We've got that magazine, Jan C. But, I've read enough of that article to know that I don't want to finish reading it. I'd never enjoy eating again. It doesn't matter when meat animals have been raised and slaughtered, there's always, since the first one, been a good chance of contamination. We may be working in bigger numbers now, but nothing has really changed. Cattle live in dirt and excrement. They always have. The ground beef is the most dangerous and I can't remember the last time I bought it, for a number of reasons. The beef in roasts, steaks, etc.--you can wash the outside, and the outside's also exposed to the most heat to kill germs. The interior meat isn't nearly as much to worry about. Chickens have always carried salmonella and other things and we know that we're supposed to cook that and pork til well done. Not a hard thing to do. Fresh fish prepared by a knowledgeable person is still a really safe thing to eat, even raw. (I love sushi.) My husband makes a mean blackened salmon that's just done enough on the inside to melt in your mouth. I'm almost 51 and I've had food poisoning only once, last year, and it was from eating potato salad at an upscale chain restaurant. So, whatever I've been doing has been fine and I don't intend to change. (I do buy cage free chicken eggs and chicken and meats raised without antibiotics and other stuff added whenever possible, because it tastes better, and I buy veggies at the farmer's market when possible--fresh and good tasting.) I don't mind a few blemishes on fruit and veggies. If the bugs don't want to eat it, why should I? Anyway, what we don't know probably won't hurt us any more than it already has. Although--due to NAFTA being passed--we do have more to fear from pesticides on fruits and vegetables from Mexico. They use things that we can't even think about using on our crops here. jan G. ----Original Message Follows---- From: "jcurtis" <jcurtis@redrock.net> Reply-To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [BSChat] Re: Beef & chicken Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 21:08:19 -0600 I just read an article in National Geographic (May issue 2002), about "FOOD - How Safe, How Altered." Chickens are dirty little things, and there's a pic. of cattle feedlot in Colorado, that pens 100,000 cattle for slaughter. It talks about the risk of fecal contamination, and disease among large-scale agriculture. So I have differ with you on the selection process of meat being raised commercially for us to eat. Those 100,000 cattle are covered in mud, shit, etc. Then they haul them in for slaughter, and maybe they aren't very careful, and hair, microbes, bacteria, etc. cling to the final meat product, e.g., hamburger. I'm not squeamish about eating meat...but I've never eaten any meat *rare* or even medium rare. The only time I eat chicken if it's almost burned to a crisp, same with pork. I like some fish, but it has to be baked or deep-fried crispy. Jan C. -----Original Message----- From: Sue & Bobby Bates <bsbates@netease.net> To: jcurtis <jcurtis@redrock.net>; BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com <BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, May 10, 2002 11:34 AM Subject: Re: Beef & chicken >"jcurtis" <jcurtis@redrock.net> wrote.... >> Why don't we say the same for beef & chickens, and hogs that are >killed, for our food? And then there's sea-food.< > As a matter of fact, I DO say the same thing for them but the >difference is that they have been raised for that express purpose and >not just slaughtered in their innocence and left laying there. > >> We humans have a basic need to eat cooked meat, fowl, fish. I think >it's inherited...back to cave ancestors.< > Our species are classified as Omnivores, which means that we eat >pretty much anything that we come across if we're so inclined. > Point of fact: Humans require 'X' percent (maybe 20-30%?) of their >diet to be comprised of protein. It is irrelevant whether that >protein source is derived from vegetables or meats. The problem is >that most vegetable sources are 'incomplete' protein. However, >incomplete proteins can be combined to make a complete protein which >will satisfy our nutritional requirements. > No, I'm not a vegetarian and enjoy a good roast as much as anyone. >Given a choice, I'll take seafood though. >Best, >SueB > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== Creative use of your delete key is encouraged. If you disagree with the subject, CHANGE the subject. ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com