Over the past two years my family has labeled me the crazy aunt who doesn’t eat beef. Well that is partly true, I don’t eat beef if I don’t know where or who raised it. Or if the person selling me the beef can’t tell me where or who raised it. I know it sounds like a radical step, but I’d rather be a vegetarian if I can’t be assured of my foods safety. The facts are that no strictly grain fed cow has ever been afflicted with BSE.

The reality is every person in the United States should be concerned with BSE — sadly some of us could already be infected without even knowing it. And if I would have known about the threat I would have stopped eating beef many years before. And yes I know there is only a small chance of getting BSE, but this is only one of many issues we should be concerned with in regards to our food supply. So for me even the smallest chance of getting an incurrable disease from eating meat is tooo much, I would rather become a vegetarian.

Today on one of the news programs I was watching, USDA’s Dr. Clifford said, “We shouldn’t be worried because our system is working.” Just call me a cynic, but I don’t believe this guy. This is coming from a US government department who can’t implement a tracking system for the beef in our country. This comes from a govermental department that is understaffed and underfunded.

This cow got BSE/mad cow diesease about 10 years ago — so how many cows have gotten into the system without being tested? How many of us have already ate beef with BSE? I don’t know but I know the odds are that if you’ve found one then there have been many that have gotten through. There is no way for the government to tell us we have 100% safe beef supply.

Over two years ago I made the decision to not eat beef unless I know where and who raised it. I found a local beef supplier who closely tracks their cattle and knows what they are being fed. I only buy grain fed beef because they have never found BSE in a cow that was grain fed.

The bottom line is we are have to take responsibility for our health and this includes knowing where our food comes from. This is a basic foundation for our life — I could go on — but I won’t. I hope I continue to be the crazy aunt who doesn’t eat beef — but I fear I am the canary in the mine.