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Note from VegSource:
These letters have been forwarded to the parties in the trial.
This is a letter which came in for Oprah Winfrey from a Cattle
Industry group. We are printing it here with their permission;
it is an open letter and may be freely distributed.
An Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey
from Members of the Cattle Industry
After considering the whole situation many cattlemen agree
the lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas, is not helping anyone but
possibly the plaintiff, Paul Engler -- at the expense of the
real cattle producer. I suggested to producers at the NCBA
meeting last week that we form a Cattleman for Oprah group
and tell the real story. -- Mike Callicrate
February 19, 1998
To:
Ms. Oprah Winfrey
Subject: Cattlemen for Oprah
From: Mike Callicrate, Callicrate
Feedyard, St. Francis, KS nobull@ruraltel.net
Cattlemen's Legal Fund http://www.nobull.net/legal/
Dear Ms. Winfrey:
U.S. cattle producers care about the consumer and are very
concerned about the safety, quality and consistency of U.S.
beef. U.S. cattle are produced under the highest standards of
safety and quality in the world. U.S. cattlemen are the world’s
most active environmentalists striving everyday to preserve
a safe, healthful and sustainable environment for future generations.
We produce it, but we can’t buy it
Thanks to the highly touted “global economy” and the
few huge multi-national corporations that control and orchestrate
the global trade, U.S. producers and consumers are being denied
access to their own high quality produce. The multi-nationals
cream the best beef off and export it at high prices, leaving
the lower quality leftovers to be blended with imported product.
The imported beef is brought across the U.S. borders -- mostly
non-inspected -- and at below breakeven prices for both the
exporting and importing countries producers. Low fixed prices
paid by the multi-nationals are exploiting and driving beef
producers around the globe out of business. This imported product
is then blended, ground and mixed with the higher quality U.S.
trimmings and sold as hamburger here in the U.S.; one of the
highest priced consuming markets in the world.
It’s not labeled
We are all at risk. The food we eat and feed to our children,
is not required to be labeled by country of origin. The origin
of the food borne illnesses of the past year, have, for the
most part gone unidentified. Countries we export beef to, saw
their labeling laws pay off when deadly e-coli tainted beef
was discovered in Korea. U.S.-based IBP, the world’s largest
packer, was found to be responsible.
What can we do?
We have asked for labeling laws. Our very own cattleman’s
representative, the National Cattleman’s Beef Association,
however, has worked to accommodate the importers by suggesting
hamburger be excluded from labeling. Hamburger is the problem.
Potentially deadly bacteria, resulting from unsafe and improper
processing can contaminate the surface of the meat. When it
is ground and mixed into hamburger, the bacteria is no longer
on the surface. This is the reason proper cooking of this contaminated
meat is important. Big business’s answer to the problem
is irradiation. One Texas producer said, “With irradiation,
whole hog sausage may become a reality. In fact, now the big
packers can kill cattle even faster and cheaper with irradiation
to cover their mistakes.”
Our vote isn’t heard
Oprah, we care about all consumers. We producers are such a
small percent of the population that we need you and all your
listeners to help us in demanding a better system of food processing
and distribution -- a system not controlled by big business.
We have heard a lot about food safety lately, but government
officials are having a hard time doing the right things with
the extreme pressures of big business. We need to eliminate
the predatory middleman who seems to have a bigger voice than
his vote in Washington.
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