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McDonalds wants beef from South America

Faster horses

Well-known member
I hope this isn't true, as I got it in an email. But the credentials at the bottom make me fear that it is true.







Subject: Fw: McDonald's Beef

I'm sure those of you who aren't in the cattle business don't
understand the issues here. But to those of us who who's living
depends on the cattle market, selling cattle, raising the best beef
possible... this is frustrating. As far as my family, we don't eat at
McDonald's much (Subway is our choice of fast food), but this will
keep us from ever stopping there again, even for a drink.
The original message is from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
American cattle producers are very passionate about this. McDonald's
claims that there is not enough beef in the USA to support their
restaurants. Well, we know that is not so. Our opinion is they are
looking to save money at our expense. The sad thing of it is that the
people of the USA are the ones who made McDonald's successful in the first place, but we are not good enough to provide beef.
We personally are no longer eating at McDonald's, which I am sure
does not make an impact, but if we pass this around maybe there will
be an impact felt.
Please pass it on. Just to add a note, all Americans that sell cows
at a livestock auction barn had to sign a paper stating that we do
NOT EVER feed our cows any part of another cow.
South Americans are not required to do this as of yet.
McDonald's has announced that they are going to start importing much
of their beef from South America . The problem is that South
Americans aren't under the same regulations as American beef
producers, and the regulations they have are loosely controlled.
They can spray numerous pesticides on their pastures that have been
banned here at home because of residues found in the beef. They can
also use various hormones and growth regulators that we can't.
The American public needs to be aware of this problem and that they
may be putting themselves at risk from now on by eating at good old
McDonald's.
American ranchers raise the highest quality beef in the world and
this is what Americans deserve to eat, not beef from countries where
quality is loosely controlled. Therefore, I am proposing a boycott of
McDonald's until they see the light.
I'm sorry but everything is not always about the bottom line, and
when it comes to jeopardizing my family's health, that is where I
draw the line.
I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it
to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) .. and those 300 send it to at
least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, by the time the
message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached
over THREE MILLION consumers!
I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you?
Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you,
please pass this message on.
David W. Forrest, Ph.D., PAS, Dipl. ACAP
Department of Animal Science
Texas A&M University
2471 TA! MU
College Station, TX 77843-2471
Email [email protected]
Phone (979) 845-3560
Fax (979) 862-3399
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
FH:

I believe this is a hoax email. I heard it on Loos Tales last week (I think)...here's what Trent Loos' website ( http://loostales.blogspot.com/2007_10_07_archive.html ) says...

That aside, McD's (or any other company) will have challenges importing live cattle or fresh/frozen beef from most South American countries because of endemic FMD in many of their countries.

Cheers---

TTB :wink:

False McDonald’s rumor re-circulating

October 5, 2007

A false rumor about McDonald’s continues to circulate around via e-mail claiming that McDonald’s is refusing to buy U.S. beef, is importing beef from South America that may be unsafe, and asking recipients of the e-mail to boycott McDonald’s. NCBA recently has received a number of inquiries about this e-mail.

This rumor has been circulating in various forms for at least five years and makes the claim that the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA) originated the e-mail. This is not true and TCFA has issued the following statement in regard to the rumor:

“Texas Cattle Feeders Association is not connected in any way with the email you received. The email, which has been in wide circulation in various forms for several years now, makes a false claim when it identifies Texas Cattle Feeders Association as the original source of the message. No such message has ever been put out by our organization. Unfortunately, we do not know the identity or motive of the person or persons making this improper use of our name.”

The e-mail also represents Dr. David Forrest at Texas A&M University as the email originator. This also is untrue. Dr. Forrest does not know how his name got associated with the rumor and, in regard to the e-mail, Dr. Forrest has said:

“I had nothing to do with composing this e-mail, the information it contains is false, and I do not support any of the actions called for in the e-mail.”

The phone number listed for Dr. Forrest in the e-mail is, indeed, the number for the TAMU animal science department but please do not call the number. The animal science department reports it has received a large number of calls as a result of the currently circulating rumor.

More information about the e-rumor can be found at the following links:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/mcdbeef.asp

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/foreignbeef.htm

The genesis of the e-rumor may have been an announcement by McDonald’s in 2002 that, due to competitive issues, it was going to pilot test imported lean trim product from Australia and New Zealand in about 400 of its U.S. stores. The major quick-service chains use imported lean trim because, while there is a surplus of 50% lean trim in the U.S., there is a shortage of 80% - 90% lean trim. Imported lean beef is blended with trimmings from U.S. fed cattle to make beef patties for the quick service restaurant chains.

McDonald’s says it is the largest purchaser of U.S. beef, buying about 1 billion pounds annually. In regard to beef from South America, only Uruguay can export fresh beef to the United States; all other South American beef must be in cooked or canned form due to Foot and Mouth Disease concerns.

The United States is the largest customer for beef from Australia, New Zealand, Central America and Uruguay and almost all of those imports are in the form of lean trim that is used in either quick service hamburgers or case-ready frozen hamburger. All plants that export beef to the United States are approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and must maintain the same (equivalent) Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) standards as U.S. packing plants. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service regularly audits these facilities.
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
Thanks TTB. I notified the person who sent me the email and they in turn, have sent out the snopes link with the correct information. I know, because I just received that one from them.
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
Not a problem FH! I know you'd never knowingly disperse misinformation. Most of us wouldn't.

I wouldn't have known any different, if I hadn't have heard Trent Loos' program last week. He actually had the scientist from A&M on as his guest.

Cheers---

TTB :wink:
 

mrj

Well-known member
Good work, TTB! And Trent Loos! Trent sure does a lot to counter those who would eliminate the cattle business. We appreciate him a great deal.

I received the email from one of my 'city' cousins and asked Diane Henderson at CBB for some facts as I was quite sure it couldn't be true, especially with the claimed TX A & M 'reference'!

Diane came though in usual great time, and with the links TTB included.

We all need to be diligent in finding the facts to put these things where they belong!!!! The CBB is one good place to get those facts, as is our state Beef Council offices. Find CBB at www.beefboard.org.

mrj
 

Mike

Well-known member
McDonald's responds to concerns

The following is a response from McDonald's to a letter written by Donald Patman, President of the Texas Farm Bureau. That letter was in regards to the fast food giant's decision to pilot test imported beef for use in their products. The letter urged that McDonald's make the purchase of U.S. beef a priority and exhaust sources of supply within the U.S. before any import suppliers were considered. McDonald's response reads as follows:

June 7, 2002

Dear Mr. Patman:

Thank you for your letter to Jack Greenburg. On behalf of Jack, I wanted to respond to your concerns and ensure you have the facts. I'd encourage you to share this letter with others who share your concerns.

First, we'd like to reiterate our long-term commitment to the U.S. agriculture industry. McDonald's buys almost 1 billion pounds of beef from U.S. producers each year-thus making us the largest purchaser of U.S. beef. That's not all. McDonald's also purchases 500 million pounds of chicken each year; 156 million dozen eggs; and 60 million gallons of milk. In no way whatsoever will we ever lessen our dependence on the U.S. farmer. In fact, we are aggressively working with farmers and ranchers, on a state and national level, to strengthen our relationship.

With that said, there is a well-documented shortage of lean beef in the U.S. because of the declining number of breeding and dairy cows going to market. These animals are a significant source of lean ground beef. At the same time, consumer demand for ground products is increasing dramatically; ground beef now accounts for nearly 50 percent of total red meat consumption, and lean ground beef is clearly preferred by the retail customer. That's the reason McDonald's is conducting a small test in the Southeast U.S. In the test, McDonald's is only supplementing dwindling supplies of U.S. lean grinding beef with a small supply of beef from Australia and New Zealand .

Even so, the vast majority of every hamburger, even in the Southeast, is made with U.S. beef, as this small McDonald's test involves less than 1 percent of the beef we sell in restaurants. Meanwhile, all national hamburger chains have used or are using a significant percentage of imported beef; as much as 50 percent of their beef is imported.

You should also know we're working with the National Cattlemens' Beef Association (NCBA) to explore other solutions to the lean beef shortage, including looking at muscle profiling and other grades of cows. We are committed to working with the industry to address the challenges that we both face in this competitive and dynamic marketplace. In fact, we're asking the entire Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry to commit to working with the American producer to increase the domestic supply of lean grinding beef.

One additional point you may not be aware of: the amount of beef that enters the U.S. is governed by a strict quota system. Whether McDonald's uses imported beef or not, the same amount of beef will be imported. We committed to the industry-and remain steadfast-that we advocate keeping this quota the same.

It's also important to point out we're aggressively expanding the export market. Beef from our cattle producing states supplies both fed trimmings and finished hamburgers to growing McDonald's markets in Latin America and the Caribbean; last year alone, we exported 19 million pounds of meat to those markets. We're committed to working with the NCBA and other agriculture groups to identify ways in which we can further expand our global use of beef from U.S. cattle. In closing, we'd like to reiterate that McDonald's only uses those products that meet or exceeds the highest standards. Imported beef must meet the same requirements as the products produced domestically including our requirements for feed certification and animal welfare. Our stringent specifications are the reason McDonald's is known worldwide for consistency and quality.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Frank Muschetto
Sr. Vice President McDonald's Supply Chain Management

Mike Thompson
Vice President McDonald's US Supply System
************************************************
I'm throwing the BS flag here.
 

mrj

Well-known member
Mike, if you throw a "bs flag", shouldn't you verify your belief? It should be easy enough for you to find the facts from another source.

mrj
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
With that said, there is a well-documented shortage of lean beef in the U.S. because of the declining number of breeding and dairy cows going to market.

Would you think that is because the USA cow herd is shrinking because of lack of profitability for the producers that own the cows???????? Not to mention that the reduced supply is being supplemented by increased imports.

Note to Mr. Muschetto: You have to pay to secure supply!
 

Mike

Well-known member
RobertMac said:
With that said, there is a well-documented shortage of lean beef in the U.S. because of the declining number of breeding and dairy cows going to market.

Would you think that is because the USA cow herd is shrinking because of lack of profitability for the producers that own the cows???????? Not to mention that the reduced supply is being supplemented by increased imports.

Note to Mr. Muschetto: You have to pay to secure supply!

I fear there is a much bigger picture than MRJ can comprehend. :roll:

Right on, RB!

Is West Virginia gonna get "Croomed" this weekend?
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
You'll have to wait a week on the Mountain Men...we have to take care of your friends, the Vols, this week. We're playing must too inconsistent to predict a "Croomed"...unfortunately, your Tigers may hold that distinction this year...you think Tubby will go the way of Zook and Schula????? :wink: :D
 

mrj

Well-known member
And I fear that Mike would rather look for the Black Helicopters and assume "corporate greed" than at the myriad reasons for declining cattle numbers and people in agriculture in the USA.

To name only a few: high land prices for development and recreational uses preclude ranchers buying it.......and if cattle prices increased enough for us to afford the $300.00 to $800.00 per acre of land in this area requiring at least 25 to 50 acres to keep a cow for one year, I wonder how many people could afford the beef.

Another thing is the 'time factor'. In this area, at least, most farm/ranch families are owner operators of their land. They work long, hard hours, usually 70 or more hours per week, most of the year, with maybe a bit of slack time during winter, but not always. If winter is mild, it is fencing and other building time. If winter is severe, there is more feeding and caring of animals required. Young people want more family time and more recreation time. If they go to college, they get far more lucrative, easier effort job offers (in SD, so must be other areas must have similar situations, as we are about at bottom of economic barrel in USA).

One small point: McDonald's and other corporations have to answer to their shareholders, and they have to produce a product their target market can afford.

We used to shun McD's because our daughter got burned out on them while travelling with Tumbling and Cheerleading teams while in grade and highschool. Recently, we have been eating their fare again. First time was due to it being the ONLY place available when traveling late one night, and finding it fairly good for a 'fast food' burger, have continued to eat their stuff occasionally. They will leave out the ketchup if you ask, as that was one of my reasons for not liking them. I just don't like sugar drenched tomato paste!!!!

Mike, I rather like the fact that my good quality cull cows bring more than hamburger meat prices and get fed a bit and marinated and turned into low cost roasts and even some steaks as well as the higher priced fatty trim to mix with imported lean meat to make the great low cost hamburger. If we don't find ways to sell at retail and in food service some low cost beef to low income people, they are not going to develop a taste for beef when their incomes are higher and can pay for the higher quality US beef, either.

mrj
 
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