mRNA steak anyone? - Commentary

If you have not been thinking much about the treatments that animals — and their feed — undergo before they reach your table, the time may have come for you to start. 

The Gateway Pundit reported, “Quickly but quietly, Big Pharma and various state governments are working to inject beef and dairy cattle with mRNA ‘vaccines.’ The practice has been happening with pork since 2018 and beef is next on the agenda.”

Texas-based Whole Cows CEO Jason Nelson, the Pundit relates, vowed that he would sooner shut down his business than ever inject his cattle with mRNA vaccines. Nelson, who buys cattle locally, is looking to expand to Utah and Idaho where he believes animals are more likely to be protected for longer than even those in Texas.

A Missouri bill, the Pundit reported, which would have provided transparency and worked to halt the introduction of mRNA vaccines into our beef, stalled in committee, maintaining that cattle and rancher associations, are not interested in consumer and producer concerns; many are happy to support Big Pharma.

Similar proposed legislation includes ND Senate Bill 2384 which failed to pass 38:53, Tennessee House Bill 0099, Arizona House Bill 2762, and Idaho House Bill 154 which have yet to be voted on. In Texas, Dept. of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is studying the issue. 

While those bills specifically mentioned vaccines and mRNA vaccines, Missouri House Bill 1169 did not. Voted down in committee 10:4, it was much broader than the others, addressing “gene therapy products,” as Todd Neeley reported in the Progressive Farmer

HB1169 defines "gene therapy product" as "any product with any capacity to alter, interfere with, or otherwise act in any manner similar or equivalent to genes."

According to the bill, "Any product that has been created to act as, or exposed to processes that could result in the product potentially acting as, a gene therapy or that could otherwise possibly impact, alter, or introduce genetic material or a genetic change into the user of the product, individuals exposed to the product, or individuals exposed to others who have used the product shall be conspicuously labeled with the words 'Potential Gene Therapy Product' unless the product is known to be a gene therapy product."

Organizations objecting to the legislation, Neeley related, include the Missouri Soybean Association that believed it would include animals fed genetically modified corn and soybeans, the Missouri Cattleman’s Association that called it poorly drafted and claimed it would devalue their cattle, and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce which called it “anti-science legislation.” 

Seemingly trying to brush away concerns, Neeley gave a short explanation about gene therapy:

Gene therapy is a field of medicine that focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce therapeutic effects, or the treatment of diseases by repairing defective genetic material.

In fact, there are gene therapy drugs on the market.

Are we being told the whole truth about gene therapy? Why are corn and soybeans genetically modified? What else should we know?