Beef is a key component of traditional Argentine cuisine. Argentina has the world's highest consumption rate of beef, at 68 kg a year per capita. As of 2006, livestock farmers keep between 50 and 55 million head of cattle, mostly in the fertile pastures of the Pampas, and the country is currently the third largest beef exporter in the world after Brazil and Australia. The national government applies a 15% tax on beef exports and has applied further restrictions since March 2006 to keep internal prices at bay.

Beef cattle browse more than 11 million acres of grazing lands in the State of Florida. Such large herds naturally generate large quantities of manure and other waste. What is being done to manage this challenge to the environment?

Researchers at Kansas State University are investigating an apparent link between cattle fed distiller’s grain and increasing instances of E. coli tainted beef.

Evidence has surfaced suggesting that Americans and others are probably already eating meat from the offspring of clones. Executives from the nation's major cattle cloning companies conceded yesterday that they have not been able to keep track of how many offspring of clones have entered the food supply, despite a years-old request by the FDA.

We should all ask ourselves this question. Do we really want to continue to eat animals, or will their cloned body parts satisfy us? While looking an animal in the eye, I wonder how many of us could really do what is necessary to provide that meat.

A long-awaited final report from the Food and Drug Administration concludes that foods from healthy cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as those from ordinary animals, effectively removing the last U.S. regulatory barrier to marketing meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats.Where's the beef? Over there in the Petri dish!