USDA is Slacking-Find Out What's in Your Meat

USDA's Office of Inspector General issued a report on the department's "National Residue Program for Cattle." It found gaping holes in the safety of American beef production, including residue of drugs, poisons and heavy metals in the meat we eat.

Information from: Audit Report 24601-08-KC

"Based on our review, we found that the national residue program is not accomplishing its mission of monitoring the food supply for harmful residues." The audit revealed that USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), along with the FDA and EPA, "have not established thresholds for many dangerous substances (e.g., copper or dioxin), which has resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce." Even worse, the federal government does not attempt to recall meat, "even when its tests have confirmed the excessive presence of veterinary drugs," the audit said.

Currently regulations allow the feeding of beef products to cattle (a potential way to transmit "mad cow disease") in three ways: calve formula containing bovine blood, restaurant scraps in cattle feed, and the feeding of chicken manure to beef cattle - the manure contains spilled pieces of chicken feed, which can include beef byproducts.

And now we learn that some US beef is contaminated with heavy metals like copper and arsenic, antibiotics like Flunixin, penicillin, and Ivermectin, and a host of pesticides - all of which are used in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), better known as factory farms.

Meatless Monday Recipe

Mushroom Ragout with Baked Goat Cheese Polenta

For goat cheese polenta:
3 cups water or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup yellow corn meal or polenta

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped1 cup ricotta

2 eggs

1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350.
Lightly oil a 9-inch springform pan. Alternately, you can use an 8- or 9- inch pie pan or casserole and serve polenta from there without unmolding.

Bring water or broth and olive oil to boil in a large stock pot. Add corn meal all at once and gang way, because it may well splatter. Reduce heat to medium. Stir thoroughly and briskly until mixture is smooth and very thick, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in red pepper flakes and sea salt. Remove from heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, goat cheese and fresh parsley. Stir into polenta.
Pour polenta into prepared springform, pie pan or casserole. Bake for 55 minutes to one hour, or until puffed and set.

For mushroom ragout:
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped fine

1 pound white mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3/4 cup red wine

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add chopped onion, garlic and rosemary. Saute until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue cooking another 10 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add tomato paste and stir in wine. Stir well to combine.
Slice polenta in wedges or squares and serve with mushroom ragout.
Serves 6 to 8.