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WORLD  The Great American Meatout 2001 BY LAURELEE BLANCHARD USA, Feb 25 (VNN) — MEATOUT 2001 Poised to Limit BSE Damage CONTACT: Laurelee Blanchard, Tel: 808-575-7694 MEATOUT 2001 POISED TO LIMIT DAMAGE FROM MAD COW DISEASE MEATOUT 2001, the world's largest annual grassroots diet education campaign, is poised to limit damage from the "Mad Cow" disease by advising consumers to shun meat and other infected animal products in favor of vegetables, fruits, and grains. Five years ago, on Meatout day (March 20, 1996), British Health Minister Stephen Dorrell officially announced that "Mad Cow" disease, or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), was indeed linked to the deadly human dementia known as CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). The announcement followed repeated government denials of consumer activists' claims that the diseases were indeed linked. Scientists widely expect that, on or about this year's Meatout day (March 20, 2001), US authorities will be forced to admit that BSE and CJD have afflicted US cattle and beef consum-ers, despite repeated assurances to the contrary. All indicators point in this direction: * The government's denials that the diseases exist in the US are grounded in its failure to autopsy the brains of a significant fraction of the 40 million cattle killed annually and of the thousands of consumers who die of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia with CJD-like symptoms. No other reliable test for BSE or CJD exists. * The government's 1997 ban of imports of European beef and beef products came too late, as both diseases were already well established in Europe by then. * The government's ban of animal body parts in cattle feed a couple of months ago was too little: a FDA survey found that hundreds of feed manufacturers violate the ban. From humble beginnings in 1985, the Great American Meatout has grown explosively to involve thou-sands of consumer, environment, and animal protection advocates in over 2,000 communities and all 50 states. They arrange educational events, ranging from simple exhibits and information tables ('steakouts') to cooking demonstrations, public dinners, and colorful 'lifestivals.' They ask their friends and neighbors to "kick the meat habit on March 20 (first day of spring), at least for a day, and to explore a more wholesome, less violent diet of vegetables, fruits, and grains." Meatout draws massive support from consumer, environment, and animal protection advocates, and from public officials, health care providers, meatless food manufacturers, educators, mass media, and other opinion leaders. They believe that consumers are entitled to a national response to the relentless barrage of meat industry propaganda in the schools, in the media, and in the streets. This year's headliners include television and film stars Casey Kasem, Mary Tyler-Moore, Ed Asner, Rue McClanahan, James Cromwell, Jennie Garth, and Bill Maher. Nearly 40 governors and mayors are expected to issue special proclamations. Let's make Meatout 2001 and Animal Rights 2001 truly millennium events. http://www.meatout.org, Tel: 1-800-MEATOUT (1-800-632-8688). http://www.animalrights2001.org, 1-888-FARMUSA (1-888-327-6872)  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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