Keep my kid safe

On Friday I briefly mentioned the assurance of food safety with the irradiation process and got bombarded with comments, all in support of the process. With school once again back in full swing and our kids eating lunch at school, it is no wonder the anxiety arsonists are back at work trying to scare the nation’s mothers. Ron Eustice, Minnesota Beef Council, tells me there is irradiated ground beef in over 9,000 stores. I believe consumers are speaking with their food dollar. Then I found this article from Consumer Reports in August:

Supporters of irradiation as a tool for preventing foodborne disease are dismayed by a generally negative evaluation of irradiated meat in the August issue of Consumer Reports.

"There's no real reason to [buy irradiated meat] if you cook meat thoroughly," the article says. "Irradiation actually destroys fewer bacteria than does careful cooking." In addition, Consumer Reports taste testers found a "slight but distinct off taste and smell" in irradiated beef and chicken servings they sampled.

It makes me wonder if they have figured out that seat belts don’t help you at all if you never have an automobile crash. Furthermore, who would buy it if it didn’t taste good? And of course the Public Citizens try get in on all the fun, in this article from Wyoming they are trying to bash the neighborhood “demon” Hatfield Quality Meats based in Pennsylvania.

Public Citizen argues that irradiation could cause cancer, that the materials could be used to make a radioactive "dirty bomb," and that concerns about food contamination should be addressed by making slaughterhouses more sanitary.

I have my own personal experience with Public Citizens click here to read my assessment. But most importantly notice the context, we don’t have any proof but the sky may be falling…..

Phil Clemens of Hatfield Quality Meats is one of the premier individuals in this industry. Sounds like a good time to reread his company values. Read the entire thing with a click here, but this is what you must now.

Let me put this into practical terms. Let me tell you what we do at our family corporation. First we have clearly identified our values. They are:
1. Honor God in all we do.
2. Earn a reputation of high ethics and integrity
3. Make sound business investments
4. Take a long-term view
5. Share success with employees, community and shareholders
6. Be good stewards
7. Seek to set commercial standards
Of course maybe it’s just the “In God we trust” concept that they can’t handle.

The Animal Rights movement

With so many trying to understand the whole movement, it looks to me like the American Veterinary Medical Association has found one professor who does. Read entire article.

Dr. B. Taylor Bennett's presentation on the animal rights movement July 21 at the
AVMA Annual Convention in Denver could not have been timelier. He believes that the protest and media campaign directed at the AVMA in July during the Denver convention are just the beginning.

"The AVMA is now going to come under attack, and they're going to have to deal with it," he said. Bennett began his presentation with a review of the AVMA position statements distinguishing animal welfare from animal rights and the recently adopted statement opposing the trend in several cities and municipalities to refer to pet owners as pet guardians.