As school districts across the nation began ditching beef last week as part of the largest meat recall in the nation’s history, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer served up a heaping bowl of criticism.
Did he reveal holes in the USDA’s inspection system that may allow slaughterhouses to violate rules concerning “downer” cows? Did he acknowledge inspectors’ concerns that staff shortages are putting the nation’s food supply at risk?
No. Schafer instead criticized the Humane Society of the United States — the whistleblower in this case — for not posting its incriminating video sooner. The tape shows workers at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., gouging, kicking and forcing water into the noses of cattle in order to get the animals upright. Only animals that can walk can be inspected for slaughter. The video also showed animals falling down and being hoisted by forklift to get them to slaughter.
Schafer said the Humane Society “sat on” the information for four months, allowing meat into the marketplace that is now being recalled.
For the record, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said any delay in releasing the video was due to a request from a California district attorney’s office that has since filed charges against two men at the plant.
Pacelle said his group went to the local authorities because “we have seen the USDA time and time again not take action.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Connecticut Democrat who leads the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Administration, agreed, telling CNN: “Had they not been presented with the undercover video of Westland, this problem probably would not have been discovered or even investigated by USDA.”
Meanwhile, former and current USDA inspectors told the Associated Press the situation is dire. They said there are so few inspectors that slaughterhouse workers often figure out when “surprise” visits are going to take place and act accordingly. They said they fear chronic staff shortages are allowing sick cows to get into the nation’s food supply, endangering the public.
In addition to health concerns, the inspectors and other industry critics say the staff shortages also result in the mistreatment of animals, like those seen in the video. Further, critics say, the problem is compounded a change in USDA regulations in the late 1990s that gave slaughterhouses more responsibility for devising their own safety checklists and for reporting downer cows to the USDA when inspectors are not present.
Nearly 143 million pounds of meat later — the largest portion of which went to federal food and nutrition programs — it’s time we insist the inspection system be revamped, regardless of what the USDA says.
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