Favorite Posts of the Past

Readers,

If you haven't caught some of these posts, I wanted to make sure you had easy access to them. These are the posts that generate the most attention on our blog. Please take a moment to read them if you are interested and haven't gotten a chance to do so. Hyatt Frobose hit it out of the park with the post coming in at the Number One spot! Maybe that will convince him to write some more posts for you guys!!!

1. Does America Need a Fat Tax - 6607 pageviews
2. Extra Extra Read All About It - 4532 pageviews
3. Sweet Corn Vs Field Corn - 3966 pageviews 
4. Colorful Cauliflower - 2908 pageviews
5. Getting to Know Your Beef - 2601 pageviews

What has been your favorite post on the blog?

Enjoy,

Tera

BPI Suing ABC over 'Pink Slime' (Lean, Finely Textured Beef) Debacle

Hey - it's actually called Lean, Finely Textured Beef (LFTB).

You may have read/heard that Beef Products, Inc. filed a lawsuit against ABC and three news reporters (Diane Sawyer, Jim Avila and David Kerly) and are seeking $1.2 billion in damages for defamation. But you may be wondering how they can file a lawsuit against a news company and reporters. Let's get down to the facts, folks.

First off, we need to define defamation: it is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual or business, a negative or inferior image. In Common Law it is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (in this case BPI is defamed person). (Wikipedia.org)

or in simpler terms:

Defamation is the false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel (dictionary.com)

Basically, you can't go out and spread false information and not expect to be sued.

But what exactly is the claim against ABC?  

BPI claims that ABC did knowingly publish and report misinformation in 11 television reports and 14 online news items relating to BPI and LFTB that were false and misleading, which aired from March 7 to April 3. In a press conference on September 13, BPI's lawyers expressed that ABC had been provided with real factual information about LFTB from USDA and several other sources and still chose to release 25 reports that stated otherwise. The pushing of a negative agenda caused hundreds of thousands of parents to ask their schools to cease use of LFTB in lunch programs and ABC also created and release a 'blacklist' of grocery stores who were using LFTB. That's a lot of negative press in a 28 day period. So much negative press that BPI lost 80% of their business and was forced to shut down 3 of their 4 plants and let go of 650 employees. Ouch.

About that misinformation - let's clear some of that up. Here are the facts about LFTB.

- LFTB is 100% beef. One hundred percent.
- LFTB is a USDA approved product that is sanitized and made safer with a minuscule amount of ammonium hydroxide mist.
- Ammonium hydroxide is present in most foods - cheese, cereal, beer, bread, even fruits and veggies.
- LFTB is 94-97% lean. Meaning that when it is used, the product is lower in fat and is healthier than a 80% or 85% lean product.
- The photo that was splashed across every TV station and newspaper of pink oozy stuff coming out of a machine is not representative of LFTB. It wasn't even beef.

So, that's the bare bones facts of it all. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I personally don't see how BPI could lose this case. There were over 500 pages of evidence logged with the claim and it's hard to ignore the hundreds of jobs lost and nosedive of BPI's business.

If you want to read more about LFTB here are some good links

Engineering a safer burger - Washington Post article
Beef is Beef - a collection of articles and more hard facts about LFTB
Q & A about ammonium hydroxide in food production

And if you have questions, we'd love to hear them!


So now that you have the facts, what's your take?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

 

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Finding a good journalist seems to me like finding a diamond in the rough. Good journalists have the ability to cause quite a stir. They generate readership and excite online commenting. They make waves. It's in their job description to write things that many wouldn't dare put to print. It's an art and one that I can appreciate. What I really don't agree with is opinionated writing based on biased, sometimes blatantly incorrect information that above all else comes at the expense of how people make a living.

I hate to increase journalist, Mark Bittman's readership, but here is the article that got me going:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/some-animals-are-more-equal-than-others/

I wouldn't argue with Mr. Bittman if he showed up on campus today. I wouldn't waste my time trying to correct the misinformation he obviously has come to believe about animal agriculture. I believe that people, like Mr. Bittman, are not the norm. They are the 2% who we are not going to convince differently.

I would like to address those who have questions about what Mr. Bittman wrote about in his article. Humane treatment of animals used for food is the industry NORM! Don't lump everyone into the category of people who abuse animals. Unfortunately those people exist, but they are not supported and if found guilty, they are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Bottomline -- Animal agriculturists care about their animals and animal welfare standards are put in place for a reason. Producers keep up with welfare standards and training by taking courses such as those offered by the Beef Cattle Institute at KSU on: http://www.animalcaretraining.org/. Agriculture is getting better at telling our story, but we have to keep doing so for the consumers who drive our livelihoods!

Lucky for us, we get the chance to vote with our wallets every time we are at the grocery store. I vote every week when I am lucky enough to pick up my meat products that are high in quality, produced humanely and better yet affordable on a college budget!

Please feel free to leave your thoughts.