Christian Science Monitor Cites OCA on Mad Cow Crisis

ORGANIC Beef Gains Amid Mad Cow Scare
The Christian Science Monitor
12/29/03
By Todd Wilkinson

LIVINGSTON, MONT ­ It's hard for Rob Forstenzer to say who first anticipated
the arrival of mad-cow disease on US soil: high plains cattle ranchers like
himself, who for years have been raising "organic" beef, or consumers who
are now rushing in droves to buy Mr. Forstenzer's steaks in restaurants,
grocery stores, and straight from the farm.

But in light of public-health concerns arising from the discovery of a dairy
cow infected with the brain-wasting disease concern over the nation's food
supply is fueling a marketing bonanza for organic beef .

News this weekend that the infected Holstein likely originated in Canada
eased concern and criticism over the nation's efforts to prevent and detect
mad cow. Because the cow came from Alberta, the same province in which North
America's first case of the disease was discovered this spring, some experts
hoped it might be isolated to that region.

"This puts a different perspective on things," said Dr. Ron DeHeaven, chief
veterinarian for the Department of Agriculture.

Still, consumers' awakening desire to have safer choices in the meat aisle
of their grocery store, and lingering questions regarding the rigor of US
inspection standards, could push organic beef out of its boutique niche and
into the mainstream.

"Certified organic beef has become the new gold standard for safety,"
suggests Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers
Association in Little Marais, Minn.

Two years ago, Mr. Forstenzer, a Montana cattleman, received the special
designation of "organic" for his small herd of Galloway cows. Because of the
way he raises the animals, they are less likely to come into contact with
material that many experts believe can make food unsafe, and cause diseases
like mad cow.

Most beef cattle are transported to as many as three or four different farms
and factories in their lifetime. They are often rushed through these stages
without individual care or inspection.

Forstenzer, however, knows the history of every animal he raises, because
they never leave the ranch.

He personally selects the local butcher and the commercial retail outlets
that carry his beef.

Cattle raised for the beef market are usually sent to large commercial
feedlots, where they are fattened up on high protein corn and soybeans. They
often receive hormones and antibiotics to speed growth and ward off disease.

Forstenzer's cows, conversely, receive no injections or antibiotics and are
raised on local sweet grass and hay.

Organic farmers also rarely slaughter cattle that are sick or injured, a
practice among conventional producers that has been widely criticized for
its health risks.

They are less likely to contract mad cow, say experts, because their feed
does not include high-protein animal waste and blood that is sometimes used
to supplement non organic animal feed.

That material itself is not known to transmit the disease, but because
animal remains are added to the feed, some experts worry that unsafe
neurological material that can carry mad cow could find its way into the
feed.

"The fact that there has never been a single organically grown cow [that
has] come down with mad cow in England, France, the US or Canada is pretty
telling," says Cummins.

One reason, he suggests, might be the different mentality among organic
farmers. The speed with which most cattle ranches and beef processors
attempt to bring cattle into the market creates an atmosphere of
carelessness, say organic supporters.

Although a 1997 law prohibits cattlemen from feeding their animals food that
contains brain and spinal cord tissue, feed that is often linked to the
spread of BSE, enforcement is weak.

Organic advocates argue that the US system of detection is based more on the
word of the cattlemen than on inspection. "People realize that centralized
production and industrialized animal husbandry in feedlots are really at the
root of the problem," says Cummins.

But a wide range of conventional agriculture supporters disagree. The
emphasis on volume within the current system keeps prices low, but is also
reliable and safe.

"With the safeguards in place, I feel confident in the safety and integrity
of our food supply," said Sen. Conrad Burns (R) of Montana.

Others point to the fact that even organic beef is not entirely safe from
mad cow. Scientists admit that they do not know all the causes of the
disease. They also suggest that calves from a non organic mother could be
exposed to the disease during its gestation, even if the mother receives
organic feed through most of her pregnancy.

In addition, regulation of the organic market has also been lax, say
critics, as producers circumvent loosely worded laws to use prohibited feed
and medicine. "The notion of a grass-fed cow is kind of a slippery term,"
says Forstenzer.

Since the announcement of the first US detection last week, more than 30
nations have blocked imports of American beef, and several legislators have
called for the implementation of a more detailed cattle-tracking system and
for more rigorous inspections.

Yet American consumers, experts say, are not likely to significantly reduce
their consumption of beef as long as the US does not seem to be the
primarily source of the disease.

Still, the simple detection of the cow has caused a new awareness among
American consumers of different options for their beef. And the organic
market will no doubt be a key beneficiary.

"This single incident is really going to change the awareness of the
consumer and, judging by our experience, it already has," says Eric
Stenberg, chef at the Savory Olive Restaurant in Bozeman, Mont.