01/30/06 Japan and cattle

I am sickened to think our government grovels to get the Japanese to lift their ban on our beef. Is it on or off again, who can keep track. Beef , it's what's been for dinner, for generations of Americans. It is good enough for our children, our soldiers, and our top athletes, but it is never good enough for the Japanese. A recent poll found that 75% of Japanese's consumers are afraid to eat it. Japan loves to boast that it has the most stringent food safety standards in the world, yet the same consumers that won't touch our beef over fear of traces of bone, snack on fried chicken cartilage, eels, raw and even live fish. While no one in the US has died from mad cow, 100-300 Japanese are reportedly killed each year eating fugu, poisonous puffer fish considered a delicacy. This is political chess with our cattlemen as pawns. If the Japanese continue to play hardball with icons of our Western heritage, We ought to do what John Wayne would have done, tell them what they can do with their imports. Instead of remember the alamo , it's remember the French. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought. Source: New York Times 1/21/06 Wenatchee World 1/20/06