posted September 03, 2009 01:30 PM         

From: http://madcowboy.com/

MAD COWBOY:
Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat

The best-selling book by Howard F. Lyman (with Glen Merzer)

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In the tradition of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," an alarming exposé about the beef industry that could change the way you eat forever...

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Howard F. Lyman has brought the issue of the dangers of eating beef to light like never before. A former cattle rancher-turned-vegetarian and food safety activist, in 1996, Lyman revealed, to a national television audience, how the cattle industry potentially exposed Americans to Mad Cow Disease by feeding cows the remains of live animals - including other cows. As a result of his remarks, Lyman was named a co-defendant with Oprah Winfrey in the infamous "veggie libel" case brought by Texas ranchers in Amarillo.

In this shocking and powerful book, Lyman uncovers the dangerous and potentially deadly practices of the cattle and dairy industry. MAD COWBOY is a passionate manifesto for change from an industry insider whose firsthand experiences will alter the way you think about your food, and the people who produce it, forever. "Sure, I used to enjoy my steaks as much as the next guy," writes Lyman. "But if you knew what I know about what goes into them and what they can do to you, you'd probably be a vegetarian like me."

A fourth generation dairy farmer and cattle rancher, Lyman became enamored of the "bold new age of chemically enhanced agriculture" as a student in agricultural college. Spurning the organic farming methods of his father and grandfather, he became a convert to modern chemical farming techniques: he fed his cows with hormones and antibiotics, and blanketed his farm with pesticides and herbicides. With his mind relentlessly focused on profits, he refused to acknowledge the harmful effects that this steady stream of chemicals might pose for the environment and for consumers who would later ingest these chemicals as meat. Admitting that at the time he "never met a chemical he didn't like, " Lyman says that he, like other dairy and cattle farmers, poisoned his animals and polluted his farms.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Cattle ranchers turned cows into cannibals. Until August 1997, cattle were routinely fed the remains of other cows. The Department of Agriculture and the FDA banned the practice, fearing the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as Mad Cow Disease. But it remains legal to feed cows "rendered" -- dead and ground up -- parts of certain animals, including the blood of other cows, despite the fact that this practice may allow deadly illnesses to enter the food chain. In 1995, five million tons of processed slaughterhouse leftovers were sold for animal feed.

In an effort to prevent disease, Lyman, like other ranchers, fed his cows antibiotics even before they became ill. Soon, Lyman was on an "antibiotic treadmill" constantly changing drugs as the cows became resistant to them, and even using antibiotics after they were banned because of the dangers they posed to human health. Every day, Lyman sprayed his feedlot with insecticides which would then fall into the cattle's food and water -- and eventually become part of someone's dinner. Ranchers relentlessly used growth hormones, particularly DES, which they stockpiled when it was banned.

To increase their profits, ranchers also routinely fed growth hormones to cattle within two weeks of their slaughter, despite a government ban on the practice. Dairy ranchers continue to use recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to enhance milk production, despite the fact that this chemical -- which has been implicated in causing cancer and other diseases -- shows up in milk.

In 1989, the discovery of a rare spinal tumor led Lyman to examine his life. In MAD COWBOY, he tells the moving story of his own personal transformation, and how he became a crusader for organic farming and more conscious eating habits. Lyman describes the devastating effects that modern feed lot operations are having - and will continue to have - on the environment, and also outlines the profound health benefits that switching to a vegetarian diet offers, including reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. After adopting a vegetarian diet, Lyman himself lost 130 pounds and lowered his cholesterol by more than 150 points.

"...I felt better knowing that there was one answer to many of the different ills afflicting both ourselves and our environment. Everything revolved around the fork." (MAD COWBOY, p. 81)

MAD COWBOY is an honestly written, urgent wake-up call to America, a heartfelt plea for all consumers to take a closer look at the food they eat, and how it is grown.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Howard F. Lyman is a fourth-generation family farmer from Montana. After 20 years of operating a feed lot, he sold his ranch and started working for farmers in financial trouble. He was a lobbyist in Washington, and ran for Congress in 1982.

He is the former Director of the "Beyond Beef Campaign" & the Humane Society of the United States' "Eating With Conscience" Campaign; past President of both the International Vegetarian Union, and EarthSave International; and is currently President of Voice for a Viable Future.

Howard travels over 100,000 miles every year as a speaker and lecturer. A Feature Documentary on his life is now in post-production. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife Willow Jeane, and his cat, Ceasar.

Factoids:

GENERAL:

"The total number of mammals and birds raised and killed for food in the U.S. this year is expected to reach 9.906 billion. This represents a 2% increase over the 2000 figure of 9.713 billion." (extrapolation of data published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) by FARM: http://www.farm.org For report pdf: http://www.wfad.org/RESOURCES/NRAnVictims2x.pdf) [02.10.01.01]

"The 2001 total includes 40 million cattle and calves (down 4% from 2000), 113 million pigs (down 2%), 4 million sheep (down 7%), 308 million turkeys (up 1.3%), 8,967 million 'broilers' (up 2%), 446 million laying hens (up 3.8%), and 25.6 million ducks (up 2.8%)." (extrapolation of data published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) by FARM: http://www.farm.org For report pdf: http://www.wfad.org/RESOURCES/NRAnVictims2x.pdf) [02.10.01.02]

"The total [almost 10 billion] also includes nearly 860 million animals who die from mistreatment before ever reaching the slaughterhouse. It does not include the staggering number of aquatic animals used for food, nor the smaller number of terrestrial animals hunted for food or because they compete with farmed animals." (extrapolation of data published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) by FARM: http://www.farm.org For report pdf: http://www.wfad.org/RESOURCES/NRAnVictims2x.pdf) [02.10.01.03]

"The 9.900 million animals raised and killed for food account for 98% of all animals abused and killed annually in the US. Approximately 135 million animals are killed for 'sport', 25 million are used in biomedical research and testing, and 10 million are put down in pounds." (extrapolation of data published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) by FARM: http://www.farm.org For report pdf: http://www.wfad.org/RESOURCES/NRAnVictims2x.pdf) [02.10.01.04]

"The worldwide number of animals killed for food in 2000 was 45 billion, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. This included 306 million cattle, buffalo, and calves, 1.2 billion pigs, 795 million sheep and goats, and nearly 43 billion chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese. The figures exclude some small countries and 'non-slaughter' deaths, which are generally not reported." (extrapolation of data published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) by FARM: http://www.farm.org For report pdf: http://www.wfad.org/RESOURCES/NRAnVictims2x.pdf) [002.10.01.5]

"In more personal terms, during a 75-year lifetime, a typical U.S. resident is responsible for the suffering and death of 11 cows, 32 pigs and sheep, 85 turkeys, 2,570 chickens and ducks, and un-counted numbers of fish and other aquatic animals." (extrapolation of data published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) by FARM: http://www.farm.org For report pdf: http://www.wfad.org/RESOURCES/NRAnVictims2x.pdf) [02.10.01.06]

“A common perception of livestock people is that animal rights activists don’t understand the livestock industry (they don’t ‘get it,’ in current terminology) because of their urban backgrounds...The activists do ‘get it,’ they know what is going on, and they don’t like it.” (Peter R. Cheeke, Ph.D., Editor, Journal of Animal Science) (Cheeke, Peter, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 2nd ed., Interstate Publishers, Danville, IL, 1999 pg. 258) [02.08.03:01]

“One of the best things modern animal agriculture has going for it is that most people... haven’t a clue how animals are raised and processed... If most urban meat-eaters were to visit an industrial broiler house, to see how the birds are raised, and could see the birds being ‘harvested’ and then being ‘processed’ in a poultry processing plant, some, perhaps many of them, would swear off eating chicken and perhaps all meat. For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happing before the meat hits the plate, the better.” (Peter R. Cheeke, Ph.D., Editor, Journal of animal Science; Professor of Animal Science, Oregon State University) (Cheeke, Peter, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 2nd ed., Interstate Publishers, Danville, IL, 1999 pg. 248) [02.08.03:02]

"U.S. society is extremely naive about the nature of (animal) agricultural production... In fact, if the public knew more about the way in which agricultural animal prodcution infringes on animal welfare, the outcry would be louder... If the public knew, for instance, that some swine (pigs) raised in total confinement literally never see the light of day, it would be more, not less, hostile to current agriculture." (Bernard Rollin, Ph.D., Colorado State University expert on animal farming, author of more than 150 papers and 10 books on ethics and animal science) (Rollin, Bernard, Farm Animal Welfare: Social, Bioethical and Research Issues, Iowa State University Press, Ames Iowa, 1995, pg. 23) [02.08.03:03]

“To the experienced viewer, some routine farm handling practices necessary to the welfare and health of the animal and the insurance of quality food may appear brutal, just as some life-saving human surgical and medical practices may seem brutal to the casual observer. All of these practices are done... to ensure the welfare of the animal.” (Animal Industry Foundation) (Animal Agriculture: Myths and Facts, Animal Industry Foundation, Arlington, VA, 1989, pg. 13) [02.08.03:04]

“I have witnessed with alarming frequency... physical abuse of livestock during transportation... (I have seen ) hitting, beating, jabbing of short objects into animals, and deliberate cruelty.” (Temple Grandin, Ph.D., livestock handling consultant to McDonald’s) [02.08.03:05]

“It is a myth that farm animals are routinely raised on ‘factory farms,’ confined in ‘crowded, unventilated cages and sheds... ‘ One of the best strongholds of animal welfare in our culture is the farmer... The image of the family farm with its red barn, a few chickens in the yard, some pigs in the mud and cows in the field isn’t accurate anymore. But neither is the sterile, mechanized, emotionless ‘food factory’ that some would have us believe. Today, U.S. agriculture is a dynamic, specialized endeavor, the envy of the rest of the world... The key to this efficiency? The best cared for livestock and poultry in the world... As American animal agriculture grows and changes, there is a double constant: Farmer’s concern for the welfare of the animal, and their dedication to provding the highest quality , safest food in the world.” (Animal Industry Foundation) (Animal Agriculture: Myths and Facts, Animal Industry Foundation, Arlington, VA, 1989, pg. 3, 5, 9) [02.08.03:06]

posted September 03, 2009 01:33 PM         

"When it comes to the words 'natural,' 'organic,' and 'free range'... federal law is and always was toothless. It doesn't guarantee a thing... Poultry companies use 'free range' strictly as a marketing gimmick. legally, the phrase means nothing. There is no law or regulation defining 'free range.' ... 'Natural' is another meaningless term... By USDA's standards a Burger King Whopper is natural." (Bjerklie, Steve, "Fowl Play," Sonoma County Independent/Metro Active, May 15, 1997) [02.10.01.01]

"Free range doesn't mean anything... Conventional chicken can use (the word) 'natural,' and that's totally ridiculous. Right now anyone can say almost anything on a label about their chicken. They're just hoodwinking the public." (Bjerklie, Steve, "Fowl Play," Sonoma County Independent/Metro Active, May 15, 1997) [02.10.01.02]

"Advertisements for "Happy Hen Organic Fertile Brown Eggs" in Pennsylvania: The hens run free "ina natural setting," and are "humanely housed in healthy, open-sided housing, for daily sunning --- something Happy Hens really enjoy." ("The Rougher They Look, The Better They Lay," Poultry Press, Vol. 2, No.4) [02.10.01.03]

"Reality: More than 7,000 birds are housed in each "Happy Hen" barn; the wall to wall birds are severely debeaked; and individual hens have no more than 11.5 square inches of space each." ("The Rougher They Look, The Better They Lay," Poultry Press, Vol. 2, No.4)) [02.10.01.04]

"Number of chickens slaughtered every minute in the U.S.: 14,000." "What Humans Owe to Animals," The Economist, Aug 19, 1995. [02.06.27:01]

posted September 03, 2009 01:35 PM         

"U.S. dairy cows: 10 million." Mason, Jim "Assault and Battery," Animals' Voice, Vol. 4, No. 2, pg. 33. [02.06.27:04]

"U.S. dairy cows housed in some type of factory system: 5 million" Mason, Jim "Assault and Battery," Animals' Voice, Vol. 4, No. 2, pg. 33. [02.06.27:05]

"Natural life-span of a dairy cow: 20-25 years." [02.06.27:06]

"Lifespan of U.S. dairy cows. 3-4 years." [02.06.27:07]

"Period of time required for U.S. factory farms cows to produce their own weight in milk today: 3 weeks." [02.06.27:08]

"For some cows given bovine growth hormone: 8 days"[02.06.27:09]

"U.S. dairy cows that at any given time have mastitis (painful udder infections): 50%." Adcock, Melanie, "The Diary Cow: America's 'Foster Mother,"' Humane Society of the United States; http://www.hsus.org [02.06.27:10]

"Materials routinely fed to U.S. cattle: Dried poultry waste and sewage sludge." Cheeke, Peter, Contemporary issues in Animal Agriculture, 2nd ed, Interstate Publishers, Danville, IL, 1999 pg 76, 278. [02.06.27:11]

posted September 03, 2009 01:40 PM         

"Water routinely given to U.S. pigs: Liquid wastes draining from manure pits." [02.06.27:14]

"U.S. pigs infected with pneumonia at time of slaughter: 70 - 80%." Research by Eli Lilly and Co. and Flanco Products Co., reported in "The Dangers of Factory Farming," Humane Farming Association. [02.06.27:15]

TURKEYS:
"Approximately 45 million turkeys are killed each year at Thanksgiving. Before ending up as the holiday centerpiece, these gentle birds spend five to six months on factory farms, 15,000 of them packed tightly in dark sheds, with only 3 square feet of space per bird. To keep the overcrowded birds from scratching and pecking each other to death, factory workers slice off a portion of their upper beaks and toes with a hot blade. No anesthetics are used during this agonizing procedure." (Karen Davis, "The Modern Turkey: In Need of Thanksgiving Deliverance," The Animals’ Agenda, Nov.-Dec. 1992, p. 27, http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsveg122.html) [02.11.24:01]

"Consider this: More than 40 million farmed turkeys will be served up for Thanksgiving dinner, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Unlike wild turkeys, which roam forests and pastures throughout the lower 48 states, domestic turkeys are raised on factory farms, where thousands of the animals are crowded into small areas of space." (http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/11/11232000/turkeytime_40392.asp) [02.11.24:02]

"In the wild, turkeys display complex social interactions with one another. Foraging over a range that can cover up to 11 square miles, they fulfill their dietary requirements mainly with nuts, acorns and grass. By contrast, turkeys raised on factory farms experience little semblance of a natural life. They spend their lives cooped up in barns, and they are given concentrated feed laden with antibiotics to prevent disease and to boost growth. "Turkeys are deprived of their most basic physical and behavioral needs, " said Dave Kuemmerle, program manager of sustainable agriculture for the Humane Society. "In addition, this form of agriculture is detrimental to the environment and poses serious human health concerns." (http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/11/11232000/turkeytime_40392.asp) [02.11.24:03]

"A virus that infects young turkeys has been identified by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. First seen in the southeastern United States poultry industry in the early 1990s, this "astrovirus" is now circulating throughout the United States. The virus, which is also associated with diarrhea outbreaks in humans and other animals, is linked to another widespread production disease in very young turkeys called Poult Enteritis Mortality Syndrome (PEMS). This highly infectious, transmissible disease causes severe diarrhea, stunted growth, high death rates, and lifelong harm to the turkey's immune system, and leaves the birds extremely susceptible to other infections. From USDA ARS News Service, October 11, 2001. " (http://www.upc-online.org/winter2001/turkey_virus.html) [02.11.24:04]

"Unlike the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and most other modern nations, the United States does not extend federal humane slaughter protective legislation to turkeys or other fowl, even though birds constitute the enormous bulk of animals killed for food each year in this country, totalling well over six out of seven billion animals. In 1991, 285 million turkeys were killed. The National Turkey Federation (the U.S. trade group), as expected, opposes humane slaughter protective legislation for poultry in the United States."" (http://www.upc-online.org/turkey.html ) [02.11.24:05]

"Because commercial turkeys are raised to grow at a rapid rate, their legs have difficulty supporting their plump bodies, the Humane Society notes. They often die of heart attacks because their internal organs cannot keep up the same growth rate. Selectively bred to produce more white meat, their chests become so large that they cannot mate under natural circumstances and as a result, they are bred though artificial insemination. " (http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/11/11232000/turkeytime_40392.asp) [02.11.24:06]

"Commercial turkeys are in such close quarters that they peck at one another out of boredom," Kuemmerle [Humane Society] explained. "To prevent the turkeys from bumping and bruising each others' meat, they routinely have their beaks and snoods (the loose red skin attached to their heads) cut off. No anesthetic is used during this process, and many people don't realize this is a routine practice in the poultry industry." (http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/11/11232000/turkeytime_40392.asp) [02.11.24:07]

"According to standards set by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, it is acceptable for up to half (49.9 percent) of the ground turkey purchased by consumers to be contaminated with salmonella." (USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service, “HACCP Implementation: First-Year Salmonella Test Results, January 26, 1998, to January 25, 1999,” p. 2, http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsveg122.html) [02.11.24:08]

îAmerican turkeys contaminated with Campylobacter (according to major USDA tests in 1996-97): 90%î (ìHow Hazardous is Your Turkey?î Center for Science in the Public Interest news release, Nov. 19, 1998) [02.08.03.10]

îCampylobacter kills an estimated 100 Americans and sickens almost two million others each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while Salmonella causes an estimated 1.3 million illnesses, 15,000 hospitalizations, and 500 deaths annually. Those illnesses are characterized by diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramping, nausea, or headache. Salmonella and Campylobacter are also linked to other serious chronic illnesses, like reactive arthritis and Guillian Barre syndrome,respectively.î (http://www.cspinet.org/new/foodsafety02_14_02.html) [02.11.24.09]

îTurkey is completely devoid of fiber and carbohydrates and loaded with even more fat and cholesterol than many cuts of beef (for instance, a turkey’s leg contains about 72 milligrams of cholesterol and is 47 percent fat)î ("Where’s the Fat?," U.S. News & World Report, 4 Jun. 1990, http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsveg122.html) [02.11.24.10]

"Turkeys must stand mired in layers of waste while urine and ammonia fumes burn their eyes and lungs. They are fed antibiotics and are purposely bred to gain an enormous amount of weight in a short period of time.î (Rick Weiss, "Techno Turkeys," The Washington Post, 12 Nov. 1997, p. H1, http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsveg122.html ) [02.11.24.11]

"A survey of 451 federal inspectors, conducted by Public Citizen, the Government Accountability Project, and the American Federation of Government Employees, showed that safety inspectors were concerned that poultry products are also contaminated with animal feces, vomit, and metal shards because of lax standards set by the USDA.î (Julie Vorman, "Feces, Vomit on Raw Meat a Growing Risk, Say Consumer Groups," Health News, 6 Sep. 2000, http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsveg122.html ) [02.11.24.12]

"In an average lifetime, just one American devours 65 turkeys.î ("Overview of U.S. Meat and Poultry Production and Consumption," American Meat Institute, Jun. 2001, http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsveg122.html ) [02.11.24.13]

"The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that salmonella is present in 35 percent of turkeys.î (Joby Warrick, “An Outbreak Waiting to Happen: Beef-Inspection Failures Let in a Deadly Microbe,” The Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2001, p. A01., http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsveg122.html ) [02.11.24.14]

posted September 03, 2009 01:46 PM         

I was involved in agriculture at a time when the call dictated getting bigger and better or getting out. I was educated in modern agriculture, and I can tell you from firsthand experience -- it is not sustainable. I followed all the modern advice and turned a small organic family farm into a large corporate chemical farm with a thousand range cows, five thousand head of cattle in a factory feedlot, thousands of acres of crops, and as many as thirty employees. I saw the organic soil go from a living, productive base to a sterile, chemical-saturated, mono-cultural ground produced by my so-called modern methods.

In 1979, a tumor on my spinal cord caused me to be paralyzed from the waist down. That changed my life forever. I promised myself that, whatever the outcome of the surgery, I would dedicate the rest of my life to doing what I believed to be right -- no matter what changes that necessitated.

The period before and after the surgery gave me much time to think about the changes resulting form my methods of farming. Convinced that we were going the wrong way, I decided to become a voice for the family farmer and the land. In 1983, I sold most of my farm and started working for farmers in financial trouble. This led to my working for the Montana Farmers Union and from there to Washington, D.C. as a lobbyist for the National Farmers Union.

For five years I worked on Capitol Hill for America's family farmers. In that time we had some small successes, such as passing the National Organic Standards Act. But even after the act became a law, it took the administration several years to allow funds for its implementation. I became convinced that the changes needed had to come from the producer and the consumers at the grassroots level. Until that alliance is put into play, the big money interest will continue to control public policy in the Congress of the United States."

"The question we must ask ourselves as a culture is whether we want to embrace the change that must come, or resist it. Are we so attached to the dietary fallacies with which we were raised, so afraid to counter the arbitrary laws of eating taught to us in childhood by our misinformed parents, that we cannot alter the course they set us on, even if it leads to our own ruin? Does the prospect of standing apart or encounttering ridicule scare us even from saving ourselves?

That prospect intimidated me once, and I can only wonder now what I was frightened of. It's hard to imagine, now that I'm a hundred thirty pounds lighter, infinitely healthier, more full of life and energy, much happier. Now that I have vegetarian friends wherever I go, and feel part of a movement that is not so much political as it is a march of the human heart. Now that I understand how much is at stake. Now that I've come to relish shaking people up.

I would love to see the meat industry and the pesticide industry shaken up, too. I would love to see feedlots close and factory farming end. I would love to see more families return to the land, grow crops for our own species, and raise them organically. I would love to see farm communities revive. I would love to know that I've wandered into my nation's heartland by the sweet smell of grain and not the forbidding smell of excrement.

When you can't take it with you, all that really matters is what you leave behind."*