A Beef with Beef

Delicious. Delectable. Deadly. For more reasons than you may think.

A recent New York Times article tells the devastating story of a young woman who was left paralyzed by

a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that [the woman's] mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007.

The article informs us that

Ground beef is usually not simply a chunk of meat run through a grinder. Instead... a single portion of hamburger meat is often an amalgam of various grades of meat from different parts of cows and even from different slaughterhouses. These cuts of meat are particularly vulnerable to E. coli contamination... Despite this, there is no federal requirement for grinders to test their ingredients for the pathogen.

I've heard the arguments for eating less (or no) red meat. I've read Fast Food Nation. I've seen Super Size Me (and know that Food Inc. should be in my Netflix queue). So why don't I cut back on -- or simply cut out -- the red meat?

I could say that I'm a creature of habit. Or that I'm a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore. Or that it's genetic (I hail from Wisconsin, the Land of Milk and Pork). I could aver that I limit my meat intake. Vouch that, in preparing meat or meat products, I practice safe handling procedures, cook the patty/loin/shank thoroughly, and diligently, scrupulously, impeccably clean all meat-tainted surfaces.

But common sense (and my wife) say, "Hooey. What will it take for you to lay off the beef?" I read the horror stories. I hear my doctor's warnings. I see the studies that decry a meat-rich diet, studies like this one on the Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) that

found depression was more than 30% less likely to develop in people who followed a diet high in vegetables, fruit and cereals, and low in red meat. [According to Professor Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez of the University of Navarra] "We know how important the Mediterranean diet is in reducing cardiovascular risk factors and the same inflammatory proteins are also raised in patients with depression."

Yes, I'd be healthier -- and happier -- without that burger (and the world may well be better off without all those factory farms). Nevertheless, no matter how distressing the consequences, no matter how punishing or destructive the outcome, there's always that temptation, like a vampire's intractable thirst. The lure of meat. A gnawing hunger. An insatiable need. That lolling, lowing, demonic cow on my back.