Market Farming

[Sojourner <sojournr AT missouri.org>]

Shelley Pasco wrote:
> 
> Liz,
> Here, we're encouraged not to use blood and bone meal
> because nobody can be sure that the pathogens aren't
> there. Remember mad-cow disease? 

Yeah, its practically eradicated in the few areas it ever occurred now. 
There has never been any occurrence, as in not one single, of mad cow
disease in any animal on this continent.  All importations of beef and
beef byproducts from infected areas were totally banned in the mid-80s.

> Nothing kills it

Not true.  It's difficult to destroy but sterilization techniques were
identified early on for destroying the pathogen.

It's not strictly alive, being a prion and not a microbe.

> and there's no way to segregate the cows that end up in these
> products.

Since there are no infected cattle in this country and never have been
this is really not a big concern.  In Britain, infected cattle WERE
identified and culled from herds; that's why their eradication and
control programs have been so successful.

Liz said:

> . . . I don't understand why its allowed here

It's allowed because there has never been one single case of mad cow
disease here, so there's no reason NOT to allow it.

-- 
Holly ;-D
Contrary Peasant
sojournr AT missouri.org