Let's start with this: the sheer size of the recall:
The amount of beef—143 million pounds—is roughly enough for two hamburgers for each man, woman and child in the United States.
Then let's add in the fact that a big chunk of the recalled meat went to vulnerable populations (not that all Americans shouldn't expect food safety regulations be followed):
About 37 million pounds of the recalled meat went to school lunch programs and other federal nutrition programs since October 2006, said Ron Vogel of the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service.
Next, let's think about the real dangers posed by this event. I'm a layperson and all, but I know that downer cows are more likely to carry the prions that cause mad cow disease, which can cause Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. That's when people get the same symptoms as mad cows. And die, always. And it can take many years for the symptoms to show up. By that time, who can say whether this incident was the cause?
Another more immediate danger is e. Coli contamination. Poisoning shouldn't happen if the meat is cooked properly. But why should we have to worry more about it? Why isn't our food safety system (ahem, HELLO, USDA) monitoring these things more closely? Can I hereby request that my tax dollars that are currently going to shoot the daylights out of Iraq be diverted to keeping our own food safer? 'Cause it's pretty clear we don't have enough supervision on the ground here.
If my family and I were vegetarian, I'd be very happy there was no chance we'd eaten this beef. But we're not. And I don't think I could be.
So, again, I'm renewing my commitment to buying our meats from small farms that care for their animals well, feed them right, and practice clean, humane slaughter. (I know. It's not humane. But there it is.) I'll also buy meats from the Niman Ranch Cooperative, which I know holds its farmers to strict standards. I won't buy from the "naturally raised" brands in the larger retailers because the guidelines for that label are fuzzy. I don't trust them.
Still I can't rule out the occasional burger out somewhere. I can't help digging the burgers at Five Guys and at a little burger stand up the street. But I think we'll limit those to once a month or so.
PunditMom covers the topic well on the DC Metro Moms blog.
I'd love to see more of the major restaurant chains address food safety. Jack in the Box and In-n-Out have stepped up. Where's everyone else? Hello, McDonald's? Burger King? Large companies can do so much to reassure the public and change safety policy for the better.
Where are you, Forces for Good? How much prodding do you need to make sure (or at least to reassure us that you're making sure) our food is safe and our animals are treated right?
So, readers, how has this news affected your thinking? Not at all? A lot? Let me know.
Slate magazine 
There's a 
