May 8th, 2007
Some days I’m really glad the doctors told me not to eat red meat.
The Maine Department of Agriculture says a Greene company is voluntarily recalling nearly a ton of beef. Bubier Farms says nearly 2,000 pounds of beef may be contaminated with fecal matter, a common source of E-Coli bacteria.
State officials say 1,936 pounds of beef may be contaminated with fecal material, as well as other contaminants. The problem was discovered by a federal inspector earlier this week. Officials say the inspector found fecal matter and hair on slabs of beef inside a cooler at Bubier Meats.
Bubier meats is a small family run business that only sells product here in Maine. State officials say at this point they do not know if any of the meat in the recall is actually contaminated. But it is being recalled because it was in the cooler on the same day the inspection was done.
“The big concern with fecal contamination would be e-coli. We haven’t confirmed, we haven’t tested any yet, we’re just recalling because with fecal contamination we can’t take any chances whatsoever,” said Hal Prince from the Maine Department of Agriculture.
Most of the meat went to small grocery stores and restaurants around southern Maine. State officials say about 75% of the recalled meat has already been returned.
Here is a list of what has been recalled:
–Two whole sides of beef stamped Est. 4.
–10-lb. bags of beef labeled Bubier Meats Hamburg.
–10-lb. bags of ground beef labeled Caldwell Farms Beef All Natural Beef. The product code on the ground beef is 647.
–Primal cuts of beef also labeled Caldwell Farms Beef All Natural Beef.
Consumers with questions about the recall can call Bubier Farms Manager Tobie Bubier at 207-946-7761. Tobie Bubier says he’s confident that no meat that left his plant was contaminated and says he plans to have an independent laboratory test it to prove his case.
Source: Maine Farm Recalls Beef That May Be Tainted
Keep in mind that a small percentage of red meat is actually inspected. How scary is that? How much scary does that make the fact that they just happened to inspect on the same day this happened?
Tags: beef, red meat, food contamination e. coli, Bubier Farms, Maine Department of Agriculture, Maine
January 16th, 2007
I don’t feel well, but I was running low on a few staples like caffeine, bottled water, milk, breakfast, lunch, dinner…Because I wasn’t feeling well, of course, I headed right for the convenience foods. You can’t see that I have oranges and cut up fruit in there but I do. Honest. It’s just hidden behind the T.V. dinners.
Tags: project365, photoday, oneaday, groceries, sushi, comfort food, health food, photo blogging
January 2nd, 2007
I found an interesting blurb in the Parade insert in Sunday’s paper this week about organic food. As we all know, organic foods have become one of the hot topics in the grocery stores lately. Rather than question whether it’s healthier to eat organic-labeled foods instead the regular produce in the grocery store, someone wrote in to basically ask when it was that all foods used to be organic before. In other words, at some point in the past, all food did used to be organic, before mankind started messing with it, and the person wanted to know how many years it’s been that such has not been true. “AskMarilyn” replied:
Millennia! Humans have been attempting to improve their crop yields for as long as they’ve been hungry. About 2800 B.C. Sumerians used sulfur to control pests. Around A.D. 900,Chinese farmers saw that arsenic worked better. In the 1700s, kerosene was added to the arsenal. And 50 years ago, DDT was the leading pesticide.
Tags: organic food, farming, gardening, pesticides
November 14th, 2006
“We just don’t need an organic Twinkie. We don’t!”
– Ann Cooper
Tags: Quote of the Day, Twinkie, organic food
August 25th, 2006
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n. mallory
- ‘Liquid Bombers’ - The Impossible Bomb — A lot of websites have been linking to this explanation as to why the most recent terror plot from the UK could not have worked and why all of the fearmongering and passenger harrassment by the UK and American governments in the airports is unnecessary. I say, read it for yourself and decide for yourself.
- Homeland insecurity 2.0 — Pam @ Pam’s House Blend wrote one of the best reports of what travelling immediately after the latest terrorist plot scare was like that I’ve read.
Again, the PA came on, this time it was for another flight — on Continental — that was boarding. This announcer, I’m not kidding you, went on for about 2-3 minutes warning people about taking on liquids and gels (”liquid” chapstick is a no-no, solid is OK), no coffee or soda will make it on board. Random checks at the gate would be performed. If they find contraband on you, you will be asked to give it up. If you don’t give it up, you’ll not be able to board, he boomed, and you would have to go on a later flight. “Not later today,” he warned, “maybe not even this week…maybe not for a couple of weeks.” OK, at this point, people are laughing, including the two of us. This is ludicrous.
Our flight is finally called and we board. The plane is about to close up and a couple of late arrivals get on. This time we have a woman taking her sweet time, coming down the aisle with a steaming hot cup of Cinnabon coffee, which she proceeds to balance on an armrest as she casually loads her bag in the overhead bin, blocking the aisle as a couple of people wait behind her.
Clearly, my friends, US Airways has let on the Cinnabomber.
More
Tags: liquid bombers, airport security, Continental, U.S. Airways, crime rate, terrorism, morning-after pill, women soldiers, American soldiers, pharmacists, JonBenet Ramsey, Abeer al-Janabi, Jessica Lynch, Jim Bensman, Army Corps of Engineers, FBI, Duarris Perez, Guantanamo Bay, Gitmo, Cuba, Homeland Security, Bosnia, Algeria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Hamas, al-Qaeda, Hurricane Katrina, pink food coloring, food industry
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Politics & Causes, In the News, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, The World, Featured, 9-11 & Terrorism, Iraq & Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disasters, The Middle East
August 23rd, 2006
I don’t know what’s wrong with my cats. I swear!
Out of desperation last night I opened a can of chicken, drained it a little and put it on a plate. I mean, they were on day four of not eating and I couldn’t take it anymore. If they wouldn’t eat the raw food I was trying to feed them, maybe they’d at least eat some canned meat. (I refused to give them that grocery store kibble with it’s disease-ridden meat-part bits and who knows what else!)
At first, things looked good. The two of them huddled around the plate, tongues lapping at the meat.
Then, I realized…they were just licking up the chicken broth. They didn’t touch the tasty, tender chicken chunks!
So, I had to take Pugly to obedience training at the pet store that evening; I went early and did some bag read on Innova Evo products. During my research last week, Innova Evo was one of the top pet food products recommended next to feeding a raw diet because it’s formulated based on a raw diet — and no “by-products”! The cat foods are high protein and low carb which I’m kind of iffy about. I don’t necessarily agree with that line of thinking, but the good news is that they have a kibble version — Innova Evo Food for Cats and Kittens!
O.K. But would they eat it? That was the real test.
After obedience class (which Pugly did very well in, by the way), I went home and put about 1/2 cup in their cleaned out cat food bowl and set it down for them and waited.
It looked like kibble.
It smelled like kibble.
It felt like kibble.
It tasted like kibble.
It ate like kibble.
It passed the test.
Today they are eating the next-best-thing-to-raw-food-diet kibble. It’s not what I would choose for them, but this is what they want. They are not great hunters. They just want their kibble.
Meanwhile, I can sleep a little easier knowing that they aren’t eating the diseased parts of animals that humans wouldn’t eat or cardboard filler or somesuch.
It’s a compromise I guess.
Tags: Innova Evo, raw food diet, the cats, the puppy
August 21st, 2006
No, I’m not talking about Saddam Hussein. I’m talking about my cats.
As of Saturday morning, Pugly, Needy and Aloof are no longer being fed store-bought pet food. I bought them fresh ground turkey and all of the other ingredients necessary, followed one recipe for dogs and one recipe for cats each from Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, and proudly set the bowls down.
Pugly, being a dog and therefore a living food disposal, immediately dove into his concoction with only a little skepticism, but Aloof just sat on top of the dryer next to his bowl and stared at me with those gold eyes of his as if to ask me where his kibble was.
I had to hunt down Needy because he doesn’t like Pugly and had to carry him kicking and scratching to the dryer to proudly show him my new creation that I had slaved over to make for him. He took one whif and glared at me! Where was the kibble?
I tried to explain to the cats that this was dinner and wasn’t it exciting because it was raw meat? I tried to remind them that they were carnivores but they didn’t seem to grasp that concept and Needy ran off and disappeared into the somewhere cats disappear to when they don’t want to be found.
Needless to say, they didn’t eat that evening.
We went through the same routine Saturday night and again Sunday morning and Sunday night.
This morning I tried mixing in some of their kibble. Aloof actually managed to pick two or three pieces of kibble out that didn’t seem to be touching any of the other food to eat but refused to eat anything else. It was very bizarre to watch. Needy has yet to eat.
I’m very frustrated. The book says that they will come around, but I think Aloof is stubborn. I think he’s like that kid who hates the liver and brussel sprouts and hides them in his shoes or something. He keeps begging for food and he’s acting out, but he refuses to eat what I put out.
I don’t want to go back to feeding them store-bought food though because it’s really not all that healthy for them. I want to feed my pets healthy food.
Anyone have any success changing their pets’ diets?
Tags: the cats, the puppy, home cooking pet food
