The New York Times is carrying a high-profile article about a woman who was paralyzed from an e. coli infection.  Stephanie Smith is a 22 year old woman who follows a "mostly vegetarian diet," but ate a fateful hamburger at Sunday dinner with her family.  Within a week, "The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks." She awoke from her induced coma to find that the infection had left her paralyzed.


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I recently ran across an article online that mentioned "mad cow disease" tangentially, and it got me wondering.  Weren't we in the United States supposed to have a massive outbreak of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) by now?

The prion disease which is called Bovine Spongiform Epilepsy (BSE) in cattle and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in people was a media darling in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it has largely faded from view.  (Not least because a more lethal form of e. coli has developed in cattle, which presents a far more pressing medical issue. If you're a journalist looking to scare people, e. coli is where it's at these days.)


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Since September is Prime Rib Month, why not expand your cooking skills and learn more about this roast?

A full prime rib (also known as a standing rib roast) consists of seven cow ribs, from shoulder to loin, which is about 15 pounds of beef. It’s considered enough to feed a group of 14 or more people—a serving of about two people per rib. If it has less than three ribs, it’s not considered a roast, but a steak instead.

Popular during the holidays, prime rib is considered a pricey, impressive meal. It’s also good for birthdays—particularly for male family members—retirement parties, and anniversaries. It’s also often a choice during hall reservations made for large gatherings (remember The Wedding Singer? “Always the prime rib… make them eat the fish!”).

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salamiOther than being Labor Day, did you know that Monday is Salami Day? (What food doesn’t have its own day?) Though salami is a preserved meat—like bacon, which is getting a really bad rap these days—which means it’s high in salt, fats and nitrates that can cause cancer, indulging for this one day won’t put you on your death bed.

Sure, you can just order your own “Hide the Salami” or other theme t-shirt, get a felt salami sandwich to play with or even make your own weird plush salami, but eating some salami would probably be the most enjoyable way to celebrate.

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Start with 100% beef jerky, and have your contact seared into it with a laser.

Think about it. Want to be memorable? Want to make sure you're never without a quick bite? Want to make a statement about recycling, being green and avoiding the munchies?

Like it says on the Web site:

Unlike other business cards, MEAT CARDS will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards.

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In commemoration of yet another redundant meat holiday dedicated to another favorite American food, let’s salute the hotdog (and vegan dog!) together. Since July is National Hotdog Month, why not eat one just the way you like it—sauerkraut? mustard? beans and franks? cut up with little legs like an octopus, the way my husband makes it?—while you read over these facts about everyone’s favorite ballpark food. (Well… most people’s favorite. I like the cheese pretzels, myself.)

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates that over 7 billion hotdogs will be consumed by Americans between Memorial Day and Labor Day this year—with 155 million eaten alone during July 4th weekend.

Do you think these record numbers are because everybody’s really digging hotdogs this year, or because so many people are broke?

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Today’s meat can run on the expensive side, and if you live in a house full of carnivores (as many of us do), feeding them on a budget can run your bank account pretty dry. Here are some meat-buying tips that can help you save money while keeping your family satiated and sane.

Buy whole meats. Instead of paying extra for chopped or diced meat, you can easily break it apart yourself and save a few dollars. The same goes for pre-made hamburger patties; you can always pat out your own.

Stock up during sales. You can freeze what you won’t eat right away. That said, sometimes meat that’s about to expire goes on sale, too, so just keep your eyes open for that while you shop.

Look out for markdown days. Many stores have a markdown on the same day each week.

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We have this guy in our county who sets up a jerky stand every year and has all these signs proclaiming what kind of jerky he’s got, all the way up and down the road. It reminds me of the scene in Rat Race where Kathy Bates has those “You. Should. Have. Bought. A. Squirrel!” signs leading unsuspecting drivers to their doom.

Apparently, Neanderthals weren’t so different from our jerky makers-and-eaters today. A new study reports that they dried out the hides of mammoths in order to transport them, creating their own B.C. jerky.

Can you imagine making jerky out of a mammoth? I can’t even imagine it out of an elephant.

Scientists say that this jerky-making is what allowed Neanderthals to survive the cold—as well as to travel long distances without starving.

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Cows and Methane Gas- A New Dietary ApproachA few years ago, researchers at my alma mater the "esteemed cow college" Washington State University looked into whether or not gaseous emissions from cows had an effect on global warming. Surprisingly, the results came in that the methane gases the cows were belching, were also trapping heat and not helping the cause to fight green-house gases. In fact, methane gases are known to have up to 20 times the heat-trapping capability of carbon dioxide.

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