Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here? - Hardcover

Rampton, Sheldon; Stauber, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1567511112 ISBN 13: 9781567511116

Publisher: Common Courage Press, 2002

Synopsis

Examines the reasons the United States is not taking measures to avoid mad cow disease

About this title

Review:

Mad Cow U.S.A. is not the book to read before you go out for a steak. In fact, it's not really a book to read before eating anything; this chronicle of government cave-in to pressure from the food industry just might scare away your appetite. Authors Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber argue that both the American and British governments colluded with beef producers to suppress important facts about interspecies transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or "mad cow disease"--facts that might have prevented gruesome deaths. Could a British-style BSE epidemic happen in America? In a 1996 TV talk show, Oprah Winfrey attempted to ask the same question, only to find herself slapped with a lawsuit by a group of Texas cattlemen. Their grounds: the so-called agricultural product disparagement laws currently on the books in 13 states; these laws prohibit people from questioning the safety of any agricultural product, shifting the legal burden of proof from the food industry to its watchdogs. What happens when anyone who speaks out about problems with our food supply can be sued into silence? Rampton and Stauber fear grave consequences for public health, and they make a convincing case against these laws--and, inadvertently, for vegetarianism.

From the Publisher:

John Stauber is the founder and executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Common Courage Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1567511112
• ISBN 13: 9781567511116
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 246