This article appeared in the January 22,
2004 Jewish Advocate.
MIT to hold forum on mad cow
By Susie Davidson
Advocate Correspondent
As has been discussed on these pages, there
may be a decreased risk of mad cow disease in Kosher-slaughtered beef. But
since safety can never be taken for granted, itÕs prudent to be as informed as
possible regarding any public health matter before making personal choices.
Next Thursday evening, Jan. 29, interested
consumers will have a remarkable opportunity to learn a great deal about this
timely and complex medical issue when Michael Greger, M.D., gives a free public
talk, "Mad Cow Disease: Plague of the 21st Century?Ó, at M.I.T. Greger,
Chief Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Investigator for Farm Sanctuary
since 1993, and the Mad Cow Coordinator for the Organic Consumers Association
since 2001, will discuss what consumers can do to avoid contracting the human
form of the disease, and what steps we as a nation need to take to safeguard
our food supply.
Greger, a graduate of the Cornell
University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine,
is a general practitioner specializing in vegetarian nutrition as well as a
prize-winning cook, and an internationally respected speaker at universities,
medical schools and conferences on varied critical public health and social
justice issues. Author of ÒHeart Failure: Diary of a Third Year Medical
StudentÓ and the upcoming ÒOptimum Vegan Nutrition,Ó as well as other works,
CDs and DVDs, he contributes all proceeds to vegan charities. Gregor, who runs
a mad cow disease website (www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm), has also
contributed to many books on veganism and food safety issues.
Greger has spoken at the Conference on
World Affairs and the World Vegetarian Congress, debated the National
Cattlemen's Beef Association Director before the FDA, and was invited to be an
expert witness defending Oprah Winfrey in her "meat defamation trial"
several years ago. It is his contention that the American beef industry
continues to risk public safety while the USDA remains unconcerned, and
disposed to placing business interests ahead of consumer. National Cattlemen's
Beef Association representatives have been invited to offer an industry
perspective at the talk.
"In the United States, an unknown
number of animals are infected with Mad Cow disease, causing an unknown number
of human deaths from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)," says Greger, who
feels that the US should immediately begin testing all cows destined for human
consumption, as is done in Japan. "The US should also stop feeding
slaughterhouse waste, blood and manure to all farm animals, and should
immediately enact an active national surveillance program for CJD," he
continues. "As long as the USDA treats this as a PR problem to be managed
instead of a serious global threat, millions of Americans will remain at
risk."
Kosher-slaughtered cattle, like those
slaughtered commercially, are allowed to be fed slaughterhouse waste, cow blood
and manure. "But since Kosher animals are not stunned prior to being bled
out, there is no risk of the stunning process forcing bits of brain into the
bloodstream,Ó says Greger, whose wife Susan Solomon, a graduate student in
counseling psychology at Lesley University, keeps a Kosher home. ÒThe remaining
blood, peripheral nerve and skeletal muscle in the final product may carry some
infectivity, but less than meat from conventionally-slaughtered animals, which
may have brain emboli throughout the carcass.Ó
Gregor was raised in a small Arizona town,
Òthe only Jewish family within 30 miles.Ó His parents were New York natives;
his mother taught Biblical Hebrew at the community college. Following his
parentsÕ divorce, his mother took his brother and he to a Jewish community in
Binghamton, New York, where she taught Hebrew School at the orthodox Beth
Israel synagogue.
While arming oneself with the pros and cons of meat consumption, it might be worthwhile to examine the suggestions of nutritionist Andrew Weil, who has long advised people to decrease animal protein in order to reduce saturated fats and environmental toxins in their diet. Weil advises using meat as a side dish rather than the entrŽe, serving familiar meals like bean burritos and pasta salads, eliminating meat from breakfast, and then from lunch, and substituting fresh vegetables for meat in recipes (vegetarian chili, he says, can be as satisfying as the heavier meat version). He also recommends vegetarian substitutes for hamburger, hot dogs and lunch meats available at Kosher and area supermarkets. Lastly, the appealing new flavors and tastes in new types of cuisine, he says, such as meat-free ethnic dishes, might make the consumer forget about the meat.
Michael Greger, M.D. will give a free
public talk on Mad Cow disease Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. in Cambridge at
M.I.T., 77 Massachusetts Ave., Green Building, second floor, Room 54-100. Doors
open 6:30. The talk is sponsored by EarthSave Boston and the MIT Vegetarian
Group; directions and parking information can be found at EarthSave Boston's
web site, boston.earthsave.org. EarthSave Boston regularly offers free public
talks on the theme of "healthy people, healthy planet."