208 the rice diet renewal
government ’ s relentless pursuit of profi t rather than safety and
quality. Europeans banned growth hormones in 1988, while the vast
majority of U.S. ranchers still utilize them. A joint effort of scien-
tists from the United States and Denmark compiled data through the
Study for Future Families, a fi ve - state, multicenter study of pregnancy
outcomes from 1999 to 2005. When they examined the effect of a
mother ’ s beef consumption on her adult son ’ s reproductive health and
capabilities, they found that sons born to frequent beef - consuming
mothers (more than seven servings per week) were three times more
likely to meet the World Health Organization ’ s criteria for impaired
fertility than were sons from moms who ate less beef. Although there
is no way to know defi nitively at this point, the scientists concluded
that steroid exposure from conventional beef was the most probable
explanation for these remarkable fi ndings.
Besides the dangers of our consuming hormones in meat and their
contaminating the environment and the surrounding wildlife, there
is also growing concern that links conventional meat - processing
techniques to the increased incidence of E. coli in beef. In 2007,
twenty - one million pounds of hamburger from Topps were recalled
because of E. coli contamination. The January – February 2008 issue
of Organic Processing magazine reported that “ possible explanations
include weather stress, mixing contaminated distillers ’ grain from
ethanol production plants into cattle feed rations, and, most worri-
some, a genetic adaptation of the bacteria to become more virulent
or resistant to the chemicals used to wash conventional beef car-
casses in slaughter plants. ” Given the wide range of contaminants in
conventionally grown foods, it is nearly impossible to determine what
caused the E. coli contamination, but it is yet another reason, if you
need one, to buy and eat organic foods and less animal products.
A Consciousness Wake - Up Call about
Antibiotic UseAlthough the use of subtherapeutic levels of antibiotics to prevent
animal diseases and promote their growth has been controversial for