Mad-Cow Scare May Prompt Taste for Buffalo Meat

[papau]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=KNTDBKVFACJJ2CRBAELCFFA?type=ourWorldNews&storyID=4088901

Mad-Cow Scare May Prompt Taste for Buffalo Meat
Wed January 07, 2004 02:42 PM ET


By Judith Crosson
DENVER (Reuters) - The first case of mad cow disease in the United States may encourage carnivores to consider eating meat from buffalo, the largest land mammals in North America and beloved symbols of the West.

Buffalo -- also referred to as bison -- historically played a large economic role in the lives of American Indians on the Great Plains who used every part of the animal for food, shelter and fuel.

Buffalo are fed grass then corn or potatoes for 90 to 120 days before they are slaughtered when they weigh around 2,000 pounds (907 kg). They are not fed antibiotics, growth hormones or animal byproducts. The use of cattle remains in certain animal feed was blamed for spreading mad cow in Britain.

The buffalo industry is still dwarfed by the U.S. beef industry. Carter said he expects 2003 figures to show about 31,000 head of bison were slaughtered, up from U.S. Department of Agriculture official figures of 25,641 in 2002.
<snip>

While the percentage increase is hearty, bison is only a blip on the radar screen when compared with the U.S. beef industry that processes 130,000 head in a single day. <snip>

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. My opinion...

:puke:

[Gin]

2. not with me...yuk!

:)

[NYC]

11. I love buffalo steak.

Really. I am, however, concerned that if buffalo becomes big business, we will be right back where we started.

[Philostopher]

3. I wouldn't want to grow accustomed to bison meat.

If it became a big market, pretty soon they'd be stuffing the poor bastards full of chemicals and feeding them each other's brains just like they do beef cattle now. Wonder if Cheney and Poppy own stock in a bison farm or something?

[DrWeird]

4. How about Ostrich?

Supposed to taste just like beef but better for you.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. ostrich is delicious!

the last time I had it unfortunately was in Varenna, Italy...done with a nice saffron risotto on the side and an bitter herb salad!!! MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm

TheProdigal

[TrogL]

5. Buffalo is selling well in Alberta

It's not all that bad tasting. It's richer than beef and a bit gamierbut some people prefer it once they get used to it.

Makes excellent steaks.

[hlthe2b]

6. I like bison now and then, but it is too damned expensive!

Ted Turner has a chain of restaurants to highlight bison, called "Teds." Bison pot roast is pretty damned good there, I must say. And, right now, bison is a lot healthier than beef, before you ever even factor in mad cow...

[arewethereyet]

7. great ! more steak for me !

it kills me that you people are so anxious to put small ranchers out of business after you make suc a fuss over how the big boys are so bad.

we have a few cows from Canada (you know that others from that herd will turn up infected) and it makes peole 3500 miles away act stupid.

you need the iron, eat the meat. don't eat the brain !

[hlthe2b]

8. Not to worry....

Most Americans are rather addicted to their beef and especially hamburgers. Any ban will probably last, only as long as their next hangover... (something about a greasy hamburger after a heavy insult to the liver....)

[madrchsod]

9. i`ve had elk burgers

and it`s a hell of alot better than beef burgers. and there`s nothing better than deer roast or ribs.i`d rather eat wild game than feedlot beef.

[Pegleg Thd]

10. Given time

chaney will have his halliburton cronies rounding up wild horses and burros for slaughter to replace beef..

[pippin]

19. No! No! He'll have us eat duck

and pheasant. The ones he shot and bagged are ready for the supermarkets next week. (joke) :-)

[NoMoreRedInk]

12. Bison is leaner than chicken breast w/o the skin....

and tastier than beef.

I love it, and think its a win-win.

But I don't get the Mad Cow scare. Eating Cattle Brains is still a whole lot safer than smoking or having sex -- and people will never quit that.

[sendero]

13. Wifey...

... fixed buffalo burgers for dinner. When dinner was about 1/2 done, one of my boys says "these taste funny".

We then had a fun guessing game for them to figure out what they were.

They taste like lean beef to me :)

[Military Brat]

14. Noooooooo. Please.

I live near a ranch where buffalo are raised, and yes, sadly, they're raised for meat. You would not believe how incredibly magnificent these creatures are.

Sometimes I'll drive half an hour out of my way just to look at them. It gives me a bit of perspective on what is worth saving on this planet.

[hlthe2b]

15. I used to drive by a major bison ranch every morning and evening...

They are majestic, but wouldn't be there unless there was an economically viable use for them. That's the fact, after all. So, eat more bison?

[TexasMexican]

16. I'd like to try some Buffalo

I've never had any, but I've heard good things about it.

I think it would be a good idea to go back to the food that used to feed many of the indigenous people of this land.

I honestly dont know much about the history of Cattle in America, were the cows brought over from Europe (like the horses, there were none here natively) or were there some cows here in addition to buffalo?

I think it would be good to have more Buffalo roaming the plains, well atleast ranches anyways since there probably isnt too much unowned open plains left.

[w4rma]

17. Fine with me. Cow, bison, ostrich, we're going to eat SOME animal.

To you guys who are worried about this becoming "too" big, does it really matter which animal we eat? They are all animals.

[ClintonTyree]

18. I 've had "Beefalo"............

amd I have to admit it sucked. Very dense flesh with a certain gamey taste. It's impossible to cook it any way but rare. Yuk!

[Kellanved]

21. ???

Buffalo is almost certainly as dangerous as beef. Fish and maybe fowl I could understand, but Buffalo makes no sense.

Of course European chose Pork what made no sense either, but still...