Posted 4:55 PM by Paul
Where's the Beef?

Mad Cow disease has been detected in Washingtom state and many UK commentators are enjoying the discomfort of US agri-business and the Bush administration. This is understandable because despite the much vaunted special relationship, Clinton's White House lost no time in banning British beef as soon as they discovered that our herd was infected.

McDonalds across England even had signs up letting customers know that only prime French beef was being used in their burgers. Now the US Secretary for Agriculture is flying around the world trying to convince nations like Japan, which imports over $1billion of US beef, that they should lift the ban because the "threat to humans is slight."

It's a serious issue. Mad Cow Disease can cross species boundaries and become the human form of CJD which condemns people to an agonising death. It's also not much fun for farmers as many of them will go to the wall, without extra subsidies from the US Government. This is something they can probably rely on as Bush needs all of the electoral college votes from the West and Mid West states where most of the cattle graze.

The world reaction to the discovery of Mad Cow Disease is of course nothing to do with beef at all. It is the predictable reaction of countries who have just been hit by tarrif barriers on imports into the US market. "Two can play at that game" - seems to be the message coming from hitherto staunch allies like Korea and Japan. One allie will stand loyally beside the USA - that's right Britain.
So, despite the long ban on our beef, British consumers will have the right to buy US pepperoni, even if it some of it made from the last reclaimed scraps stripped from the spinal column of an infected animal.

The latest development in the story is predictable. The infected cow was apparently imported as a calf from Canada. Very convenient. When in doubt, blame Canada. It reminded me of Mayor Bloomberg's inventive explantion for the power outages in August. It was all caused by the unreasonable demands of people in Ontario who wanted to use their air conditioning during a heat wave.