OTTAWA, December 18, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a 13-year-old beef cow from Alberta. The animal's carcass is under CFIA control, and no part of it entered the human food or animal feed systems.

Cows not only require a huge amount of food and water, considering especially how much food they provide, but also produce large amounts of methane, a key and harmful greenhouse gas that plays a role in global warming. Thus beef consumption is far from a good thing for the Earth.

Dale Klyn raises beef cows in Corydon, Iowa. For the past six years, he has been flying an American flag on his property. But since May 21, that flag has been upside down. He gives two reasons. He faces death threats from a forum on a Marine vets’ website, www.leatherneck.com, which calls itself the “Marine Corps Community for USMC Veterans.”

Judy Dresser knows bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to livestock. On her Danville ranch live six miniature black Angus beef cows.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said final tests confirmed the "mature cross-bred beef cow" from a farm north of Winnipeg in central Manitoba province was infected with the disease. Lock up the borders!!

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef is one of the principal meats used in the Cuisine of Australia, European cuisine and cuisine of the Americas, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. In the Middle East, lamb is usually preferred over beef. Beef is taboo for Hindus and is not eaten by the Hindu population in India. It is also discouraged among some Buddhists.Beef can be cut into steaks, pot roasts or short ribs, or it can be ground. The blood is also used in some varieties of blood sausage. Other beef varieties include the tongue, which is usually sliced for sandwiches in Western cooking; tripe from the stomach; various glands—particularly the pancreas and thymus—referred to as sweetbreads; the heart, the brain, the liver, the kidneys; and the tender testicles of the bull popularly known as "calf fries", "prairie oysters", or "Rocky Mountain oysters." Beef bones are essential for making certain varieties of soup stock.The better cuts are usually obtained from the steer; the heifer tends to be kept for breeding. Older animals are used for beef when they are past their reproductive prime. The meat from older cows and bulls is usually tougher, so it is frequently used for mince (UK)/ground beef (US). Cattle raised for beef may be allowed to roam free on grasslands, or may be confined at some stage in pens as part of a large feeding operation called a feedlot, where they are usually fed grain.The United States, Brazil, Japan and the People's Republic of China are the world's four largest consumers of beef. The worlds largest exporters of beef are Australia, Brazil, Argentina and Canada. Beef production is also important to the economies of Uruguay, Nicaragua, Russia and Mexico.