Beef, it’s what’s for lunch.
Or at least it used to be — in Japan.
The Associated Press reported last week that Japan, once a major importer of U.S. beef, is running out of the red meat.
"Gyu-don," a Japanese beef bowl of meat and onions, has been a major lunchtime staple.
But a ban on U.S. beef imposed late last year after a dairy cow from the Yakima area was discovered to have mad cow disease has severely crimped the Japanese supply.
Yoshinoya, an eatery with more than 900 outlets, announced last week it was pulling the dish off the menu. On Wednesday, 2 million people mobbed the eatery to fill up on the beef bowls while they lasted.
The Associated Press story made the point that Japanese importers have not been able to find a satisfactory alternative to American meat, that gyu-don lovers say Australian beef has a different taste.
Japan must like U.S. beef — it spent $1 billion on it in 2002 alone.
Whether or when Japan and 30 other countries will end the ban on U.S. beef is unknown, but it sure looks possible.
Japanese officials have been touring various beef producing states to learn more about how the meat is handled and what’s being done to protect the herds.
"Our task here is to tell Tokyo, my authority, the measures you have taken in the state of Kansas," Japanese Consul General Takao Shibata said during a tour of a Kansas City meat packer last week. "I think it is important that everybody knows about how seriously you are trying to make sure of the safety of beef that you are eating," Shibata said. "This is information that will be forwarded to the appropriate experts."
While one dairy cow from Yakima appears to have changed the eating habits of millions of Japanese, Shibata said he still eats U.S. beef. "I have 100 percent trust for the safety of beef," he said. "I am eating here in Kansas."
On the home front, meanwhile, it would appear that Americans don’t want to give up their beef, either.
Restaurants that pulled beef from the menu in the early days of the mad cow scare have quietly put it back.
And beef booster Les Schwab tires has continued a 40-year tradition aimed at boosting slow wintertime sales.
February remains free beef month at the big tire dealer, where buying two tires gets you $7.50 worth of beef. For a complete set of four, you get $15 worth.
"What began 40 years ago as a way to support the farmers and ranchers of the West has now become an annual tradition," the company declares on its Web site.
While consumers here and abroad still want their beef, things are far from returning to normal in the industry.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is standing behind government mandates for stricter handling regulations. But many ranchers — the people hardest hit by the mad cow scare — are splitting with the association.
They’ve suggested that labeling programs designed to separate the American industry from Canada be voluntary, not mandatory.
For some, it’s a big brother issue.
"There’s always been strong-minded people in the cattle industry, and certainly, differences of opinion are not new," Jan Lyons, NCBA president-elect, told the Associated Press. "One of those differences has to deal with how much government involvement you want in your business."
The debate, left unchecked, could really slow down the day that other countries lift their embargoes on U.S. beef.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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