Where’s the Beef? In the Landfill

Not surprisingly, there’s been some fallout from the largest beef recall in U.S. history. You know, the one that didn’t really need to happen. Many retailers are frustrated at having to toss perfectly good food.

Recently, Seattle-area landfills have started burying cases of meat that were at school cafeterias. A King County landfill received 230 20-to-30-pound cases of meat and plans to take thousands more cases in the next week.

I’ve begged The Seattle Times to take some photos of future dumpings, because I think a photo of someone throwing away 4,600 pounds (2.3 tons) of meat could really outdo my measly words.

In addition to wasting 143 million pounds of beef that the Undersecretary of Agriculture said was not a health risk, the over-cautious recall could send Westland/Hallmark out of business. While I’m not shedding any tears for the beef processor, given that shocking video of their cattle abuse and their flouting of regulations, a lot of people would lose their jobs if the company went under.

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