The Straight Poop

Welcome to the 800th blog of Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife! Wa-hoo!

Since it's a special anniversary, and I love anniversaries, let's cut the crap and get right to the story.

Did you know that in Fukushima-ken (Fukushima Prefecture) - home of the all-beef problem with radioactivity thanks to a wonky nuclear reactor that has caused Japanese folk to leave their homes - farmers are outstanding in their field? Yup. Except for one, where meanwhile back at the barnyard, things are piling up.

Because farmers have not been able to plant crops this year owing to high amounts of radioactivity in the general vicinity, there hasn't been a need for a lot of fertilizer. No shit!

With no market for their poop, cow farmer's (actually, the poop is from the cow farmer's cows and not the cow farmers themselves - we think) have got a load of a problem.

Yup... cow manure is accumulating.

Shhhh-it smells.

“Not only is the fertilizer shed overflowing with manure, the cows in the barn stand in their own excrement nearly 70 centimeters deep,” says a farmer Mizunoya in Fukushima-ken who doesn't seem to know a lot about farming cows, but does know a lot about other crap. “They sometimes shake their massive bodies as if they’re trying to wiggle free.”

“Cows like to be clean, and suffer high stress levels and illness when kept in unhygienic conditions,” says anybody who knows anything about animals. “Indeed, almost half the cows in Mizunoya’s barn are experiencing deteriorating health.”

The prefectural government has advised that cattle farmers remove excrement from the cow barns and store it in a separate location. Mizunoya however, has not done so because of the many residences in the vicinity and a fear of causing environmental pollution. According to prefectural officials, many cattle farmers are facing similar conundrums.

Gee... do you think you should remove the cow crap from inside the barns where the animals are? Just because you can't sell it to crop farmers is no reason to abandon poop all ye who enter here! Clean out the damn barn you stupid farmer! Pile it elsewhere if you have to, and stop being an ass-wipe!

How stupid is this story that a farmer hasn't enough brains to realize his animals are suffering and he needs to clean out their living quarters. So what if no one is buying your crap? You know what Farmer Mizunoya? Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife doesn't buy your crappy stupidity either.

Makes you wonder who the real animal is.

Somewhere standing in a pile of crap,
Andrew Joseph

Japan Considers Easing Beef Restrictions

A new reports says that Japan is likely to relax its restrictions on beef imported from the U.S., Canada, France and the Netherlands according to The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

According to government sources, this report says Japan may soon raise the age of cattle for beef to 30 months or younger from the current 20-months or younger for the U.S. and Canada, with Japan Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko (surname first) likely to make the announcement in November at the Japan - U.S. summit meetings with President Barack Obama.
 

It is thought that simply by raising the restriction from 20 months and younger up to 30 months or younger, it could be worth about $1-billion in beef imports a year.
 
Just don't expect thing to moo-ooove quickly, as there are still a lot of details to figure out.
 
Japan and the U.S. been at odds over Japan’s beef import restrictions for the past eight years when it banned U.S. beef imports in 2003 after bovine spongiform encephalopathy (aka mad cow disease) was discovered in cattle in the U.S. and Canada.
 
In December 2005, the government partially resumed imports but only of boneless beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger following a recommendation by the Food Safety Commission. 

(Ed. Note: I've been eating a lot of beef, and I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. Moooooooooo!)
 
Imports from the U.S. were halted again in January 2006 after bone material was found in a shipment of beef.
Under the restrictions, meat containing spinal chords, vertebrae, brains and bone marrow is banned. The government resumed U.S. beef imports in July in the same year, based on results of inspections conducted by safety regulators in the U.S.
 
Japan has allowed imports from cattle 20 months or younger since 2006, but the U.S. wants full access for beef from cattle of all ages.
 
Cattle age restrictions for beef from Canada will also be eased from the current 20 months or younger to 30 months or younger. Although the government has not permitted beef exports from France and the Netherlands, both countries have urged Japan to resume imports.
 
Regarding France and the Netherlands, beef cattle of any age has been banned as Europe had more outbreaks of BSE than North America. Easing the restrictions on these two countries may mean that Japan will allow imports of cattle aged 20 months or younger.
 
(Ed. Note: By that same mad cow reasoning of mine, that means that both France and the Netherlands may get full access beef to Japan of 30 months after an additional eight years).
 
Imports stood at about 99,000 tons in fiscal 2010 due to the restrictions down from  240,000 tons in fiscal 2002.
 
To coincide with the possible relaxation of import restrictions, the government also plans to relax inspections on domestic beef. The current target age for BSE inspection on domestic cattle is 21 months or older.
 
However, if the age limit of U.S. beef is relaxed to 30 months or younger, it is likely that inspections of domestic beef will also be relaxed to 31 months or older.
 
At present, prefectural governments inspect cattle for consumption aged 20 months or younger. If the age limit restriction is eased, it is likely that the prefectural governments will be faced with an increased workload.
 
Files by Andrew Joseph

New Rules Could Halt Raw Beef Dishes

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has made tougher regulations on the use of raw meats - which may make the sale of such products impossible in restaurants.

Changes were brought about after four people died of food poisoning this year after eating raw beef at the Food Forus company's Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu restaurant chain.

"Many restaurants started offering raw beef when it became popular, even though there was a great danger that the meat contained toxins. Safety must take precedence over a drop in supplies or a price increase," says an un-named senior ministry official.

The Ministry's revised rules state that meatpackers must heat a section of raw meat at least one centimeter (0.4 inches) deep from the surface at 60 degrees Celsius (140 F) for two minutes or more to sterilize it before shipping to restaurants.

Restaurants are then required to trim away the meat's cooked surface to expose the raw meat before preparing any raw meat dishes.

The popular dishes this new rule encompasses are: yukke (a Korean-style tartar steak with a raw egg), beef sashimi (thinly sliced raw beef), beef tataki (pounded beef) and steak tartar.

Penalties for not following this regulation are stiff, with serious in fractions possibly causing the closure of the business, imprisonment up to two years or a ¥2-million (~ CDn/US $27,200) fine.

Under previous regulations, restaurants were allowed to serve raw beef to customers by just trimming the surface of the meat. However, even if these rules were violated, no one was punished.

Meatpackers and restauranteers fear this new rule will affect pricing of the useable raw meat, as larger swathes of raw beef will be trimmed away from every cut. Prior to this new rule, after trimming away the raw beef from a cut, restauranteers could expect a 20 per cent loss. But now with even more meat to be trimmed, they expect the portions of meat that can be served may go down to 30 to 40 per cent of the original size.

And, just because it made the law, don't expect ministry officials to sit around chewing the cud. It will be active in ensuring its rules are followed, with further plans to add to the regulations next October 2012 to oblige local governments to issue permits to restaurants serving raw meat.

Files compiled by Andrew Joseph