The Great American Meatout 2001

[Guest guest]

The Great American Meatout 2001

 

BY LAURELEE BLANCHARD

 

USA, Feb 25 (VNN) — MEATOUT 2001 Poised to Limit BSE Damage

 

CONTACT: Laurelee Blanchard, Tel: 808-575-7694

 

MEATOUT 2001 POISED TO LIMIT DAMAGE FROM MAD COW DISEASE

 

MEATOUT 2001, the world's largest annual grassroots diet education

campaign, is poised to limit damage from the "Mad Cow" disease by

advising consumers to shun meat and other infected animal products in

favor of vegetables, fruits, and grains.

 

Five years ago, on Meatout day (March 20, 1996), British Health

Minister Stephen Dorrell officially announced that "Mad Cow" disease,

or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), was indeed linked to the

deadly human dementia known as CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). The

announcement followed repeated government denials of consumer

activists' claims that the diseases were indeed linked.

 

Scientists widely expect that, on or about this year's Meatout day

(March 20, 2001), US authorities will be forced to admit that BSE and

CJD have afflicted US cattle and beef consum-ers, despite repeated

assurances to the contrary. All indicators point in this direction:

 

* The government's denials that the diseases exist in the US are

grounded in its failure to autopsy the brains of a significant

fraction of the 40 million cattle killed annually and of the

thousands of consumers who die of Alzheimer's disease and other forms

of dementia with CJD-like symptoms. No other reliable test for BSE or

CJD exists.

 

* The government's 1997 ban of imports of European beef and beef

products came too late, as both diseases were already well

established in Europe by then.

 

* The government's ban of animal body parts in cattle feed a couple

of months ago was too little: a FDA survey found that hundreds of

feed manufacturers violate the ban.

 

>From humble beginnings in 1985, the Great American Meatout has grown

explosively to involve thou-sands of consumer, environment, and

animal protection advocates in over 2,000 communities and all 50

states. They arrange educational events, ranging from simple exhibits

and information tables ('steakouts') to cooking demonstrations,

public dinners, and colorful 'lifestivals.' They ask their friends

and neighbors to

 

"kick the meat habit on March 20 (first day of spring), at least for

a day, and to explore a more wholesome, less violent diet of

vegetables, fruits, and grains."

 

Meatout draws massive support from consumer, environment, and animal

protection advocates, and from public officials, health care

providers, meatless food manufacturers, educators, mass media, and

other opinion leaders. They believe that consumers are entitled to a

national response to the relentless barrage of meat industry

propaganda in the schools, in the media, and in the streets.

 

This year's headliners include television and film stars Casey Kasem,

Mary Tyler-Moore, Ed Asner, Rue McClanahan, James Cromwell, Jennie

Garth, and Bill Maher.

 

Nearly 40 governors and mayors are expected to issue special

proclamations.

 

Let's make Meatout 2001 and Animal Rights 2001 truly millennium

events.

 

http://www.meatout.org, Tel: 1-800-MEATOUT (1-800-632-8688).

 

http://www.animalrights2001.org, 1-888-FARMUSA (1-888-327-6872)