Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here? | 
 enlarge | Authors: Sheldon Rampton, John Stauber
Publisher: Common Courage Press
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy Used: $0.53
You Save: $39.42 (99%)
New (7) Used (25) Collectible (1) from $0.53
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 1280419
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 246
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.6 x 1.1
ISBN: 1567511112
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.83
EAN: 9781567511116
ASIN: 1567511112
Publication Date: July 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, some spine creases, wear on binding and pages, we guarantee all purchases and ship all items via USPS mail.
Tell A Friend
Add to Wishlist
Add to Wedding Registry
Add to Baby Registry
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com 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.
Product Description
After a decade of denial, the British government stunned the world in 1996 by admitting that the deadly dementia affecting its beef and dairy herds was `the most likely cause,` of a new, equally deadly human disease. In the United States meanwhile, official spokepersons continue to mislead the public with reassurances that the disease isn`t happening and can`t happen here. Mad Cow USA tells you the truth, based on extensive research and government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 I'm glad I read this along with Lymon's "Mad Cowboy" August 18, 2005
DogsDeserveCompassion (USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Eeeek! After reading this I am never, ever eating non-organic meat again. And if I win the lottery I think I'll raise my own critters for eggs & milk (or better yet pay someone else to do it!). This book is frightening but helps explain why many of us feel so damned cruddy most of the time. There are so many toxins and chemicals and other assorted grossities in our food supply it's a wonder many of us are still breathing.
Parts of the book are a bit meandering and repetitive but I am very glad I took the time to get through it.
a real good inquiry into discovery and remedies for BSE March 9, 2005
Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an excellent activist book on the discovery of a new type of disease, BSE, also called Mad Cow Disease. The story involves a very interesting history of the science as well as the reactions of the beef and fast food industries.
In a nutshell, the disease appears to be caused by an improperly folded protein (a "prion"), which when it enters the bloodstream can multiply and eventually turn the host's brain into mush, with horrible consequences of course. What the authors highlight is that the mode of transmission appears to be ingestion of these bent proteins, principally from infected cows, years if not decades before symptoms appear. They also stress that the manner in which cows are raised in industrial agriculture makes transmission far more likely: they are directly fed ruminants (leftover cow remains that cannot be eaten by humans), thereby transferring the prions on a massive scale. Humans can then eat them and perhaps become infected by BSE.
After this fascinating and beautifully writtern history, the authors then explore what should be done. While some ruminant feeding has ceased, they argue, the actions of beef producers are both too little (because they are voluntary) and inadequate (because they allow certain forms of ruminant, such as blood, to be fed to cows today). This part of the book is pure advocacy and, I believe, effective in arguing that all ruminant feeding must cease. While I cannot weigh in on the science, it really got me to think in a more informed way.
Recommended. This could become a far greater debate if, it turns out, a lot more infected beef-eating Americans are found. The authors stimulate debate.
 The book that predicted it - Mad Cow USA January 14, 2004
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Six years before the appearance of mad cow disease in the US, this book predicted it. Mad Cow USA warned that the meat industry and the government were failing to take the necessary steps to prevent the disease here, and using falsehoods and PR to cover-up their failings. Unfortunately, this book nailed it.
 Too Much Trivia December 26, 2003
Edward Saint-Ivan author of The Black Knights God (Tampa, Fl. USA)
0 out of 18 found this review helpful
Parden the pun but where's the beef?
If Dr. Gajdusek was accused of child abuse, how does that relate to Mad Cow?
If Kuru affected some brain eaters before Mad Cow entered the world's vocabluary does that require a whole chapter?
If sheep drop dead from a relative of BSE who cares?
The authors buried the dangers of beef so deep in unrelated and unimportant information, an earth mover couldn't get to the point.
Most meat eaters will write this book off as pure science totally unrelated to everyday life.
Ironicly, those same meat eaters have the most to loose from a carnivore diet. While BSE is rare, there are a million other reasons to avoid meat not the least of which is the filthy slaughter houses.
Don;t get scalped!!!! December 25, 2003
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
Wow! Judging from the prices of these used copies, the scalpers are out in force now that we have MCD in USA. You can get this book FREE as a download at www.prwatch.org/books/mcusa.pdf .It is a great book, with a great history of the disease, its epidemiology, and uncovers the truth about the beef industry and their ties to the Dept of Agriculture. Get it!
|
|
|
