- On August 24, 2004, the Traders Exchange Corporation
(a commodity-trading firm) issued this commentary in their daily newsletter:
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- "The USDA is not doing anything to help detect and
prevent mad cow disease and if the media were to focus on this cattle prices
would be near historical lows."
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- It is no secret that USDA is working hard to prevent
the release of Mad Cow information. Their lack of cow testing is inversely
proportional to the number of coverups.
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- I was surprised to see a paid USDA advertisement in the
September 25, 2004 issue (Vol. 149, No. 16) of Hoard's Dairyman, the National
Dairy Farm Magazine. A call to Hoard's advertising division revealed that
the cost of that full page color ad to American taxpayers was $15,827.
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- The content of the ad was disconcerting. USDA's advertisement
was prominently placed on the inside back cover page. This issue was a
special issue, distributed free to the 65,000 people attending Wisconsin's
annual World Dairy Expo (September 28-October 2, 2004). The one-time USDA
ad was designed to reach the insiders of America's dairy industry.
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- Atop the page were two cows and a star. Beneath that
logo appeared these words in all caps, announcing USDA's new program:
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- USDA'S BSE TESTING PROTECTING AMERICA'S HERD
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- (BSE stands for Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, otherwise
known as Mad Cow Disease.)
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- In the middle of the page were these words, written in
yellow agains a navy blue background:
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- YOU CAN HELP IDENTIFY BSE IN AMERICAN CATTLE.
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- The remainder of the text was written in white letters:
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- You can help *reassure American consumers *reassure foreign
consumers *protect our herds
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- For answers to your questions: call toll-free: 866.536.7593
visit our website: http://www.aphis.usda.gov
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- Find out how you can help protect America's herd.
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- ___________________________________________________
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- The ad was a contradiction in terms. Asking farmers to
identify mad cows, and then suggesting that such an act would reassure
American and foreign consumers must have had dairy readers snickering.
I can read their minds..."Yeah, right? Destroy our own industry by
calling attention to diseased animals? Better to bury Bessie in the north
40."
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- I called the toll-free USDA number and spoke to a very
nice lady. She was so cooperative that I am not going to print her name.
Why? Because of her honesty in answering my very tough and pointed question.
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- I asked: "If a farmer identifies a Mad Cow, wouldn't
it be better for him to keep his mouth shut? How would one or more new
cases of Mad Cow Disease reassure American or foreign consumers? Wouldn't
it be better to shoot and bury the suspected creature?"
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- I took careful notes as we spoke. I carefully wrote down
her words. After asking whether it was in the best interest of a farmer
to bury the dead cow, she said:
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- "I guess it would be. You would want to handle it
diplomatically."
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- She gave me just her first name. We spoke for a while
and I got her last name, too. I asked for the spelling. She asked why I
wanted to know. Later on, she spelled her last name for me and referred
me to Dr. Zack, another very pleasant person. He answered my questions
as best as he could and referred me to USDA's legal department. Rather
than completely waste the rest of my day (been there, done that, learned
by experience) I said a pleasant goodbye. Does USDA really care about consumers?
The following is evidence that they do not.
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- How did USDA react when one slaughterhouse wanted to
test every cow (300,000 animals)?
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- Creekstone Farms is considered small by slaughterhouse
standards. Their Kansas facility kills and processes about 1,000 cows each
day. Creekstone invested $500,000 in building a modern laboratory within
their slaughterhouse and hired chemists to test each animal for Mad Cow
Disease.
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- By law, testing kits are distributed by USDA, but USDA
refuses to give Creekstone the necessary kits to test every animal. USDA
reasons that such testing is unnecessary, and would give Creekstone an
unfair advantage in marketing their meat as being free of Mad Cow Disease.
So? Does USDA really care about reassuring american consumers, as their
ad represents? If USDA cared, they would allow Creekstone to test each
animal. What a bunch of phonies!
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- Hoard's Dairyman is read by most dairy farmers. USDA
did not have to spell out their intent to dairymen. The message is clear.
Identify BSE. You can help assure consumers. How? By not revealing a dirty
secret. In cases of doubt, call your friendly USDA co-conspirator today:
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- 866-536-7593.
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- Robert Cohen
- http://www.notmilk.com
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