FORT WORTH SUNDAY STAR-TELEGRAM (circulation 336,863) MARCH 28, 2004

What's the beef?
Good reasons to go organic
By Ronnie Cummins
Knight Ridder News Service

EDMONTON SUN/BRENDON DLOUHY VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE MARAIS, Minn. - Polls indicate that at least 30 million
health-conscious Americans no longer believe that conventionally produced
beef is safe.

Scientific experts warn that not only is mad cow disease present in the
United States and Canada but that continuing industry practices of feeding
slaughterhouse waste, blood and manure to livestock are undoubtedly
spreading the disease.

Even more alarming, recent scientific studies in Europe suggest that a fatal
brain-wasting disease -- sporadic CJD -- that kills hundreds of Americans
and Europeans every year may be caused by eating infected beef, pork, deer,
elk or lamb.

Other studies indicate that animal blood and the blood from infected humans
can transmit the disease. Although public pressure has forced the Food and
Drug Administration to call for a ban on the feeding of blood to calves and
chicken manure to cows, billions of pounds of cattle byproducts and blood
are still routinely fed to chickens, pigs and other animals and then
subsequently fed to cattle.

Brain parts and nervous system tissues of cows younger than 30 months are
still being served up in restaurants and put into a variety of consumer
products, including cosmetics and nutritional supplements.

Compounding public concern, the U.S. Department of Agriculture still
stubbornly refuses to follow the example of countries such as Japan and test
all cattle for mad cow disease at slaughter, before they enter the food
chain.

As a result, most countries in the world will no longer buy U.S. beef.
Because of these concerns, more and more Americans are either cutting back
on their beef consumption or else starting to buy organic beef and meat.
There are at least three major reasons for beef eaters to switch to organic.

. First, there is an absolute ban on the feeding of animal byproducts to
organic mammals and poultry. On nonorganic farms, it is still perfectly
legal to feed cows slaughterhouse waste from poultry, horses and pigs, as
well as gelatin (rendered from the hooves of cattle and other species),
fats, oils, grease, and tallow from cattle and other species.

. Second, there is rigorous, lifelong tracking and monitoring of all animals
on all organic farms. No drugs, antibiotics or nonorganic feed can be fed to
these animals. An inspector representing a USDA-accredited certification
agency reviews organic farm records on every animal at least annually.
Meatpacking plants where certified organic animals are slaughtered and feed
mills where organic animal feeds are produced are also closely monitored.

. Finally, no cow raised its entire life on an organic farm has ever tested
positive for mad cow disease. There have been several cases in Europe where
cattle on organic farms were diagnosed with the disease; however, upon
further investigation, it was found that the cattle had not been born on the
organic farms. They had been bought from nonorganic farms and converted to
organic production.

In the United States, organic cattle must be fed and managed organically
their entire lives in order to be slaughtered for organic beef. For these
and other reasons, organic has become the "gold standard" for beef and meat
safety in the U.S.

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Ronnie Cummins is executive director of the Organic Consumers Association.
6101 Cliff Estate Road, Little Marais, Minn. 55614.
www.organiccomsumers.com. This essay was distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.