Carbondale Bytelife

Found this brief article in the NYT interesting. A small meatpacker, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wanted to test all of its cows for mad cow disease. The Agriculture Department, at the behest of larger meat packers, sued in federal court to stop the company from doing it. Apparently, the test is quite expensive and, while economically feasible for a small company without many cows, woudl be quite expensive for a larger meat packer, cutting into profits. Rather than competing with Creekstone, who could advertise its beef as "tested Mad Cow Disease free", and maybe take some sales away from them, the large packers opted for the easier route and just got the tests shut down.

Labels: business, ethics, food