ANOTHER ANGLE ON ANGUS: Last week I threw up my hands and said I couldn't find figures on the percentage of Black Angus cattle slaughtered in the United States each year -- an obscure topic, I know, but a reader asked.
After deadline, a source at Certified Angus Beef, a trade association based in Wooster, Ohio, called to confirm that, in fact, nobody knows. Steve Suther, director of industry information for Certified Angus Beef, says "there's no way to track that." The U.S. Agriculture Department doesn't require it and no one else does, either.
"It'd be a wild guess to say 80 percent or some other number I'd pull out of the air," Suther said -- but there's your wild guess.
ANGUS ANGST: Opinionated You Asked reader Greg Gentling didn't appreciate my answer regarding the Angus matter in Thursday's column, in which I reported that about 32.4 million head of cattle were slaughtered in the United States last year -- "slightly less than 2004's holocaust of 32.7 million head."
Greg says that's "idiotic."
"It's bad enough that you would admit to being unable to answer Mr. Christison's question (an answer which I'm sure could be at least estimated with a bit more research), but your use of the word 'holocaust' is inappropriate in the extreme," he says. "You may be partly correct in arguing that the definition of holocaust could be stretched to include the slaughter of animals, but this would, indeed, be a stretch. 'Holocaust' is an emotionally charged word, and your use of it to describe a 'large' slaughter of cattle is idiotic. If you have a problem with the killing of animals to feed humans, then just say so, but don't try to impose your values on us. Worse, if you thought you were being cute, you are warped."
I never think I'm cute, which is a good thing, and I'll let other readers be the judge whether the ancient noun "holocaust" remains available for use without a capital H. In case Greg cares, though, I enjoy my Angus steak medium-rare.
Don't be an idiot -- if you don't know something, ask the Answer Man and he'll get the facts for you. Send questions to P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55903 or [email protected]. Also check
After deadline, a source at Certified Angus Beef, a trade association based in Wooster, Ohio, called to confirm that, in fact, nobody knows. Steve Suther, director of industry information for Certified Angus Beef, says "there's no way to track that." The U.S. Agriculture Department doesn't require it and no one else does, either.
"It'd be a wild guess to say 80 percent or some other number I'd pull out of the air," Suther said -- but there's your wild guess.
ANGUS ANGST: Opinionated You Asked reader Greg Gentling didn't appreciate my answer regarding the Angus matter in Thursday's column, in which I reported that about 32.4 million head of cattle were slaughtered in the United States last year -- "slightly less than 2004's holocaust of 32.7 million head."
Greg says that's "idiotic."
"It's bad enough that you would admit to being unable to answer Mr. Christison's question (an answer which I'm sure could be at least estimated with a bit more research), but your use of the word 'holocaust' is inappropriate in the extreme," he says. "You may be partly correct in arguing that the definition of holocaust could be stretched to include the slaughter of animals, but this would, indeed, be a stretch. 'Holocaust' is an emotionally charged word, and your use of it to describe a 'large' slaughter of cattle is idiotic. If you have a problem with the killing of animals to feed humans, then just say so, but don't try to impose your values on us. Worse, if you thought you were being cute, you are warped."
I never think I'm cute, which is a good thing, and I'll let other readers be the judge whether the ancient noun "holocaust" remains available for use without a capital H. In case Greg cares, though, I enjoy my Angus steak medium-rare.
Don't be an idiot -- if you don't know something, ask the Answer Man and he'll get the facts for you. Send questions to P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55903 or [email protected]. Also check
