I am no rocket scientist or FDA expert, but perhaps subsidizing the corn crop, feeding it to cattle (instead of grass grazing fed), then using the cow manure to fertilize food crops is not such a great idea. Sure it may qualify as “organic” but cows are NOT supposed to eat corn as the entire substance of their natural diet … it produces E.coli …. wake up America!
What got me started was yet another news article –>
FDA investigates E. coli at Ariz. lettuce Farm: Yuma grower may be source of outbreak
The problematic cycle begins with America’s sensational craving of beef products. There are many more people to feed than there were 30 years ago, and there are fewer open spaces for grazing than 30 years ago. More honestly there is the greater need-for-speed-greed of getting cattle to market as soon as possible. When I was a child, cows had the cradle-to-slaughter life span of 4 or 5 years of grazing in the open grass pastures, kind of enjoying the casual life while plumping up. Heck where do you think the phrase “sent out to pasture” came from.
Present day a huge portion of cattle, I won’t make up a percentage but I am sure it’s high, are born and bred within what I will call a “Food Factory”. They never get to go outside and graze the pasture … enjoying some nice greenery while chewing their cud. Today’s “modernized farm” (bullshit) cow spends there entire existence inside, like be holed up in a prison, being fed a diet of corn and grain, with a side of antibiotics. The antibiotics are needed to both tolerate the unnatural diet and increase body mass at an accelerated pace.
In shortened life expectancy of present day Integrated Livestock-Crop Farming Systems, cattle are rushed to slaughter before even reaching their second birthday. Meanwhile the acid-rich-toxic-bacteria-ecoli manure is quickly distributed to crop farming … aka lettuce etc. Typically manure is supposed to age for a period of xxx, however with shortened production windows caused by high consumer demand and longer living more resilient bacteria … we will continue to read headlines like above as we continue to poison our own food chain.
It is not just my opinion, below is just a glimpse of some additional reading on the topic. Remember – Beef it’s what’s for Dinner
The Food Revolution: What About Grass-fed Beef?
No E. Coli or Mad Cow Disease in Grass-Fed Beef
Years ago, we started fattening cattle on grain instead of grass. However, grain-fed cattle develop abnormally high stomach acidity, which allows for the development of acid-resistant E. coli. If E. coli gets into a human digestive system, it can wreak havoc on it.
“The issue is often complicated by the political interests and confusion between labels such as “free range“, “organic“, or “natural“. Cattle raised on a primarily forage diet are termed grass-fed or pasture-raised; for example meat or milk may be called grass-fed beef or pasture-raised dairy. However, the term “pasture-raised” can lead to confusion with the term “free range“, which does not describe exactly what the animals eat.”