients they sold to of chance whose rules and risks are from a mix of slaughterhouse trim- others. not widely known. mings and a mash-like product “Ground beef is not a completely Meat companies and grocers have derived from scraps that were ground safe product,” said Dr. Jeffrey Bender, been barred from selling ground beef together at a plant in Wisconsin. The a food safety expert at the University tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli ingredients came from E. c o l i , continued on p. 9

8 | G l e a N e r November–December 2009 E. c o l i , continued from p. 8 problems at 55 that were failing to meat—from Greater Omaha Packing, of Minnesota who helped develop follow their own safety plans. where some 2,600 cattle are slaugh- systems for tracing E. coli contamina- “Every time we look, we find out tered daily and processed in a plant tion. He said that while outbreaks had that things are not what we hoped the size of four football fields. been on the decline, “unfortunately it they would be,” said Loren D. Lange, As with other slaughterhouses, the looks like we are going a bit in the an executive associate in USDA’s food potential for contamination is present opposite direction.” safety division. every step of the way, according to Food scientists have registered workers and federal inspectors. The increasing concern about the viru- Eating ground beef is still a gamble. cattle often arrive with smears of lence of this pathogen since only a feedlot feces that harbor the E. coli few stray cells can make someone sick, pathogen, and the hide must be and they warn that federal guidance to In the weeks before Ms. Smith’s removed carefully to keep it off the cook meat thoroughly and to wash up patty was made, federal inspectors had meat. This is especially critical for afterward is not sufficient. A test by repeatedly found that Cargill was trimmings sliced from the outer The Times found that the safe handling violating its own safety procedures in surface of the carcass. instructions are not enough to prevent handling ground beef, but they Federal inspectors based at the the bacteria from spreading in the imposed no fines or sanctions, records plant are supposed to monitor the kitchen. show. After the outbreak, the depart- hide removal, but much can go wrong. Cargill, whose $116.6 billion in rev- ment threatened to withhold the seal Workers slicing away the hide can enues last year made it the country’s of approval that declares “U.S. inadvertently spread feces to the meat, largest private company, declined Inspected and Passed by the Depart- and large clamps that hold the hide requests to interview company ment of Agriculture.” during processing sometimes slip and officials or visit its facilities. “Cargill is In the end, though, the agency smear the meat with feces, the not in a position to answer your accepted Cargill’s proposal to increase workers and inspectors say. specific questions, other than to state its scrutiny of suppliers. That agree- Greater Omaha vacuums and that we are committed to continuous ment came early last year after washes carcasses with hot water and improvement in the area of food contentious negotiations, records lactic acid before sending them to the safety,” the company said, citing show. When Cargill defended its safety cutting floor. But these safeguards are continuing litigation. system and initially resisted making not foolproof. The meat industry treats much of some changes, an agency official “As the trimmings are going down its practices and the ingredients in the processing line into combos or ground beef as trade secrets. While boxes, no one is inspecting every USDA has inspectors posted in plants Food scientists warn that single piece,” said one federal inspec- and has access to production records, tor who monitored Greater Omaha it also guards those secrets. Federal federal guidance to cook meat and requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. records released by the department thoroughly and to wash up through the Freedom of Information The E. coli risk is also present at Act blacked out details of Cargill’s afterward is not sufficient. the gutting station, where intestines grinding operation that could be are removed, the inspector said. learned only through copies of the Every five seconds or so, half of a documents obtained from other wrote back: “How is food safety not carcass moves into the meat-cutting sources. Those documents illustrate the ultimate issue?” side of the slaughterhouse, where the restrained approach to enforce- The Risk. On Aug. 16, 2007, the trimmers said they could keep up with ment by a department whose missions day Ms. Smith’s hamburger was made, the flow unless they spot any remain- include ensuring meat safety and the No. 3 grinder at the Cargill plant ing feces. “We would step in and stop the promoting agriculture markets. in Butler, Wis., started up at 6:50 a.m. Within weeks of the 2007 Cargill The largest ingredient was beef line, and do whatever you do to take it outbreak, USDA officials swept across trimmings known as “50/50”—half off,” said Esley Adams, a former the country, conducting spot checks at fat, half meat—that cost about supervisor who said he was fired this 224 meat plants to assess their efforts 60 cents a pound, making them the summer after 16 years following a to combat E. coli. Although inspec- cheapest component. dispute over sick leave. “But that tors had been monitoring these plants Cargill bought these trimmings— doesn’t mean everything was caught.” all along, officials found serious fatty edges sliced from better cuts of E. c o l i , continued on p. 10

November–December 2009 G l e a N e r | 9

E. c o l i , continued from p. 9 Uruguay, said the problems were schools, according to Agriculture Two current employees said the corrected immediately. “Everything is Department records and interviews. flow of carcasses keeps up its torrid fine, finally,” he said. “That is the A Beef Products official, Richard pace even when trimmers get reas- reason we are exporting.” Jochum, said that last year’s contami- signed, which increases pressure on Cargill’s final source was a supplier nation stemmed from a “minor workers. To protest one such episode, that turns fatty trimmings into what it change in our process,” which the the employees said, dozens of calls “fine lean textured beef.” The company adjusted. The company did workers walked off the job for a few company, Beef Products Inc., said it not respond to questions about the hours earlier this year. Last year, bought meat that averages between latest finding. workers sued Greater Omaha, alleging 50 percent and 70 percent fat, includ- In combining the ingredients, that they were not paid for the time ing “any small pieces of fat derived Cargill was following a common they need to clean contaminants off from the normal breakdown of the industry practice of mixing trim from their knives and other gear before and beef carcass.” It warms the trimmings, various suppliers to hit the desired fat after their shifts. The company is removes the fat in a centrifuge and content for the least money, industry contesting the lawsuit. treats the remaining product with officials said. Greater Omaha did not respond to ammonia to kill E. coli. In all, the ingredients for Ms. repeated requests to interview compa- Smith’s burger cost Cargill about $1 ny officials. In a statement, a company a pound, company records show, or official said Greater Omaha had a Workers sued Greater Omaha about 30 cents less than industry “reputation for embracing new food experts say it would cost for ground safety technology and utilizing science alleging that they were not paid beef made from whole cuts of meat. Ground beef sold by most grocers to make the safest product possible.” for the time they need to clean The Trimmings. In making is made from a blend of ingredients, hamburger meat, grinders aim for a off their knives and other gear industry officials said. Agriculture specific fat content—26.6 percent in Department regulations also allow the lot that Ms. Smith’s patty came before and after their shifts. hamburger meat labeled ground chuck from, company records show. To or sirloin to contain trimmings from offset Greater Omaha’s 50/50 those parts of the cow. At a chain like trimmings, Cargill added leaner With seven million pounds pro- Publix Super Markets, customers who material from three other suppliers. duced each week, the company’s prod- want hamburger made from whole Records show that some came from uct is widely used in hamburger meat cuts of meat have to buy a steak and a Texas slaughterhouse, Lone Star sold by grocers and fast-food restau- have it specially ground, said a Publix Beef Processors, which specializes in rants and served in the federal school spokeswoman, Maria Brous, or buy a dairy cows and bulls too old to be lunch program. Ten percent of Ms. product like Bubba Burgers, which fattened in feedlots. In a form letter Smith’s burger came from Beef boasts on its labeling, “100 percent dated two days before Ms. Smith’s Products, which charged Cargill about whole muscle means no trimmings.” patty was made, Lone Star recounted $1.20 per pound, or 20 cents less than To finish off the Smiths’ ground for Cargill its various safety measures the lean trimmings in the burger, beef, Cargill added bread crumbs and but warned “to this date there is no billing records show. spices, fashioned it into patties, froze guarantee for pathogen-free raw An Iowa State University study them and packed them 18 to a carton. material and we would like to stress financed by Beef Products found that The listed ingredients revealed the importance of proper handling of ammonia reduces E. coli to levels that little of how the meat was made. all raw products.” cannot be detected. The Department There was just one meat product Ms. Smith’s burger also contained of Agriculture accepted the research listed: “Beef.” trimmings from a slaughterhouse in as proof that the treatment was Tension Over Testing. As it fed Uruguay, where government officials effective and safe. And Cargill told the ingredients into its grinders, Cargill insist that they have never found E. agency after the outbreak that it had watched for some unwanted elements. coli O157:H7 in meat. Yet audits of ruled out Beef Products as the Using metal detectors, workers Uruguay’s meat operations conducted possible source of contamination. snagged stray nails and metal hooks by the USDA have found sanitation But federal school lunch officials that could damage the grinders, then problems, including improper testing found E. coli in Beef Products warned suppliers to make sure it did for the pathogen. Dr. Hector J. material in 2006 and 2008 and again in not happen again. Lazaneo, a meat safety official in August, and stopped it from going to E. c o l i , continued on p. 11

10 | G l e a N e r November–December 2009 E. c o l i , continued from p. 10 “It’s incumbent upon us,” he said. “If implicated in outbreaks had failed to But when it came to E. coli you say, ‘Craig, this is what we’ve find any. O157:H7, Cargill did not screen the done,’ I should be able to go, ‘Cool, I At the same time, the meat process- ingredients and only tested once the believe you.’ But I’m going to check.” ing industry has resisted taking the grinding was done. The potential Costco said it had found E. coli in onus on itself. An Agriculture Depart- pitfall of this practice surfaced just foreign and domestic beef trimmings ment survey of more than 2,000 weeks before Ms. Smith’s patty was and pressured suppliers to fix the plants taken after the Cargill outbreak made. A company spot check in May problem. But even Costco, with its showed that half of the grinders did 2007 found E. coli in finished ham- huge buying power, said it had met not test their finished ground beef for burger, which Cargill disclosed to resistance from some big slaughter- E. coli; only 6 percent said they tested investigators in the wake of the houses. “Tyson will not supply us,” incoming ingredients at least four October outbreak. But Cargill told Mr. Wilson said. “They don’t want us times a year. them it could not determine which to test.” In October 2007, the agency issued supplier had shipped the tainted meat A Tyson spokesman, Gary Mickel- a notice recommending that proces- since the ingredients had already been son, would not respond to Costco’s sors conduct at least a few tests a year mixed together. accusation, but said, “We do not and to verify the testing done by slaughter- “Our finished ground products cannot” prohibit grinders from testing houses. But after resistance from the typically contain raw materials from industry, the department allowed numerous suppliers,” Dr. Angela suppliers to run the verification Siemens, the technical services vice “I have to look at the entire checks on their own operations. president for Cargill’s meat division, In August 2008, the USDA issued a wrote to the USDA “Consequently, it industry, not just what is best for draft guideline again urging, but not ordering, processors to test ingredi- is not possible to implicate a specific public health,” Dr. Peterson said. supplier without first observing a ents before grinding. “Optimally, pattern of potential contamination.” every production lot should be Testing has been a point of conten- ingredients. He added that since sampled and tested before leaving the tion since the 1994 ban on selling Tyson tests samples of its trimmings, supplier and again before use at the ground beef contaminated with E. “we don’t believe secondary testing by receiver,” the draft guideline said. coli O157:H7 was imposed. The grinders is a necessity.” But the department received critical department moved to require some The food safety officer at American comments on the guideline, which has bacterial testing of ground beef, but Foodservice, which grinds 365 million not been made official. Industry offi- the industry argued that the cost pounds of hamburger a year, said it cials said that the cost of testing could would unfairly burden small produc- stopped testing trimmings a decade unfairly burden small processors and ers, industry officials said. The ago because of resistance from that slaughterhouses already test. In Agriculture Department opted to slaughterhouses. “They would not sell an October 2008 letter to the depart- carry out its own tests for E. coli, but to us,” said Timothy P. Biela, the ment, the American Association of it acknowledges that its 15,000 spot officer. “If I test and it’s positive, I Meat Processors said the proposed checks a year at thousands of meat put them in a regulatory situation. guideline departed from USDA’s strat- plants and groceries nationwide is not One, I have to tell the government, egy of allowing companies to devise meant to be comprehensive. Many and two, the government will trace it their own safety programs, “thus slaughterhouses and processors have back to them. So we don’t do that.” returning to more of the agency’s voluntarily adopted testing regimes, The surge in outbreaks since 2007 ‘command and control’ mind-set.” yet they vary greatly in scope from has led to finger-pointing within the Dr. Kenneth Petersen, an assistant plant to plant. industry. administrator with the department’s The retail giant Costco is one of the Dennis R. Johnson, a lobbyist for Food Safety and Inspection Service, few big producers that tests trimmings the largest meat processors, has said said that the department could for E. coli before grinding, a practice that not all slaughterhouses are look- mandate testing, but that it needed to it adopted after a New York woman ing hard enough for contamination. consider the impact on companies as was sickened in 1998 by its hamburger He told USDA officials last fall that well as consumers. “I have to look at meat, prompting a recall. those with aggressive testing pro- the entire industry, not just what is Craig Wilson, Costco’s food safety grams typically find E. coli in as much best for public health,” Dr. Petersen director, said the company decided it as 1 percent to 2 percent of their said. could not rely on its suppliers alone. trimmings, yet some slaughterhouses E. c o l i , continued on p. 12

November–December 2009 G l e a N e r | 11

E. c o l i , continued from p. 11 was quick to finger the source. A just a few cells left on a counter. “In a Tracing the Illness. The Smiths 4-year-old had fallen ill three weeks warm kitchen, E. coli cells will double were slow to suspect the hamburger. earlier, followed by her year-old every 45 minutes,” said Dr. Mansour Ms. Smith ate a mostly vegetarian diet, brother and two more children, state Samadpour, a microbiologist who and when she grew increasingly ill, her records show. Like Ms. Smith, the runs IEH Laboratories in Seattle, one mother, Sharon, thought the cause others had eaten Cargill patties bought of the meat industry’s largest testing might be spinach, which had been tied at Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart. firms. to a recent E. coli outbreak. Moreover, state officials discovered With help from his laboratories, Five days after the family’s Sunday that the hamburgers were made on The Times prepared three pounds of dinner, Ms. Smith was admitted to St. the same day, Aug. 16, 2007, shortly ground beef dosed with a strain of Cloud Hospital in excruciating pain. before noon. The time stamp on the E. coli that is nonharmful but acts in “I’ve had women tell me that E. coli is Smiths’ box of patties was 11:58. many ways like O157:H7. Although more painful than childbirth,” said Dr. On Friday, Oct. 5, 2007, a Minne- the safety instructions on the package Phillip I. Tarr, a pathogen expert at sota Health Department warning led were followed, E. coli remained on Washington University in St. Louis. local news broadcasts. “We didn’t the cutting board even after it was The vast majority of E. coli want people grilling these things over washed with soap. A towel picked up illnesses resolve themselves without the weekend,” Dr. Smith said. “I’m large amounts of bacteria from the complications, according to the positive we prevented illnesses. People meat. Centers for Disease Control and sent us dozens of cartons with patties Dr. James Marsden, a meat safety Prevention. Five percent to 10 percent left. It was pretty contaminated stuff.” expert at Kansas State University and develop into a condition called senior science adviser for the North hemolytic uremic syndrome, which American Meat Processors Associa- can affect kidney function. While Half of the grinders did not test tion, said USDA needed to issue most patients recover, in the worst better guidance on avoiding cross- cases, like Ms. Smith’s, the toxin in E. their finished ground beef for contamination, like urging people to coli O157:H7 penetrates the colon use bleach to sterilize cutting boards. wall, damaging blood vessels and E. coli; only 6 percent said they “Even if you are a scientist, much less causing clots that can lead to seizures. tested incoming ingredients at a housewife with a child, it’s very To control Ms. Smith’s seizures, difficult,” Dr. Marsden said. doctors put her in a coma and flew least four times a year. Told of The Times’s test, Jerold R. her to the Mayo Clinic, where doctors Mande, the deputy undersecretary for worked to save her. food safety at the USDA, said he “They didn’t even think her brain Eventually, health officials tied 11 planned to “look very carefully at the would work because of the seizuring,” cases of illness in Minnesota to the labels that we oversee.” her mother said. “Thanksgiving Day, Cargill outbreak, and altogether, “They need to provide the right I was sitting there holding her hand federal health officials estimate that information to people,” Mr. Mande when a group of doctors came in, the outbreak sickened 940 people. said, “in a way that is readable and and one looked at me and just walked Four of the 11 Minnesota victims actionable.” away, with nothing good to say. And developed hemolytic uremic syn- Dead Ends. With Ms. Smith I said, ‘Oh my God, maybe this is my drome—an unusually high rate of lying comatose in the hospital and last Thanksgiving with her,’ and I serious complications. others ill around the country, Cargill stayed and prayed.” In the wake of the outbreak, the announced on Oct. 6, 2007, that it Ms. Smith’s illness was linked to USDA reminded consumers on its was recalling 844,812 pounds of the hamburger only by chance. Her Web site that hamburgers had to be patties. The mix of ingredients in the aunt still had some of the frozen cooked to 160° degrees to be sure any burgers made it almost impossible for patties, and state health officials found E. coli is killed and urged them to use either federal officials or Cargill to that they were contaminated with a a thermometer to check the tempera- trace the contamination to a specific powerful strain of E. coli that was ture. This reinforced Sharon Smith’s slaughterhouse. Yet after the outbreak, genetically identical to the pathogen concern that she had sickened her Cargill had new incentives to find out that had sickened other Minnesotans. daughter by not cooking the ham- which supplier had sent the tainted Dr. Kirk Smith, who runs the burger thoroughly. meat—multimillion-dollar claims state’s food-borne illness outbreak But the pathogen is so powerful from people who got sick. group and is not related to Ms. Smith, that her illness could have started with E. c o l i , continued on p. 13

12 | G l e a N e r November–December 2009 E. c o l i , continued from p. 12 officials, who said they found nothing operations, but would not test incom- Shawn K. Stevens, a lawyer in amiss in the slaughterhouse there. ing ingredients. Milwaukee working for Cargill, began In examining Cargill, investigators Looking to the future. The investigating. Sifting through state discovered that their own inspectors spate of outbreaks in the last 3 years health department records from lodged complaints about unsanitary has increased pressure on the Agricul- around the nation, Mr. Stevens found conditions at the plant in the weeks ture Department and the industry. the case of a young girl in Hawaii before the outbreak, but that they had James H. Hodges, executive vice stricken with the same E. coli found failed to set off any alarms within the president of the American Meat in the Cargill patties. But instead of department. Inspectors had found Institute, a trade association, said that a Cargill burger, she had eaten raw “large amounts of patties on the while the outbreaks were disconcert- minced beef at a Japanese restau- floor,” grinders that were gnarly with ing, they followed several years during rant that Mr. Stevens said he traced old bits of meat, and a worker who which there were fewer incidents. “Are through a distributor to Greater routinely dumped inedible meat on we perfect?” he said. “No. But what Omaha. the floor close to a production line. we have done is to show some “Potentially, it could let Cargill Although none were likely to have continual improvement.” shift all the responsibility,” Mr. caused the contamination, federal Dr. Petersen, the USDA official, Stevens said. In March, he sent his officials said the conditions could said the department had adopted findings to William Marler, a lawyer in have exacerbated the spread of additional procedures, including Seattle who specializes in food-borne bacteria. Cargill vowed to correct the enhanced testing at slaughterhouses disease cases and is handling the problems. Dr. Petersen, the federal implicated in outbreaks and better claims against Cargill. food safety official, said the depart- training for investigators. “Most of the time, in these ment was working to make sure “We are not standing still when it outbreaks, it’s not unusual when I violations are tracked so they can be comes to E. coli,” Dr. Petersen said. point the finger at somebody, they try used “in real time to take action.” The department has held a series to point the finger at somebody else,” The USDA found that Cargill had of meetings since the recent out- Mr. Marler said. But he said Mr. not followed its own safety program breaks, soliciting ideas from all Stevens’s finding “doesn’t rise to the for controlling E. coli. For example, quarters. Dr. Samadpour, the labora- level of proof that I need” to sue Cargill was supposed to obtain a tory owner, has said that “we can Greater Omaha. certificate from each supplier showing make hamburger safe,” but that in It is unclear whether Cargill that their tests had found no E. coli. addition to enhanced testing, it will presented the Hawaii findings to But Cargill did not have a certificate take an aggressive use of measures Greater Omaha, since neither com- for the Uruguayan trimmings used on like meat rinses and safety audits by pany would comment on the matter. the day it made the burgers that qualified experts. In December 2007, in a move that sickened Ms. Smith and others. At these sessions, Felicia Nestor, a Greater Omaha said was unrelated to After four months of negotiations, senior policy analyst with the con- the outbreak, the slaughterhouse Cargill agreed to increase its scrutiny sumer group Food and Water Watch, informed Cargill that it had taken 16 of suppliers and their testing, includ- has urged the government to redouble “corrective actions” to better protect ing audits and periodic checks to its effort to track outbreaks back to consumers from E. coli “as we strive determine the accuracy of their slaughterhouses. “They are the source to live up to the performance stan- laboratories. of the problem,” Ms. Nestor said. dards required in the continuation of A recent industry test in which For Ms. Smith, the road ahead is supplier relationship with Cargill.” spiked samples of meat were sent to challenging. She is living at her Those changes included better independent laboratories used by food mother’s home in Cold Spring, Minn. monitoring of the production line, companies found that some missed She spends a lot of her time in more robust testing for E. coli, the E. coli in as many as 80 percent of physical therapy, which is being paid intensified plant sanitation and added the samples. for by Cargill in anticipation of a legal employee training. Cargill also said it would notify claim, according to Mr. Marler. Her The USDA efforts to find the suppliers whenever it found E. coli in kidneys are at high risk of failure. She ultimate source of the contamination finished ground beef, so they could is struggling to regain some basic life went nowhere. Officials examined check their facilities. It also agreed to skills and deal with the anger that production records of Cargill’s three increase testing of finished ground sometimes envelops her. Despite her domestic suppliers, but they yielded beef, according to a USDA official determination, doctors say, she will no clues. USDA contacted Uruguayan familiar with the company’s most likely never walk again

November–December 2009 G l e a N e r | 13

Ea t i n g An i m a l s , continued from p. 1 fed to chickens, pigs, and other of Medicine, a division of the farmed animals, counting only National Academy of Sciences; Beyond the sheer number of nontherapeutic uses. And that was and the World Health Organiza- illnesses linked to factory farm- in 2001. In other words, for every tion (WHO) have linked nonthera- ing, we know that factory farms dose of antibiotics taken by a sick peutic antibiotic use on factory are contributing to the growth of human, eight doses are given to a farms with increased antimicrobial antimicrobial-resistant pathogens “healthy” animal. resistance and called for a ban. simply because these farms con- The implications for creating Still, the factory farm indus- sume so many antimicrobials. drug-resistant pathogens are quite try has effectively opposed such We have to go to a doctor to straightforward. Study after study a ban in the United States. And, obtain antibiotics and other antimi- has shown that antimicrobial resis- unsurprisingly, the limited bans in crobials as a public-health measure tance follows quickly on the heels other countries are only a limited to limit the number of such drugs of the introduction of new drugs solution. being taken by humans. We accept on factory farms. There is a glaring reason that this inconvenience because of its the necessary total ban on non- medical importance. Microbes therapeutic use of antibiotics eventually adapt to antimicrobials, … the next time a friend hasn’t happened: The factory farm and we want to make sure it is has a sudden “flu,” ask a industry, allied with the pharma- the truly sick who benefit from ceutical industry, has more power the finite number of uses any few questions …. Your than public-health professionals. antimicrobial will have before the friend didn’t “catch a bug” What is the source of the indus- microbes learn how to survive it. so much as eat a bug. And try’s immense power? We give it to On a typical factory farm, drugs in all likelihood, that bug them. We have chosen, unwittingly, are fed to animals with every meal. to fund this industry on a massive In poultry factory farms, they was created by factory scale by eating factory-farmed ani- almost have to be. It’s a perfect farming. mal products. And we do so daily. storm: The animals have been bred The same conditions that lead to such extremes that sickness is For example, in 1995, when the at least 76 million Americans to inevitable, and the living condi- Food and Drug Administration become ill from their food annu- tions promote illness. approved fluoroquinolones—such ally and that promote antimicrobial Industry saw this problem from as Cipro—for use in chickens resistance also contribute to the the beginning, but rather than against the protest of the CDC, risk of a pandemic. accept less-productive animals, it the percentage of bacteria resistant At a remarkable 2004 confer- compensated for the animals’ com- to this powerful new class of anti- ence, the Food and Agriculture promised immunity with drugs. biotics rose from almost zero to 18 Organization of the United As a result, farmed animals are fed percent by 2002. Nations, WHO, and the World antibiotics nontherapeutically: that A broader study in the New Eng- Organization for Animal Health is, before they get sick. land Journal of Medicine showed an (OIE) put their tremendous In the United States, about eightfold increase in antimicrobial resources together to evaluate the 3 million pounds of antibiotics are resistance from 1992 to 1997 and available information on “emerg- given to humans each year, but a linked this increase to the use of ing zoonotic diseases” or those whopping 17.8 million pounds are antimicrobials in farmed chick- spread by humans-to-animals and fed to livestock—at least, that is ens. As far back as the late 1960s, animals-to-humans. what the industry claims. scientists have warned against the At the time of the conference, The Union of Concerned nontherapeutic use of antibiotics H5N1 and SARS topped the list of Scientists estimated that the in farmed-animal feed. feared emerging zoonotic diseases. industry underreported its antibi- Today, institutions as diverse Today, the H1N1 swine flu would otic use by at least 40 percent. as the American Medical Asso- be the pathogen enemy No. 1. The group calculated that 24.6 ciation; the CDC; the Institute million pounds of antibiotics were Ea t i n g An i m a l s , continued on p. 15

14 | G l e a N e r November–December 2009 Ea t i n g An i m a l s , continued from p. 14 Our choice is simple: cheap the world directly to U.S. factory The scientists distinguished chicken or our health. farms. between “primary risk factors” for Today, the factory farm- Perhaps in the back of our zoonotic diseases and mere pandemic link couldn’t be more minds we already understand, “amplification risk factors,” which lucid. The primary ancestor of the without all the science, that some- affect only the rate at which a recent H1N1 swine flu outbreak thing terribly wrong is happening. disease spreads. Their examples of originated at a hog factory farm in We know that it cannot possibly primary risk factors were “change America’s most hog-factory-rich be healthy to raise such grotesque to an agricultural production state, North Carolina, and then animals in such grossly unnatural system or consumption patterns.” quickly spread throughout the conditions. We know that if some- What particular agricultural and Americas. one offers to show us a film on consumer changes did they have It was in these factory farms how our meat is produced, it will in mind? First in a list of four that scientists saw, for the first be a horror film. main risk factors was “increasing time, viruses that combined We perhaps know more than we demand for animal protein,” which genetic material from bird, pig care to admit, keeping it down in is a way of saying that demand for and human viruses. Scientists at the dark places of our memory— meat, eggs, and dairy is a “pri- Columbia and Princeton Univer- disavowed. When we eat factory- mary factor” influencing emerging sities have actually been able to farmed meat, we live on tortured zoonotic diseases. This demand for trace six of the eight genetic seg- flesh. Increasingly, those sick animal products, the report contin- ments of the most feared virus in animals are making us sick. ues, leads to “changes in farming practices.” Lest we have any confu- sion about the “changes” that are relevant, poultry factory farms are Recipe singled out. Similar conclusions were Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce reached by the Council for Agri- Just add some jalepeño wheels and you’ll feel like you are back at the roller rink! cultural Science and Technology, which brought together industry Ingredients experts and experts from the 1 ⁄4 cup raw cashews WHO, OIE and U.S. Depart- 1 1 ⁄2 cups cold water ment of Agriculture. Their 2005 2 ounces pimientos (half of a 4-oz jar) report argued that a major impact of factory farming is “the rapid 2 tablespoons cornstarch selection and amplification of 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes pathogens that arise from a viru- 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 lent ancestor (frequently by subtle ⁄2–1 teaspoon salt mutation), thus there is increasing 1 (4-oz) can diced green chilies (optional) risk for disease entrance and/or dissemination.” Directions Breeding genetically uniform 1. Rinse cashews with hot water while and sickness-prone birds in the combining the remaining ingredients overcrowded, stressful, feces- (except chiles) in a blender. infested, and artificially lit condi- 2. Add cashews to blender and process on tions of factory farms promotes high for 1–2 minutes. the growth and mutation of 3. Cook in a sauce pan over medium heat, pathogens. The “cost of increased stirring constantly, until thick. efficiency,” the report concludes, is 4. Add chiles and serve or use in other recipes increased global risk for diseases. that call for cheese sauce.

November–December 2009 G l e a N e r | 15 P.O. Box 163583 Sacramento, CA 95816-9583 [email protected] http://www.sacveggie.org/

Recipe Broccoli Sauté Illustration: FCIT (http://etc.usf.edu/clipart)

f r o m The Cancer Survivor’s Guide: Foods that Help You Fight Back!­—a n e w b o o k f r o m Th e Ca n c e r Pr o j e ct

This dish is a healthy entrée to add your Thanksgiving holiday meal. Nutrition Information Per serving: Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans—a protein-rich plant food. In 285 Calories 312 mg Sodium just one serving of this recipe, there are 20 grams of protein. The 8.1 g Fat 127 mg Calcium broccoli in this recipe adds calcium. 1.7 g Saturated fat 3.1 mg Iron Makes 4 servings 25.5% Calories from fat 86.4 mg Vitamin C 0 mg Cholesterol 1,293 mcg Beta-Carotene 1 10-oz package tempeh (any variety) 20.2 g Protein 2 broccoli stalks, chopped, or 2 bags frozen broccoli florets 37.2 g Carbohydrate 1 small onion, finely diced 5.8 g Sugar 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced 7.1 g Fiber 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, or 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 ⁄4 cup vegetable broth 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari 2 cups cooked couscous or cooked brown rice

1 Chop tempeh into ⁄2-inch pieces and steam for 10 minutes. Discard cooking water. Sauté tempeh, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger in broth over medium- high heat until tempeh is lightly browned. Add soy sauce or tamari at the last moment. Serve over grain of choice. Allow leftovers to cool before covering and refrigerating. This dish will keep two to three days in the refrigerator. For more Thanksgiving recipes, go to: http://cancerproject.org/recipes/thanksgiving/2009.php.