Ignorance or Stupidity

[dfarms11]

yesterday my wife got a phone call from a telemarketer. Somehow they got to talking about our industry and eating beef. This guy asked her "is it safe to eat beef yet?" Well now needless to say she ended up talking to him longer on that issue than what he called for. Appearantly he hadn't eaten beef at all since this all started. Anyone want to guess where this guy was living? Now this guy grew up in the maritimes BUT he now lives in Calgary! We couldn't believe it!

[raymondb]

I think there are more people like your telemarketer than we realize and that the only way to convince the consumer is to test every animal. With all the culls still being fed , our consumption of beef has to be down and consumption will continue to go down until we assure our customers. We can assure them slowly by education or quickly by testing all our animals now and continue testing until science really catches up with real scientific proven knowledge. Proof will only come with testing.

[WoolyBear]

Something that I have noticed watching the TV news on the Dish...... The Canadian media has always called it MAD COW DISEASE. The American media for the most part is calling it BSE. Until the media starts showing us a little more respect in that regards, there will be more of the "is it safe yet" people showing up.

[cowman]

This might be sort of off the topic but here goes. I was at a party the other night and this women was telling me she has cut beef out of her diet completely. She then went on to inform me that she was laying off chicken too because of bird flu. She claims she saw on the news that all kinds of chicken is being imported into Canada, mostly into Toronto, from the far east!
Well I said I doubt it, because we have supply management here, and I don't think they can import chicken! Well she got a little huffy about it and said well that is what she heard! And who knows maybe she is right?

[kato]

To catch bird flu, you have to handle sick live birds. Let her know that in much of China, a lot of chickens are killed just before dinner, out in the back yard. With no refrigeration, that's the only way to do it. That's why so many of these animal sourced influenzas come out of that part of the world. There is much more contact with the live animals.

But then again, if she heard it, it must be right? Right?

[cakadu]

The sad fact of the matter is that far too many people have absolutely no idea what happens to their food before it hits the packages on the supermarket shelves.

I don't think it is either ignorance or stupidity - it is just a matter of believing that the food is safe and it's what I want at the price I'm willing to pay, so why bother to know more?

The majority of people are at least one generation if not two or more removed from having been on the farm. Where our food comes from, how it is grown and processed is of little significance. There are a small group of people out there - consumer advocates - who do care about these things, but for the most part most people are happy to go to the store and go home with their purchases.

Maybe now more people will start to ask questions and try to find out more about their food - FROM CREDIBLE SOURCES - not self-interest groups with their own agendas to promote.

[cowman]

Linda: That would be nice but probably unlikely. People are just overwhelmed with way too much information these days! A more likely response is "I'll just avoid the beef and eat more chicken!"
A modern urban couple/family has way to much to do than worry about their food. Both pursuing careers, involved in various recreation, hobbies, clubs etc. So if they get a moment and turn on the TV for the news what do they see? An old holstein cow flopping around; a pretty young girl staggering down a hospital corridor? The next time they drop into Superstore, it's chicken!