Kucinich: No mad cow in a family-farm system
Originally published in the Des Moines Register
Kucinich: No mad cow in a family-farm system
By TONY LEYS
Register Staff Writer
01/06/2004
America's beef industry wouldn't be suffering through the mad cow scare if family farmers still supplied most of the country's food, Dennis Kucinich said Monday.
"When you're buying food from your neighbor, when you're buying food from your local family farmer, there's integrity," the Democratic presidential candidate said.
These days, Americans have no idea where most of their groceries were raised, he said. That allows big agricultural companies to pass off tainted products, with little risk of being held accountable.
Beef prices have plummeted since last month, when a cow in Washington state was found to be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The ailment, known as mad cow disease, eats holes in the brains of cattle and can be passed to humans. No Americans are known to have been infected, but the disease is believed to have killed more than 130 people, mostly in Britain.
The Ohio congressman said he was unsure what types of farms supplied the cattle that sickened people in Europe. But he said he was confident America's food supply would be safer if consumers bought more of their food from locally owned farms.
He also stressed his support for increased testing and labeling of food. Consumers should know if their groceries contain genetically modified ingredients, he said, and they should be told which countries produced the items.
Kucinich made his comments north of Ankeny, at the farm of LaVon and Craig Griffieon. Standing in their cattle barn with a small group of supporters, he thanked the couple for raising wholesome food. "You're the last line of defense," he said.
Kucinich is a vegan, which means he avoids meat and other animal products. That doesn't bother the Griffieons. "I don't think we can concern ourselves with what people eat or don't eat," LaVon Griffieon said as Kucinich left. "It's people's policies I worry about." She added that family farms face graver threats from big agribusinesses than from vegetarians.
Her husband acknowledged that more conservative livestock producers might be wary of a vegetarian candidate for president. But Craig Griffieon, a fifth-generation farmer, noted that he and his family also grow corn and other vegetables on the 800 acres they work. He speculated that the congressman might like cornflakes. "I'm sure he eats something I raise," he said.
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