Health Drives The Market : Health Drives The Market

which results in healthy cattle. We use our cattle for milk and meat, and you wouldn’t want

I was really excited to read the article “Power Steer” by Michael Pollen. I’ve seen several of his books at local book stores, as well as different television shows featuring his work. The purpose of Michael Pollen’s article was to educate himself and others on the process of producing industrial steak in America, and making a financial profit along the way. He felt that “Ignorance was no longer tenable.” In doing so, Michael decided to purchase an 8 month old calf numbered 534 for $598. This totaled $1.60 a day for room and board due to the cattle not being weaned yet. Throughout Michael’s educational journey, he was able to learn about the different problems associated with animal feeding operations. This includes health problems that cattle could cause to humans, such as

The beef industry is an important asset to United States agriculture as a whole. Over a million agricultural entities benefited from the sales of cattle and calves in the year 2000. Gross totals from sales of cattle and calves in 2000 totaled $40.76 billion accounting of 21% of all agricultural receipts making the beef sector the largest single agricultural enterprise. Direct and indirect employment in or related to the production and processing of beef supports over 1.4 million full-time-equivalent jobs in the US as well. Cattle are produced in all 50 states and their economic impact contributes to nearly every county in the nation and they are a significant economic driver (Lawerance and Otto, 2000).

Do you really know what is in your meat? What about what happens to the meat after it is slaughtered? Fortunately, the conditions have gotten much better throughout the years. But many years ago, in the early 1900s meat consumers bought spoiled and rat infested hams that were produced by the meat industries. Nowadays, the meat industry has improved to a certain extent. Today, about 80% of all U.S. feedlots are injected with hormones (Lerner). Americans should know what they are eating. This is important in the meat industry because they are the producers of all the meat that we eat. The meat industry has improved and is much better than the 1900s, but still not at as ideal as everyone thinks it really is.

It is hard to imagine that there was once a time when meat and meat-like products were butchered and processed in unsanitary conditions, but there was such a time and it was so bad that Congress had to pass the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 to stop these unsanitary conditions. In this paper I will argue why the passage of the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was such a good idea.

In the US today cattle are part of everyday culture. With more than 93 million cattle in the dairy and beef industry, and tens of thousands in the rodeo business, cattle are definitely a huge part. Lately, there has been many concerns with the bovine friends along with multiple misconceptions. Rodeos may look tough on animals, and todays society is not educated well enough on the beef and dairy industry. People don’t realize that these animals are happy, healthy, and very well cared for.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is a trade association and policy group that represents all segments of the cattle industry: producers, feeders, and breeders. The association has over 28,000 individual members and represents over 230,000 people in the industry. The current president of NCBA, Scott George, is a cow/calf producer from Wyoming with a long history in the dairy industry and policy groups as a member of the Farm Bureau. In addition to its role in U.S. policy, the NCBA conducts research, marketing, and promotional work for cattle ranchers. The NCBA’s vision is “an industry united around a common goal of being the world’s most trusted and preferred source of beef and beef products.” The economic interests of the cattle

Holy cow, I haven’t eaten any beef or any red meat in over thirteen years. When I first saw the topic of this essay to discuss the primary differences between grass fed and corn fed beef. I had thought to myself hmmm I was thinking all cows had just ate grass. I always thought cow’s were slow food because they ate grass but I wondered how so much beef was being produced so fast, but then I thought about all the chicken steroid stories. Cows are ruminants designed by nature to stay healthy and be totally sustained taking nourishment on grass and only grass. Cows, have stomachs that are designed to digest grass. But of demand and because cattle producers are so profit driven, their operations use the cheapest

In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and

The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was an attempt to regulate the meatpacking industry and to assure consumers that the meat they were eating was safe. In brief, this act made compulsory the careful inspection of meat before its consummation, established sanitary standards for slaughterhouses and processing plants, and required continuous U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of meat processing and packaging. Yet, the most important objectives set by the law are the prevention of adulterated or misbranded livestock and products from being commercialized and sold as food, and the making sure that meat and all its products are processed and prepared in the adequate sanitary and hygienic conditions (Reeves 35). Imported meat and its various

In conclusion, the amount of stress on cattle can reduce production in all aspects and ultimately leave the farmer empty handed and the consumer can be left with rotten, tasteless food. Stress must be reduced to a minimum to bring forth the best most profitable product. Perhaps all farmers should shoot for having cattle be that stereotype of easily soaking up the sunshine and lying on a side hill chewing cud. What is the cost of stress? Can the reduction of stress bring a better life to all aspects of the beef industry? Will the reduction of stress create a better product for consumers? What is the real cost of

The meat industry today is not what it was nearly a century ago. While improvements are thought to have been made, an ever changing society has brought upon new problems that have been piled on to the previously existing ones. While these problems are not like those found in The Jungle, they do parallel how by exposing what is going on in the meat industry; new regulations would be the answer to the noted problems. The increased demand for meat has made it a rushed mutated production instead of a means to raise livestock for consumers. Taking into consideration the demand for cheap meat that will be used for in quick and high demanded products such as frozen and fast food, this demand of meat has greatly skyrocketed. Animals whose sole

Because E. Coli O157:H7 is found in cattle intestines, a key method to prevent E. Coli O157:H7 contamination is to prevent fecal matter from splattering on the beef.12 However, this was not a priority for the meat processing and feedlot industries, which was focused instead on minimizing costs and maximizing profits. The feedlot sectors held responsibility due to the poor conditions it raised cattle. In order to minimize costs, cattle were kept in “medieval conditions” where they were without clean water and sewage disposal. Because cattle deposit around 50 pound of manure everyday, the result of the poor sanitation conditions is that cattle spend most of the day in their own feces, coating their hides with waste. In addition, the animal feed contained fecal matter from other animals. The meat processing industry further exacerbated this problem through their slaughtering techniques. In order to maximize profits the cattle were slaughtered at high speeds by employees who were increasingly composed of poorly trained, poorly paid, and politically vulnerable immigrant workers. To slaughter the cattle, workers must first remove the cattle’s hide before physically removing its inner organs. However, if the hides are not properly cleaned, pieces of dirt and fecal matter will fall into the meat. Furthermore, if the organs are not removed

Our initial purpose of researching this topic has been inspired by the growing concern for the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease and it's various forms. We believe that it is imperative that we take our research and implement it to others along with facts in order to generate concern for other countries regulations, United States regulations, health concerns and economical awareness.

The cattle industry produces vast amounts of strain in the environment. It is energy inefficient, pollutes water, occupies many acres of land, and deteriorates the health of the people who abuse its consumption. The government subsidizes this industry. Therefore, the price paid for meat doesn’t reflect the environmental hazards involved in the process. In order to protect our health and the health of the environment we should pay close attention to our food choices and make sure we don’t support industries that degrade it.