Monday, August 16, 2010

Breaking Taboo - Frankenburgers

Zombie Cows For Dinner Tonight
Once all the steaks are gauged for their desirability, the dead cow carcasses from which the flesh was cut to produce the steaks are harvested for their DNA.
This DNA is then used to clone new cows who are fed, raised and slaughtered to see how their flesh steaks taste. This cycle is repeated through multiple generations in order to "evolve" cow clones with great-tasting flesh.”
There is something inherently distasteful about cloning our food sources for most of us.  Even if you have no issues with cloning for food, the idea of pulling DNA from something dead to create something living is probably going to give you the willies. Why?
Personally, I think it’s intuitive. We know that as soon as a body dies that all manner of decomposition, cellular collapse, bacteria breeding, etc. occurs. The natural mechanisms in place to keep a living creature healthy are no longer functioning. It’s why a dead body rots.
Granted that is simplifying the process of decomposition and doesn’t take into account a whole lot of scientific facts that probably mean something to someone somewhere. To me, I see a rotting corpse being used to create a living creature that may end up on my dinner plate.
Dig up a little of that DNA and Frankenstein it in the lab and voila – we have duplication of life. But do we really know what we have? It is the lack of real knowledge that should concern people. Statements from the FSA and FDA saying it can’t produce evidence that cloned meat is harmful should be alarming. Use of words in studies such as “appears to be safe” should send up red flags. In a relatively new area of scientific manipulation – saying “we can’t find anything wrong so it must be safe” is clearly decision making based on “acceptable ignorance”. The scary part is that these decisions make the population the guineas pigs.
The meat and dairy industries are big business, cranking out the yummy slab of meat for your Big Mac as quickly and cheaply as they can because, hey – gotta stay ahead of the game and can’t let the Brits or the Japanese get an edge on us. It comes down to greed, competition, and to hell with the consequences. (BP anyone?) And by the way – you won’t know if you’re eating cloned meat because they don’t have to label it as such. Think about this as well - cloned animals tend to be less "healthy." So of course the farmers want to plug them full of antibiotics and hormones to ensure their investment doesn't keel over before its time. There are growing concerns of the long-term effects that these pharmaceutically fed animals are having on the immune systems of humans. Resistance to antibiotics is just one of the possible "side effects" that are being noted.
Whether you are for or against cloning, being collateral damage to industries that are always trying to make the most bucks with the least amount of overhead should make you sit up and take notice.  Think about it – they don’t really care if the beef you eat today gives you cancer tomorrow. No one has proven it can, so it doesn’t matter. Ignorance is bliss, right?

Additional resources:

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you Lakota for that valuable information. I too am against the idea of cloning for food and will pass the word. Together we can make a difference. Have a great week.
Odie