Any way you explain the situation, the fact is that it took an undercover video by the Humane Society to expose practices that a government inspection program is supposed to catch. It makes you wonder, who is minding the stockyards?
Already there are calls for the meat-inspection system to be more proactive, and to follow a rigorous system of checks before the product is put on the market, not after there is trouble. This is an issue Congress can run with.
The video of the downed cattle, posted on the Web and aired to the nation this week on the Today show, is likely to recharge the debate over how we treat our animals.
Those of us who eat meat contend that there is a proper, humane way to harvest animals. The behavior shown on the video, we would say, is an aberration, something beyond the bounds.
Longtime vegetarians are, Cunningham said, "somewhat bemused" by the reaction of surprise to the video. "As a friend of mine said, `What did people think happened at a slaughterhouse? Did they think the animals got tickled to death?' "
Dr. Dick Raymond, USDA undersecretary for food safety, told the Associated Press that "we don't think there is a health hazard" posed by these particular downer cattle.
Still, the effect of this video will, I think, be felt at the grocery store, at least in the short run. For the next few days, until the beef recall is complete, I will probably steer clear of the meat aisle. I behaved the same way in 2006 when there were questions about the safety of spinach. It was off the menu for a while.
Similarly, when there were warnings about high mercury levels in swordfish, I stayed away from that.
Eventually, I came back to these foods. We live in a complicated world and, overall, I trust our food supply.
Yet, there is no denying the power of this video. Those images of downed, suffering cattle are hard to shake. I am betting they will shake up the way meat is inspected and the way we take animals to market.
rob.kasper@baltsun.com
