My BEEF Came From 3 Different Countries!

Originally posted by mdiinican
Perhaps the fact that you live in the US, and Canada and Mexico are pretty much the only countries of note within a thousand miles has more to do with it than a future NWO?

Would you be less suspicious if it came from the US, Paraguay, and India instead?

No I would be more suspicious I suppose. With the obvious NAU angle, I am suspicious but only because of what I have read regarding the subject. But if my meat was mixed with meats from those countries, I would be even more suspicious, because I dont know how their safety standards stack up. That it is mixed meat was something I never gave a thought to before running across the sticker.

Well - I've heard a little about how many US farms are now being relocated to Mexcio.

NY Times - Farms in US Shift to Mexico

For a large part, the crackdown on illegal immigration led to a farm labor shortage. Some farmers solution is move the farm to the labor. They are finding cheap land, cheap labor, etc there.

I would guess the same follows for cattle as veggies and that may be part of the answer for the Mexico portion.

reply to post by Frogs

This adds another interesting angle to the topic. I think it is both good and bad to have such broad trade between our countries. On one hand, we are all connected by land, but on the other we are still three sovereign nations. This article is about an American farmer who is basically forced if you will to relocate to Mexico.

What is a shame to me is that he did not stay in our country and hire Americans to do this work, what with the economy and all.

Originally posted by Divinorumus
Don't eat that stuff, yuck. Beef causes cancer and mad human disease, it's loaded with cancer cells and prions. Even more so when it is ground and composed from gawd knows how many sick and mad cows. And .. 25% FAT? Barf! If you must eat flesh and blood and fat, eat only the flesh and blood and fat from one cow at a time. Best for your health though if you give up the vampire thang all together. Being a vamp is not worth dying from cancer or Alzheimers.

I dont think that even Mexico would allow their populace to be eating hords of mad cow disease contaminated meat products! And I know that Canada wont either, and the US wouldnt allow that as well.

For starters, any cow or other meat product such as fish or foul are always inspected before even going through processing. The stock is checked regularly, and the majority of meat food stock is raised on farms and fed both natural and produced feeds, which not only help produce bigger cows, fish and foul, but healthier stock as well. Much of the feed given to them are refined to prevent disease.

Of course not everything is perfect and 1 times out of 10, there is a bad batch caught before it even gets out of the warehouses and onto the delivery trucks.

Not everyone gets Alzheimers or gets sick from eating meat. By nature, humans are meat eating creatures. Our ancestors ate meat for many centuries without cooking it, and they were quite immune to any disease that may have been contained in the meat they hunted. Cooking meat properly and completely also helps prevent any disease, as well as a clean kitchen and clean cutting surfaces and clean cutlery.

Heck, just making sure your hands are thoroughly washed before preparing any kind of meat product helps reduce risks of any disease, especially when preparing products like chicken or turkey or fish.

Your chances of catching some kind of illness from meat are about the same as catching some kind of illness from a piece of fruit or vegetable sprayed with all kinds of chemicals just to keep off the bugs.

You wont find any cows or fish or chicken being sprayed with highly toxic and highly poisonous chemicals to ward off the bugs!!

But of course, you always wash your veggies and fruits first before taking a bite or preparing them for a nice salad right?

Same with meat products.

Bon-appetite!


Cheers!!!!

[edit on 22-1-2009 by RFBurns]

reply to post by hotbakedtater



On the one hand I do agree with you. On the hand, what the market will bear price wise effects this alot.

I live in FL and have some neighbors who grow strawberries. Most years I'll get free strawberries toward the end of the season.

The reason is by that time the price has fallen and the amount of the $ the farmer would get from the crop left in the field is less than the amount of $ he'd have to pay the pickers (many of which are migrant labor)

This is when most farmers here start giving away the berries or open the fields as "U pick" (You pick what you want for a really cheap price) before the farmer plows under what is left and plants something else.

As another example, lots of the orange growers here are having problems matching price with oranges from South America. Sure, some will pay more for US grown oranges - but many won't. If they have to pay a higher wage (for a US worker) it would be even more difficult to match the price. Which orange is the juce maker going to want? The expensive US one or the cheap South American one.

Yes - some value country of origin, quality, etc. But to many - price is still king. To them, an orange is an orange, a cow is cow and they'll go for the best price.

Yep, sucks dont it. I found this on my meat a few months ago. They were having their big meat sale. I go in and saw that sticker and called my husband on the cell phone. Keep in mind this was a big sale day. Lots of people around as well as the butcher. I was so furious, I think the whole store heard me. I shouted to my husband on the cell phone that "the steaks were cheap but they might come from Mexico what the hell's up with that? Did he still want them, Nope didnt think so, Im not eating meat that comes from Mexico or Canada." etc. Didnt realize how loud I was ranting until I noticed everyone one staring at me. Not that I cared really. The butcher looked at me, smiled and nodded. Guess he didnt approve either.

The meat at the meat market is typically local beef. My local meat market guy makes sure he knows what farms the cattle come from, what they are fed the works. It is not more expensive than the store. I buy in bulk. I think its worth it. IT is not just the beef, its pork too.

I live in Missouri for crying out loud! There are cows everywhere! I dont want foreign meat!

I dont want to risk me or mine getting CJD or any other freeky thing from a cow that has been forced to eat or drink its own dead.

I buy local from people who raise their live stock the right way.

My neighbor says "who cares? Its three bucks a pound!" I think I will leave all that meat for him to eat. I would rather be a vegan if it comes to that.

I also prefer to ground my own meat. Meat grinders are not expensive, and are very easy to use and clean. I got mine from bed bath and beyond for $80 after my coupon. I use the hell out of it.

Dont even get me started on sausage!!!!

reply to post by mrsdudara
I live in Kentucky, we have a lot of cows here too, lol.

I had to return to the store this evening, and I made sure to look at the ground beef. I did not find any more separate stickers saying Product of US, Canada, and Mexico; instead I see that Product of US, Canada, and Mexico is stamped on the Kroger price ticket that is glued to the package. It is in such small print, I can see how it is EASILY overlooked. Also on the prepackaged rolls of ground beef, the kind several chains all sell, was stamped on the back of the roll, Product of US, Canada, and Mexico.

I noticed the stamp on ground pork too, only minus Mexico.

Another interesting link, which is from only ten days ago. It explains why I just noticed this labelling, it has only recently been implemented.

www.pacificshipper.com...

From the article:

"For U.S. cattle producers, the concept of country-of-origin labeling seemed simple: Require all muscle cuts of beef to be labeled with their countries of origin, much like the labels affixed to televisions and furniture. That way, U.S. consumers could easily identify U.S. beef products, and buy them because of their reputation for safety and quality.

As it turned out, it wasn’t that simple. Although country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef products was originally written into the 2002 Farm Bill, its implementation has been delayed six years because of continued arguments between ranchers and meat packers over how to interpret the law. Labeling for beef finally became “mandatory” last Sept. 30, and the Agriculture Department will begin enforcing its regulations beginning April 30. Yet the battle over country-of-origin labeling still rages."

And,

"Exploiting wiggle room in the USDA’s interpretation of the labeling law, Bullard said meat packers have refused to provide “Made in USA” labels for products exclusively born, raised and slaughtered in the United States. Instead, some meat packers are labeling them “Product of U.S., Canada and Mexico.” Bullard said, “They don’t want consumers to distinguish the domestic product. They objected to the bill, and they are trying to undermine it. This shows how powerful the meat packers are.”

I don't understand why this battle is raging between ranchers and meat packagers. This just keeps getting more interesting. But at least I know the intent behind the labeling now. I will be looking for Country of origin labels on my meat from now on and buy only American made products.

Probably the meat packers can sometimes or often get quantities of beef from other countries cheaper than US grown beef, and do not wish to differentiate between all US grown beef and beef that is wholly or partially from other countries because they don't want consumers to differentiate between them, since it would hurt their profits.

Frankly, I'd trust Canadian beef just as much or more than American beef; Mexican slightly less. Under current laws, however, standards for American grown beef are lower than the standards for imported beef. So, assuming you trust the body that certifies meat raised in the US, you should trust the safety of foreign meats more than you should trust meat raised in the US.

I live in an area that has cattle farms all around, yet my meat came from Mexico. It does bother me. A lot. What about the recent outbreaks of other food products there?

The meat I bought was not cheaper either. Do they send US inspectors to Mexico to see how they are raised? Ugg

Originally posted by greeneyedleo

www.kroger.com...


A. No. Where and how animals are raised and processed affect the eating-quality, wholesomeness and food safety of the steaks, roasts, chops, ribs, stew beef and ground meat. Birth location has little, if any, affect on the quality and safety of the beef and pork we sell.

Most interesting thread. At first I envisioned different parts from different countries ending up in my ground beef. A leg from Mexico, a flank from Canada, mixed with another part from US.

The above seems to mean that animals are being imported from Canada and Mexico, then raised, slaughtered and processed in the US. But at what age are they imported, are they calves or older? An older animal shipped to a US feedlot before slaughter here?

I think ranchers would be wary of allowing imported meat to flood the market and drive down cattle prices, hence the push for US Product label, to distinguish it from imported. Meat processors OTOH wouldn't care where the meat was from, the more the better for their business.
I think it's like fruit/vegetable growers who would like US labeling, but processors (who for example could make juice from fruit from other countries) don't want/care about COOL.

Why not just proudly made in the NAU (north American Union)........

I already starred and flagged this thread when it popped up, but I just notice something on a pot of honey that needs me to reply.

Have a bit of flu so I needed some honey for in my lemon tea.

I have a pot of clear honey here that has on the label that it is a mixture of honey from inside and outside the EU.

It seems that the rules for food are getting more loose, making it easier for companies to globally monopolize the business their in.

Originally posted by mrsdudara
I live in Missouri for crying out loud! There are cows everywhere! I dont want foreign meat!

Ah, them local cows are probably branded as kosher and ship off some place else half way around the world for the special chosen people, lol. You better get use to eating the imported non-kosher cows.

Funny ain't it, wasn't very long ago that they were rioting in South Korea because they did not wanting US mad meat in their markets.

I suggest everyone give up flesh and blood in their diet, doing so will make ya all feel a lot better, and not just healthy wise either.

reply to post by Divinorumus


Them cows are also sold to the local meat market where I intend to buy from. Right now, we have enough venison in our freezer to last a good 6 months or more. I know they are eating from fields that probably genetically engineered and sprayed, but at least they are not forced to eat/drink their own dead.

As for other countries not wanting our meat... I subscribe to all the USDA newsletters. It is surprising how many countries will not let our meat, pork, and poultry in if it has come anywhere near most parts of the U.S.

Canada has its problems with mad cow too.

Here is a good website for some info organic consumers

In all honesty, I have been trying to get my family more and more used to meatless dinners. Even most of the fish you find in the freezer section is awefull for you. A lot of it is farm raised from China. Turns out, those farm raised in China fish are fed so many antibiotics and other crap the US tried to recall it all and put a ban on it. Why didnt they? politics. Im also trying to switch them to local organic milk/dairy. I've been suspicious of the food I feed my family anyway. I think many Americans have had their head in the sand for a long time. Assuming that what they ate came from the storybook farm they learned of in preschool. They are all shocked when they find out how gross the food they eat really is.

good thread by the way.

reply to post by hotbakedtater

Interesting to note that Krogers owns Ralph's, a chain of grocery stores here on the west coast. You'd be surprised how many Kroger labeled foods appear on the shelves with a Cincinnati origin, 2,500 miles away. Notable that none of them are (fresh) meat products.

Most of the food processed by the Kroger company for local distribution (Dayton to Lexington, Wheeling to Louisville) is sent to Cincinnati via I-75 or the extensive rail system that city supports. The livestock could have been born and raised anywhere (ie Canada or Mexico) and been sent to Cincinnati for final processing, which is what explains the labeling.

I used to live in No. Ky. I could recommend some butchers in Covington and Newport that sell only locally grown beef and poultry to you if you'd like. Send me a U2U if that's the area you're in and you'd like some recommendations. It's worth going a few miles out of the way, and one trip will prove it.

Man... now I'm craving some Gold Star...

reply to post by hotbakedtater


I also noticed the same sticker on beef as you did, and asked questions @ kroger. I have heard that in China they can spray fields with chemicals then the cattle eat what is sprayed. Kroger told me that Canada and Mexico is safe. They have the same regulations as us, but stay away from China and Indonesia meat. I went to a meat market today and asked where they got their meat from, and they told me South America and Austrailia. I don't understand either. I think I'm going to start buying a 1/4 beef from local farmers and saying goodbye to store meats altogether!! Good luck with your hunt for safe meat.