Frankensteer

Sure to cause upset stomachs in many burger lovers, Marrin Canell and Ted Remerowski's Canadian TV-aired Frankensteer tours the North American beef industry, starting in the bucolic pastures where most beef cows begin life, but then moves to the feedlots designed to fatten cattle quickly and cheaply. Here, the herbivores live crammed together, pumped full of growth-hormones and antibiotics, and fed non-cow-diet items such as animal scraps rendered into powder. Interviews with ranchers, veterinarians, scientists, and industry experts chronicle the risks of industrial beef to human health, while Canadian government officials justify current practices that mimic U.S. policy. For example, when dangerous E. coli bacteria began showing up in ground beef, the culprit quickly became clear: the meat was contaminated with feces because of fast line speeds in the meat packing plants, coupled with reduced government inspections. But rather than clean up the process, the industry—with governmental support—turned to irradiation. For anyone who has read Eric Schlosser's exposé Fast Food Nation, much of this will sound familiar, and the expert testimony and portraits of human and bovine victims presented here make a strong case for reconsidering the industrial approach to beef in North America. Frankensteer provides an alternative vision—cows raised on an organic diet in a natural setting—but a manager of a feedlot points out that the industry won't change until consumers are willing to pay for it. A timely, thought-provoking documentary, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Wadland)