Mars Inc. has a number of very distinct businesses under its sizable umbrella, covering everything from its well-known candy brands to pet food to veterinary clinics. But that doesn’t explain why a load of Skittles spilled all over a Wisconsin highway were on their way to become cattle feed. [More]
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Want To Work In A Growing Industry? Chuck It All And Go Raise Some Bison.
By 8.4.16
Tired of your urban rush-hour traffic? Sick of your 21st-century-style desk job? Looking for a change into something… furrier? Well the bison industry has a suggestion for you: have you considered ditching your day job and taking up bison farming? [More]
Consumers Want To Eat More Local Beef, But There Aren’t Enough Butchers These Days
By 3.6.15
Does the idea of a hard day at work cutting up cattle carcasses appeal to you? If not, you’re not alone: Despite the growing trend toward eating more local beef, there simply aren’t enough people going into the profession of butchering to meet the increased demand. [More]
California Slaughterhouse Co-Owner Pleads Guilty To Processing Cattle With Cancer
By 2.19.15
The co-owner of a now defunct California slaughterhouse at the center of a February 2014 recall that involved 8.7 million pounds of beef found “unfit for human food” has pleaded guilty in the federal case, acknowledging that he processed cancerous cattle. [More]
Cattle Rustling Is Making A Comeback In Oklahoma
By 11.17.14
Cattle rustling is an old-timey regional term for one of the oldest crimes in human civilization: walking off with someone else’s livestock. It turns out that when animals have been bred to be docile and to trust humans, it’s not hard to drive off with them. Auction houses don’t ask for proof that the cattle you’re selling are actually yours, there are no standardized ear tags, and the unwitting public ends up eating the evidence. [More]
Feds: Slaughterhouse Switched Out Unhealthy Cattle Heads During Inspectors’ Lunch Breaks
By 8.19.14
A federal grand jury has indicted the co-owners and two employees of the California slaughterhouse at the center of a massive beef recall earlier this year, and we’re now getting a better idea about how the plant allegedly got away with processing “diseased and unsound animals” that were “unfit for human food.” [More]
Beef Prices Hit All-Time Highs In U.S. Just As Grilling Season Comes Within Reach
By 4.9.14
It’s all so clear, in the dream: I can see the smoke rising from the grill, hear the sizzle of juicy steaks and almost smell the delicious aroma of chargrilled meat wafting on the warm air. And while warmer weather might be just within our grasp, the beef part of that winter fever dream will come at a higher cost than in the past. [More]
Does It Matter If Your Steak Burrito Isn’t Locally Sourced If The Cow Was Raised Ethically?
By 6.24.13
For many discerning customers, a burrito is not just a burrito — it’s a thing of culinary beauty that tastes even better when the ingredients are organic, come from a farm nearby and were raised happily. But what if not all of those things can come together, what’s a business owner to do in a quest to please customers? [More]
Beef Plant Accused Of Abusing Cows Supplied Meat For In-N-Out, U.S. School Lunch Program
By 8.22.12
A California meat plant that was temporarily shut down this week had some pretty big name clients, including In-N-Out (if you aren’t familiar, just ask any one who has ever been to California and will swear up and down that “oh, man, they have the best burgers in the whole entire universe”) and the U.S. school lunch program. From what an animal rights group is alleging, it sounds like cows were having an awful time at the plant. [More]
FDA Bans "Extra-Label" Uses Of Popular Class Of Antibiotics On Farm Animals
By 1.4.12
For those of you who are concerned about the amount of antibiotics being given to the cows, chickens, pigs and turkeys that provide (or end up as) the food on your plate, here’s some good news. The Food and Drug Administration has announced a new regulation that prohibits “extra-label” uses of a popular class of antibiotics. [More]
Lost Bull Semen Spill Shuts Down Interstate Ramp
By 8.24.11
Greyhound doesn’t just transport people across the continent: it transports cargo, too. Yesterday morning, strange canisters that smelled bad and gave off steam fell off a bus in Nashville, confusing emergency services. Were they bombs? Alien probes? No, containers of liquid nitrogen filled with bull semen bound for a cattle breeding facility in Texas. [More]
200 Wisconsin Cows Die In Incident Not Related To Slaughterhouse
By 1.19.11
Another day, another mass animal death. Following the instant departures of — among other groups of animals — North Carolinan pelicans, Italian doves, Oceanic fish and Tucsonan bats, 200 cows in Wisconsin have died, most likely due to an infection. The hamburgers in training never saw it coming. [More]
Why E. Coli Still Makes Its Way Into Your Meat Supply
By 10.5.09
Before you bite into that juicy hamburger, you might want to better understand how the meat industry creates, tests (or doesn’t test), then distributes ground beef. A detailed investigation by Michael Moss at the New York Times proves eating it is “still a gamble. Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe.”
Bush Administration To Meatpackers: Please Stop Testing For Mad Cow Disease
By 5.26.08
The USDA has appealed a district court decision that would allow meatpackers to conduct their own tests for mad cow disease, alleging that such testing would only create “false assurances.” The original plaintiff, Creekstone Farms, wants to test all of its cattle for mad cow but the USDA has prevented it from buying the testing kits.
Do You Know What Grade Of Beef Taco Bell Uses? Do They? Does Anyone?
By 5.8.08
A reader sent us the contents of a Better Business Bureau complaint filed against Taco Bell. It describes how a customer tried repeatedly to find out what grade beef Taco Bell uses in its food, and how nobody at the company was able or willing to provide an answer. Not surprisingly, the BBB complaint also went unanswered. Let’s just hope they’re not sourcing their beef from forklift cattle, which is like downer cattle but has odd prong-shaped bruises on the side.
By 2.28.08
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The Humane Society of America has sued the USDA in an attempt to close a loophole that allows downer cows who aren’t otherwise ill into the food supply. They claim the loophole increases the risk of introducing mad cow disease to humans, and leads to abuse against the cattle—like with, oh, say, a forklift. [Wall Street Journal]
TSA Brings All The Signage Of Skiing To Security Lines, None Of The Fun
By 2.22.08
The TSA is testing a new crowd management system at two airports in Denver and Salt Lake City that they hope will make the security process less troublesome. No, the new system isn’t less invasive or more security-sensible, but it does give families with kids/strollers/bags their own lane, both for their sanity and for ours. Early reports indicate families are happy with it but too many casual travelers think they’re experts and head to the black diamond lane, which is only for people who walk briskly and frown a lot.
“Grass-Fed Beef” No Longer Means “Grass-Fed”; Still Means “Beef”
By 9.18.06
Savvy and sensitive supermarket shoppers love informative labels that also make them feel good about their meat purchases. Phrases like “free-range” or “grass-fed.” Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing the animal lived a naturalistic, humane life in the great outdoors before meeting its fate on the kill floor. Viva cognitive dissonance!
