Sexy Beast: Mad Cow
This comes via Cyberactivist, former slaughterhouse worker turned vegetarian, veggie activist, and blogger. The article is entitled Sex, Meat And Mad Cow. The author begins with this startling set up,
If you really want to understand mad cow disease, just think of sex and AIDS, the eternity of nuclear waste and playing the lottery.
Now add a hamburger patty to the mix, and grind it all together.Want to take a bite out of that?
He draws a clever analogy between Mad Cow, AIDS and nuclear waste. Remember during the height of the AIDS crisis (which is still going on, though not in the news as often), when you were probably told that when you have sex with someone you’re also having sex with everyone that person has had sex with? Well, think of it this way. When you eat a hamburger or steak, your not only eating that cow, but your eating everything that cow ate, and everything his mom ate, and so forth back up the family tree.
There’s only one thing I’d correct the author on.
Still, when it comes to mad cow, I’m covered. Since I don’t eat it, I don’t have to worry. I’m like the Apple computer folks who gloat when all the PC types get viruses that can’t put a dent in a Mac.
That’s true only if you never, ever eat out. See the problem is the same one that occurs in a slaughter house when a blade is used to slaughter an animal with Mad Cow disease - it becomes an instrument for spreading the disease to the meat of other slaughtered animals. It works the same way in a restaurant. If implements used to prepare Mad Cow-infected meat are not washed and used to prepare vegetables, guess what. A vegetarian who eats those vegetables can be effected. See Eat Your Vegetables for more on this.
December 30th, 2003 at 10:12 pm
Interesting analogy … I’m close to vegetarian (no meat) and it is scary. I am more comfortable in vegetarian restaurants. It is something to think about. Even prepared foods purchased at the supermarket (heat and serve dinners) - they may have been contaminated by utensils.