Animal handling

This week the LA Times writer Stephanie Simon has written a very good history of animal handling. Click here to read the entire document. While you may have even less free time than I do, it is long but well worth reading. As I travel, the most frequent “deer in the headlights” response to the animal handling guidelines are people who are very scared that these practices will be imposed upon them. When in fact, our industry has identified areas that need improvement and corrected them so well that PETA mouth Bruce Friedrich even caught himself endorsing the updated management techniques (what a weasel).

The following paragraph sums up the underlying message that too often gets left out of the debate.

"A phenomenal change," agreed Joy Mench, director of the Center for Animal Welfare at UC Davis. “In part, the reforms are driven by self-interest. When an animal is bruised, its flesh turns mushy and must be discarded. Even stress, especially right before slaughter, can affect the quality of meat.”

Of course, I might just be biased about this article because it illustrates how PETA can’t handle it when companies like KFC tell them "THEY'RE WEENIES”!

Bird Study

I read last night that Iowa State University has spent $243,000 studying how many birds have been killed by 89 wind turbines near Joice, IA. That may not be a lot of money in the big picture, but Iowa State has raised tuition over 20% each year three for three years. Oh by the way zero dead birds have been found.

Protein diets can benefit bones

A study recently published by the Journal of Nutrition suggests that women who consume high protein diets (eating 10.5 ounces of meat daily) did not have an adverse effect on calcium retention or on biomarkers for bone degradation as long as they supplemented their diets with a very low level of calcium. The substantial amounts of potassium and phosphorous in meat actually helps reduce urinary calcium loss. The results of this study may be instrumental in addressing the over 200 million cases of osteoporosis (bone thinning) worldwide. Ongoing studies will occur at the Agriculture Research Service in Grand Forks, ND.
Read the entire article: