{"id":2448,"date":"2011-04-28T11:08:58","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T16:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=2448"},"modified":"2011-04-29T13:31:54","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T18:31:54","slug":"wheres-the-beef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wheres-the-beef\/","title":{"rendered":"Where’s the Beef?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While Panama has a huge amount of land in the production of beef cattle, it pales in comparison to Brazil.\u00a0 I read a recent article on the industry leader JBS that has grown from a family business to a $40 billion giant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As reported in a Washington Post article:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In many ways,\u00a0JBS<\/a>, the company that owns the big slaughterhouse here on the edge of town, is still run like a family business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The founder, who began by slaughtering one or two head a day in 1953, raises calves far in the countryside. Six of his children are in JBS\u2019s management. And ranchers such as Edson Crochiquia, who is 69 but rounds up cattle on horseback near here, spare no detail to provide the company with healthy, 1,000-pound animals.\u00a0 Even a decade ago, JBS was still mainly focused on selling in\u00a0Brazil. But by acquiring American giants such as Swift and Pilgrim\u2019s Pride, JBS grew from a $1\u00a0billion private company into a $40\u00a0billion behemoth that slaughters 90,000 head of cattle a day, employs 125,000 workers and exports to 150 countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the full story here<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Here in Panama we also pasture raise beef and after reading this article,\u00a0I would never want to eat another steak in the US or from\u00a0any ” industrialized beef factory”\u00a0ever again.\u00a0 Also, you can hold the “marbling” please or as it is correctly termed, intramuscular fat!!\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Nearly half of US meat and poultry likely contaminated with Staph<\/h3>\n

Almost half the meat and poultry sold in the US is likely to be contaminated by highly dangerous bacteria, according to research published this month (April 2011) in the scientific journal,\u00a0Clinical Infectious Diseases<\/em>.\u00a0The study estimates that 47 percent of the meat and poultry on US supermarket shelves contains the bacteria\u00a0staphylococcus aureus<\/em>\u00a0(“Staph”). It is not, however, among the four bacteria\u2014Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Enterococcus\u2014<\/em>routinely tested in meat by the US government.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0 “Antibiotics are the most important drugs that we have to treat Staph infections; but when Staph are resistant to three, four, five or even nine different antibiotics — like we saw in this study — that leaves physicians few options,” Price said.\u00a0Click here to read more.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Now if that doesn’t make you sick, try this on for size.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New term you need to know: \u201cby-product feedstuffs\u201d<\/h3>\n

Fresh pasture and dried grasses are the natural diet of all ruminant animals. In factory farms, animals are switched to an unnatural diet based on corn and soy. But corn and soy are not the only ingredients in their \u201cbalanced rations.\u201d Many large-scale dairy farmers and feedlot operators save money by feeding the cows \u201cby-product feedstuffs\u201d as well. In general, this means waste products from the manufacture of human food. In particular, it can mean sterilized city garbage, candy, bubble gum, floor sweepings from plants that manufacture animal food, bakery, potato wastes or a scientific blend of pasta and candy. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are some of the \u201cby-product feedstuffs commonly used in dairy cattle diets in the Upper Midwest.\u201d*\u00a0<\/p>\n