If the fear of Mad Cow Disease became more than a tiny blip on America’s radar screen the consequences could be economically catastrophic to the beef industry. Combine this reality with the fact that the disease is remarkably similar to Alzheimer’s and that it can take 10-30 years to show itself after entering the human body and we have a deadly recipe we won’t find in any cookbook; ingredients that translate to the official position, “Disease, what disease?”
The “Mad” in Mad Cow Disease should stand for “Mutually Assured Destruction.” We slaughter the animals—we consume them—the disease slaughter’s us. A fitting form of justice that only Nature could devise, punishing us for destroying her creation (cows) while simultaneously letting us know animals were not to be included in our diets.
Because we have chose to ignore the other elements of eating animals that contribute to the spectrum of generative diseases—fat, cholesterol, animal protein, heme iron, et al—Nature has upped the ante with Mad Cow Disease in an attempt to get our attention. Will it? Let’s hope so while we still have the attention to give.