10.1.04
Please pass the PCBs and BSE
Are we really that surprised that farming animals may have side effects due to feed, location, or overcrowding?
All animals have natural parasites and diseases - many of them that go through life cycles in different hosts. And farming makes this process more efficient as large populations of animals are kept in close contact with one another, thus allowing easy transferance of the diseases and parasites. This process becomes even simpler if the animals are fed meal that incorporates the agents of transferance - or humans eat the agents in uncooked food, or the agents protect themselves (in the case of BSE) from the cooking process.
Farming in areas where there are contentrations of pollutants in the food chain cause issues as the grazers eat these pollutants and in some cases contentrate them within the very food that is sold at your local grocer. These principles have been known for a long time - yet when discoveries are made that enforce the principles, we still continue to let new areas of food production be developed without allowing for proper studies of cause and effect. Below are short informal discussions on BSE and PCB case studies.
Scrapies, a form of Transmissable Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) within sheep, has been recorded over the past 200 years - it has not yet been proven as having affects on humans, although it is generally agreed that it does not. However, industrialization of farms once again caused issues as the speed to gain efficiency on a vast scale outpaced the speed of science. What better food to use for feeding animals than the meal that is not served in your local restaurants - feeding sheep meal to cattle caused vast problems in England as more than 1,000,000 cattle became infected with TSE.
Politicians held their ground throughout the mid-80s and said that it wasn't dangerous - later studies showed that one cubic centimeter of the prion agent could kill 10,000,000 cattle such was its efficiency at being transmitted in minute amounts of meal. In England very few people died from eating infected (approx. 100 deaths have shown links to BSE worldwide), although those who have eaten infected meat may not show symptoms for up to 20 years - and up to 1.5 million cattle that may have been infected were eaten before new testing and herd culls took affect. So it may be years before we find out the true impact (if it was more significant than originally thought).
Most countries have now taken steps to reduce the risk of serving BSE infected food.
Salmon and other fish farming has taken a huge leap in the last decade - the majority of salmon, shrimp and other farmed seafood has taken over in the restaurant business, due to its lower cost. However, as in any industrial farming environment, fish are exposed to higher levels of parasites thus meaning injections of antibiotics to fight infection and higher levels of pollutants due to the coastal environments where they are raised. Fish farms coincide with outbreaks of lice, causing problems in the natural populations that regularly migrate past the teeming farms. In a recent study, scientists have found that farmed salmon have higher levels of PCBs and pollutants in their meat.
There have been many studies on the pollutants released by different industries into the fresh and seawater systems, such as this study on the Gulf of Maine. Bioconcentration factors (the quotient of the concentration of a chemical in aquatic organisms at a specific time or during a discrete time period of exposure, divided by the concentration in the surrounding water at the same time or during the same period) are a key in the study of fish uptake of these pollutants. Fish are well known for concentrating pollutants in their meat, such as in the case of DDT causing low reproduction in bald eagles (and due to concentration in insects and seeds also endangering species such as the peregrine falcon). Thus, farm production of fish in any areas that have levels of these pollutants are at a statistically higher risk than wild salmon that only travel through polluted areas during a small portion of their life cycle. Not surprisingly, fish farms are often fed "fish chow" - basically fish meal - which may increase the concentrations of toxins by reintroducing the toxins back into the food cycle.
Cartoonist: Takaa Kusahara
EduGreen
All animals have natural parasites and diseases - many of them that go through life cycles in different hosts. And farming makes this process more efficient as large populations of animals are kept in close contact with one another, thus allowing easy transferance of the diseases and parasites. This process becomes even simpler if the animals are fed meal that incorporates the agents of transferance - or humans eat the agents in uncooked food, or the agents protect themselves (in the case of BSE) from the cooking process.
Farming in areas where there are contentrations of pollutants in the food chain cause issues as the grazers eat these pollutants and in some cases contentrate them within the very food that is sold at your local grocer. These principles have been known for a long time - yet when discoveries are made that enforce the principles, we still continue to let new areas of food production be developed without allowing for proper studies of cause and effect. Below are short informal discussions on BSE and PCB case studies.
Scrapies, a form of Transmissable Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) within sheep, has been recorded over the past 200 years - it has not yet been proven as having affects on humans, although it is generally agreed that it does not. However, industrialization of farms once again caused issues as the speed to gain efficiency on a vast scale outpaced the speed of science. What better food to use for feeding animals than the meal that is not served in your local restaurants - feeding sheep meal to cattle caused vast problems in England as more than 1,000,000 cattle became infected with TSE.
Politicians held their ground throughout the mid-80s and said that it wasn't dangerous - later studies showed that one cubic centimeter of the prion agent could kill 10,000,000 cattle such was its efficiency at being transmitted in minute amounts of meal. In England very few people died from eating infected (approx. 100 deaths have shown links to BSE worldwide), although those who have eaten infected meat may not show symptoms for up to 20 years - and up to 1.5 million cattle that may have been infected were eaten before new testing and herd culls took affect. So it may be years before we find out the true impact (if it was more significant than originally thought).
Most countries have now taken steps to reduce the risk of serving BSE infected food.
Salmon and other fish farming has taken a huge leap in the last decade - the majority of salmon, shrimp and other farmed seafood has taken over in the restaurant business, due to its lower cost. However, as in any industrial farming environment, fish are exposed to higher levels of parasites thus meaning injections of antibiotics to fight infection and higher levels of pollutants due to the coastal environments where they are raised. Fish farms coincide with outbreaks of lice, causing problems in the natural populations that regularly migrate past the teeming farms. In a recent study, scientists have found that farmed salmon have higher levels of PCBs and pollutants in their meat.
There have been many studies on the pollutants released by different industries into the fresh and seawater systems, such as this study on the Gulf of Maine. Bioconcentration factors (the quotient of the concentration of a chemical in aquatic organisms at a specific time or during a discrete time period of exposure, divided by the concentration in the surrounding water at the same time or during the same period) are a key in the study of fish uptake of these pollutants. Fish are well known for concentrating pollutants in their meat, such as in the case of DDT causing low reproduction in bald eagles (and due to concentration in insects and seeds also endangering species such as the peregrine falcon). Thus, farm production of fish in any areas that have levels of these pollutants are at a statistically higher risk than wild salmon that only travel through polluted areas during a small portion of their life cycle. Not surprisingly, fish farms are often fed "fish chow" - basically fish meal - which may increase the concentrations of toxins by reintroducing the toxins back into the food cycle.
Cartoonist: Takaa Kusahara
EduGreen
6.1.04
Weatherism - Another Canadian Religion
Despite a waning in the religious fervor of Canadians over the last several decades, except for a burgeoning group of the population marking down "Jedi" on their census, Canadians celebrate two other denominations with great zeal: Weatherism and Sportsism.
Weatherism
Lets tackle the first - almost any conversation in Canada can be started with - "Nice weather we're having, eh?" - for those Canadians reading, yes, we're stuck with this priceless interjection...and anyway, I like using it, eh?
But back to the weather - the main reason for posting this was the current situation in Vancouver, British Columbia - 2 inches of snow fell and the Lower Mainland, approx. 2 million people, literally and figuratively freezes. In a province known for its great skiing and high snowfall, metropolitan citizens of the river delta, experiencing an average of only 51 days of below freezing temperatures per year (the lowest number of metropolitan frostbitten days in Canada), Vancouverites drive year round with summer tires.
There are panics at the first signs or weather reports (usually false of course) of the flaky white stuff. Grocery stores sell out of fake firewood, water and food; gas prices automatically rise as people fill their jerry cans; And then everyone stays home. Stores are shut; businesses close down; VPN traffic kills servers as people 'work' from home (possibly a personal rant). After several days, people decide that the bad drivers have had their accidents (and are lying in a ditch somewhere) and they gingerly drive out to the tire stores to stock up on a brand new set Extra Sticky No Slip Studded Tires - that they sell immediately as the sun returns, as they have forgotten about storage space (you can only deal with tires in the living room of your condo for so long).
Enough on a localized phenomenon...
We have people in Canada who watch the weather network for amusement. or cut their hay based on the almanac. or bring their umbrellas to work to stop it from raining. or wear exta heavy clothing so it stays warm. It is different from a country that has one variety of weather - need I mention Britain.
People are decidely reverant to the weather gods. The golfer on the course praying for one more round of the course. The farmer praying for one more round of the field. The contstruction worker praying for less mud and a couple of days to darken their tans. The fisherman praying for a single cloud to cast shadows for his fish. And all Canadians praying for the first day that the sun can warm their loins without the need for long johns or toques or turtle necked sweaters.
Of course, this being said, everyone is decidely disappointed whatever weather they get - another good conversation starter..."too hot/cold/rainy/sunny for you?" - and of course, mentioning the humidity if your toes are freezing or your nose is dripping persperation, is always a good excuse for running indoors and hiding by the fireplace or the air conditioner for the next five hours is totally acceptable.
More on weatherism and sportsism in my later posts.
Weatherism
Lets tackle the first - almost any conversation in Canada can be started with - "Nice weather we're having, eh?" - for those Canadians reading, yes, we're stuck with this priceless interjection...and anyway, I like using it, eh?
But back to the weather - the main reason for posting this was the current situation in Vancouver, British Columbia - 2 inches of snow fell and the Lower Mainland, approx. 2 million people, literally and figuratively freezes. In a province known for its great skiing and high snowfall, metropolitan citizens of the river delta, experiencing an average of only 51 days of below freezing temperatures per year (the lowest number of metropolitan frostbitten days in Canada), Vancouverites drive year round with summer tires.
There are panics at the first signs or weather reports (usually false of course) of the flaky white stuff. Grocery stores sell out of fake firewood, water and food; gas prices automatically rise as people fill their jerry cans; And then everyone stays home. Stores are shut; businesses close down; VPN traffic kills servers as people 'work' from home (possibly a personal rant). After several days, people decide that the bad drivers have had their accidents (and are lying in a ditch somewhere) and they gingerly drive out to the tire stores to stock up on a brand new set Extra Sticky No Slip Studded Tires - that they sell immediately as the sun returns, as they have forgotten about storage space (you can only deal with tires in the living room of your condo for so long).
Enough on a localized phenomenon...
We have people in Canada who watch the weather network for amusement. or cut their hay based on the almanac. or bring their umbrellas to work to stop it from raining. or wear exta heavy clothing so it stays warm. It is different from a country that has one variety of weather - need I mention Britain.
People are decidely reverant to the weather gods. The golfer on the course praying for one more round of the course. The farmer praying for one more round of the field. The contstruction worker praying for less mud and a couple of days to darken their tans. The fisherman praying for a single cloud to cast shadows for his fish. And all Canadians praying for the first day that the sun can warm their loins without the need for long johns or toques or turtle necked sweaters.
Of course, this being said, everyone is decidely disappointed whatever weather they get - another good conversation starter..."too hot/cold/rainy/sunny for you?" - and of course, mentioning the humidity if your toes are freezing or your nose is dripping persperation, is always a good excuse for running indoors and hiding by the fireplace or the air conditioner for the next five hours is totally acceptable.
More on weatherism and sportsism in my later posts.
The Elk Speaks
Why is a Canadian wapiti commenting on world affairs?
Good question...every once in a while an elk comes along that has an opinion on the state of the world and needs to spout off. Thus, enter the world of blogs. Introduced by a friend of mine (whose blog is currently much more humorous and informative then my ramblings), blogs suit my need for publishing odd comments about Canadian perspectives - or at least my perspectives - on current affairs.
Why usurped? Because elk and other Canadian mammals have been dispossessed of many of their powers in current affairs, such as development in the north, early extinction, or perhaps in the case of our southern partners...
Cartoonist: Theo Moudakis
The Toronto Star
Good question...every once in a while an elk comes along that has an opinion on the state of the world and needs to spout off. Thus, enter the world of blogs. Introduced by a friend of mine (whose blog is currently much more humorous and informative then my ramblings), blogs suit my need for publishing odd comments about Canadian perspectives - or at least my perspectives - on current affairs.
Why usurped? Because elk and other Canadian mammals have been dispossessed of many of their powers in current affairs, such as development in the north, early extinction, or perhaps in the case of our southern partners...
Cartoonist: Theo Moudakis
The Toronto Star
