Vyapaka dasa interviews Kurma Rupa dasa - April 23, 2004

During a visit to Vrindavan dhama, Hare Krsna Rural Life (www.hkrl.com) had the good fortune to be able to sit down and interview Kurma Rupa Prabhu (KRP) about his efforts in starting and maintaining the program Care For Cows in Vrindavan. He provided valuable insight into the spiritual perspective of protecting the cows and we were impressed by his selfless commitment to cow protection. The Care For Cows in Vrindavan website can be found at www.Care For Cows.org.

Hare Krsna Rural Life (HKRL): When did Care For Cows in Vrindavan begin?

Kurma Rupa Prabhu (KRP): It began five years ago, when I moved out of the temple and into this neighborhood. One particular cow we called Tilak used to beg from door to door, and we would give her whatever vegetable cuttings or old chapatis we had around. Sometimes if the door was left open she would nose her way into the kitchen. It became a habit for us to give her something.

When [the month of] Kartika arrived, I decided it would be part of my vow to feed fresh grass to her and the stray cows in the neighborhood. So I began purchasing 40 kilos of grass daily, and every evening, Tilak, her calf, and some abandoned cows in the neighborhood would come to eat here.

One morning I discovered the six stray cows I had fed in the previous evening sleeping outside the gate and understood they had camped out there. I fed them the remainder of the grass, and very soon they adopted me.

When the month of Kartika ended, I offered the developing herd an evening feast to celebrate the completion of my vow. The next morning they were still camped out at my door and demanded that I continue feeding them. I realized they had no other place to go so I decided to keep it up. So for one year I fed them on my doorstep and had about eleven coming every day. Soon the neighbors started bringing their cuttings and putting them on my doorstep to assist in the effort.

Then one neighbor who had a vacant plot nearby offered to let me use it so the cows could be better cared for. So I spent about ten thousand rupees to build a feeder and shed and started keeping the cows there. That went on for a couple of years.

Then Rupa Raghunatha of Vrindavan Food for Life acquired some land nearby and offered me a quarter of an acre to host the abandoned cows. By that time I had fifteen cows, and we planned to build a shed for twenty-five. By the time the cowshed was complete, we had twenty-five cows. Other people showed interest, offered donations and assistance, and the project grew.

HKRL: What year did Vrindavan Food For Life offer you the land?

KRP: In the summer of 2001. One of the supporters of Vrindavan Food for Life, Radha Jivan dasa from Alachua, decided to get involved in cow protection and donated the funds for another cowshed so we could take in more abandoned cows.

We soon discovered that it is customary for villagers who cannot afford to maintain non-milking cows to abandon them in those areas in Vrindavan where charitable pilgrims often drop grass to feed the stray cows. Once the word was out that we were tending to abandoned cows, villagers came to our place to offer their cows to us rather than abandon them in the street.

HKRL: So it seems they wanted the milk but were not willing to take responsibility for the calf, especially the bull calf.

KRP: Yes. At first we accepted the cows but soon felt that by doing so we were encouraging people to abandon their responsibility. So we changed our policy and just tended to those abandoned cows that were diseased or injured.

HKRL: How many cows are there now in the program?

KRP: Seventy-two.

HKRL: What is your capacity?

KRP: We are at capacity. We have fourteen calves under one year old, so today they fit in one feeding area, but as they grow they will require more room. So before we can host more cows, we have to get some more land. That is our focus right now. We hope our example can serve as a model for other neighborhoods to follow.

HKRL: Are you unique in your endeavor here? You don't call this a goshalla but a go-sadan.

KRP: Go-sadan is a place to care for retired cows, a retirement home. There are others who are attending to this, but I don't see that they are giving the abandoned cows much attention. Unfortunately there are some who collect money for serving abandoned cows but use it for other purposes.

HKRL: Is Care For Cows in Vrindavan registered or incorporated?

KRP: We are a branch of Vrindavan Food for Life, which is a registered non-profit organization. I started independently, but when Rupa Raghunatha of Vrindavan Food for Life offered us the land, we made a partnership.

HKRL: I see you have an ox-driven school bus.

KRP: It belongs to the Sandipani Muni School stated by Vrindavan Food for Life. We keep it in the go-sadan, which is near the village of Sunrak. Every school day our oxen take fifty kids to and from school.

HKRL: I have seen for myself that many of the injured cows you have taken in have been nursed back to good health. Now that they are healthy, will they be turned back out into the street, or do they become lifelong charges of Care For Cows in Vrindavan?

KRP: If they go back to the street, it will not be long before their health deteriorates or they are injured by careless motorists. So I am keeping all of them. So far I get enough support, enough sponsors, to keep up their maintenance. The Bhagavad-gita explains that by offering sacrifice to the demigods man gets all his necessities supplied. This is the law of the universe. The scriptures also state that all of the demigods reside in the body of the cow and that service to the cow constitutes sacrifice to the demigods. And we are experiencing that all our necessities being supplied. These last five years I have not come up short even once.

HKRL: Are you planning to expand into a goshalla? I see a lot of young calves here.

KRP: Almost all of the abandoned cows we have tended to were pregnant when we took them in. Thus several calves have been born here. Up until recently, the mortality rate in the go-sadan far exceeded the birth rate. We have buried over 40 animals that we have taken off of the street but died. Their condition was so poor that we could do no more than nurse them until death.

In the first three years I had five cows born and twenty die. So I wasn't concerned about reproduction and did not separate the cows and bulls, and six cows became pregnant. Now that the herd is healthy and we have run out of space, the only responsible thing for me to do is to restrict the breeding until we can get more land to accommodate expansion. So in the future a goshalla may develop, but for now I am concentrating on keeping cows from deteriorating in the street.

HKRL: My experience in the West is that the cow program has been the largest contributing factor to the communities getting into difficulty because they overbreed the herds and all the land is monopolized for fodder. In fact, many communities still have to buy hay off-farm. How do you perceive this not becoming a problem with the milking? Is it just the purchasing of land or keeping your milking herd lower than the mortality rate?

KRP: Care For Cows is like a battlefield hospital, an emergency measure to keep the abandoned cows from dying in the street. It is not a farm community striving for self-sufficiency. At present we have to purchase all the fodder and grains for our herd, and it will remain that way unless and until volunteers come forward to acquire the land to produce all that is required to maintain the herd.

It is the duty of the vaisya community to protect cows, and at least in India, people are aware of this. Many vaisyas live in the city, and though they may not be able to keep cows at home, they are fond of supporting goshallas. So what I see myself doing is providing them the opportunity to maintain a cow in Vrindavan. I am not thinking in terms of self-sufficiency at present because land is so expensive in this area.

HKRL: What is the cost of an acre of farmland in this area?

KRP: Farmland in the outskirts of Raman Reti is about US $7,500 per acre. If you go farther away it is cheaper. But since I don't know anything about farming I don't think in terms of getting enough land to achieve self-sufficiency. I think in terms of finding people who are interested in cow protection and offering them the opportunity to protect and maintain a cow in Vrindavan. This is how Care For Cows has developed and expanded, so I think within that framework.

HKRL: What do you think the future holds for the Care For Cows in Vrindavan program? You were telling me the other day of trying to get ten acres of land?

KRP: There are perhaps 350 abandoned cows on the streets of Vrindavan. Care For Cows could develop into one facility large enough to host them all, or our present facility could serve as an example for other neighborhoods to model. Either is fine with me though I prefer the latter, as more people would be directly involved in cow protection and experience the benefits. Since there are many more people than cows, and many wealthy vaisya families, it is feasible that they all contribute to maintain the abandoned cows. If every family were to sponsor one cow, the immediate problem would be solved.

If it happens that we get more land, then I would like to develop a simple educational facility along with the cow-protection program. I have always maintained that education and cow protection complement each other.

HKRL: Education of...?

KRP: A place where different teachers can present courses on Vaisnava siddhanta and practical devotional skills. Students could spend five or six months in Vrindavan to study, and go-seva would be part of the curriculum. In this way more people would be exposed to cows and learn to appreciate them and how their presence stimulates a sattvik atmosphere.

I think my contribution will be to stimulate interest in cow protection, and those with other inclinations will be the ones who develop the self-sufficiency. I would like to bring people in contact with the cow so they can develop an appreciation for them and a desire to serve them and protect them.

HKRL: Would an expanded project have barn areas and classrooms?

KRP: Ten acres is enough to get the cows off the streets. Of course we could use much more. A part of the land could be used to grow organic vegetables and grains. Some of the bulls could be used in plowing, and we could expand our use of the gober [cow dung] and urine. I like your suggestion that we produce all the things required for yajna and Deity worship and supply our sponsors with those items. Classrooms and lodging for students could be very simple.

HKRL: You were mentioning that cow protection is vaisya activity...

KRP: Brahminical also.

HKRL: I guess the teaching would be brahminical. But if you are not going to be moving towards self-sufficiency, how are you going to be showing the vaisya-activity application of it?

KRP: I agree that self-sufficiency is the goal, but I see my role more in education and in encouraging people to participate. Many devotees come here to purchase land, so I will encourage them to host a few cows there to help alleviate the present problem. It requires a community effort.

HKRL: Would you say that cow protection in the Vrindavan area, barring these small number of animals that there are on the streets, is a success?

KRP: No, I don't think so. I have met very few people who are actually focused on cow protection. Most of them are focused on having the cow serve them by delivering milk. I don't see many people protecting cows for the purpose of pleasing Krsna. Mostly they want to take service from the cow. There are, however, some genuine go-sevakas.

HKRL: We all have responsibilities in life as a parent or whatever. So at the same time, don't these cows and bulls have the responsibility to provide draft, to pull the plough, to pull the wagon to the school, to produce milk, ghee? It seems to me if we can't find that balance, then the cows are going to lose out in the long run. Especially if there is an economic downturn where there isn't a lot of money available, where are people going to have the surplus laksmi that they can provide for cow protection?

This has always been my concern in the West regarding the over-expansion of herds, where it comes down to that it is short term. I don't know the social context here in India, particularly in Vrindavan, but I imagine that there are still problems here in the goshalla with the size of the herd especially since the milk yield from each cow is quite low so you have to milk so many. Then if you are milking one cow you have one calf. That is simple math. So you get to the point where you've got wall-to-wall cows and not the facility to protect them in the long term.

My feeling is that a protected cow or ox is one that is actually working. If they are putting food on your table, then you are going to take care of those animals. And it is not necessarily a question of exploitation. Srila Prabhupada questioned, while visiting one ISKCON farm project during a morning walk, that all this land is just for the cows, but what about the humans? So there must be mutual responsibility.

KRP: I agree. The more practical returns we get from the cows and bulls, the greater we value them. The more we value them, the better we protect them. But we should not forget that the most important return we get by serving them is that Krsna is pleased. So cows and bulls are valuable even if not productive.

The Bhagavatam states, "It is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging varnashrama duties is to please the Personality of Godhead." [1.2.13] All of our work should be aimed at pleasing Krsna. Go-seva offers us a simple and unique opportunity to do so.

Krsna tells Uddhava, "I can be worshiped within the cows by offerings of grass and other suitable grains and paraphernalia for the pleasure and health of the cows." [11.11.43

And the Gautamiya Tantra states, "Worship of the cow is accomplished by gently scratching, offering green grass, and circumambulating. When the cow is pleased, Sri Gopal is also pleased."

So even if we don't get milk and ghee from the cows and draft from the bulls, serving them still offers us the opportunity to please Krsna. And for one who has pleased Krsna, there is nothing left to achieve. So whether they produce useful material products or not, they are always productive from the spiritual perspective. But I agree that they will be valued most and consequently protected best when they provide milk and ghee, and can plow the land to grow all that is required to serve Krsna.

HKRL: Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.

Number of people worldwide who will die of starvation this year: 60 million. Number of people who could be adequately fed with the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10 perc.: 60 million.

Human beings in America: 243 million. Number of people who could be fed with grain and soybeans now eaten by U.S. livestock: 1.3 billion. How frequently a child starves to death: every 2 seconds.

Percentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by people: 20. Percentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 80. Percentage of oats grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 95. Percentage of protein waste by cycling grain through livestock: 99.

Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 20.OOO. Pounds of beef produced on an acre: 165. Percentage of U.S. farmland devoted to beef production: 56. Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce a pound of beef: 16.

Cause of global warming: greenhouse effect Primary cause of greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels needed to produce a meat-centered diet vs. a meat-free diet: 50 times more.

Percentage of U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75. Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly related to livestock raising: 85. Number of acres of U.S. forest cleared for cropland to produce meat-centered diet: 260 million.

Amount of meat U.S. imports annually from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama: 200 million pounds. Average per capita meat consumption in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama: less than eaten by average U.S. housecat.

Area of tropical rainforest consumed in every 1/4 pound hamburger: 55 sq.ft. Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rainforests for meat grazing and other uses: 1.000 per year.

Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat 4 times a week vs. less than once a week: 4 times. For women who eat eggs daily vs. less than once a week: 3 times.

Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 or more times a week vs. less than once a week: 3 times.

Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who eat meat daily vs. sparingly or not at all: 3.6 times.

Use of more than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S.: livestock portion. Amount of water used in production of the average steer: sufficient to float a destroyer.

Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of wheat: 25. Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of meat: 2.500.

Cost of common hamburger if water used by meat industry was not subsidized by the U.S. taxpayer: 35 dollars a pound. Current cost of pound of protein from beefsteak, if water was no longer subsidized: 89 dollars.

Years the world's known oil reserves would last if every human ate a meat-centered diet: 13. Years they would last if human beings no longer ate meat: 260.

Barrels of oil imported into U.S. daily: 6.8 million. Percentage of fossil fuel returned as food energy by most efficient factory farming of meat: 34.5. Percentage returned from least efficient plant food: 32.8. Percentage of raw materials consumed by U.S. to produce present meat-centered diet: 33.

Number of U.S. medical schools: 125. Number requiring a course in nutrition: 30. Nutrition training received by average U.S. physician during four years in medical school: 25 hours. 20, 1989)

Most common cause of death in U.S.: heart attack. How frequently a heart attack kills in U.S.: every 45 seconds. Average U.S. man's risk of death from heart attack: 50 perc. Risk for average U.S. man who avoids the meat-centered diet: 15 perc.

Meat industry claims you should not be concerned about your blood cholesterol if it is: normal. Your risk of dying of a disease caused by clogged arteries if your blood cholesterol is 'normal': over 50 perc.

Percentage of U.S. antibiotics fed to livestock: 55. Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13. Percentage resistant in 1988: 91.

Response of European Economic Community to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: ban. Response of U.S. meat and pharmaceutical industries to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: full and complete support.

Percentage of pesticide residues in the U.S. diet supplied by grains: 1. Percentage of pesticide residues in the U.S. diet supplied by fruits: 4. Percentage of pesticide residues in the U.S. diet suppl. by dairy products: 23. Percentage of pesticide residues in the U.S. diet supplied by meat: 55. Pesticide contamination of breast milk from meat-eating mothers vs. non meat-eating: 35 times higher.

What USDA tells us: meat is inspected. Percentage of slaughtered animals inspected for residues of toxin chemicals including dioxin and DDT: less than 0.00004.

Number of animals killed for meat per hour in U.S.: 500.000. Occupation with highest turnover rate in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker. Occupation with highest rate of on-the-job injury in U.S: slaughterhouse worker. Cost to render animal unconscious with captive bolt pistol before slaughter.: 1 cent. Reason given by meat industry for non using that pistol: too expensive.

By Kurma Rupa dasa : - Wisdom from the cow shed

They say it was the coldest winter in thirty years... no sunshine for three weeks. Finally one afternoon the sun broke through the haze and lit a small oval area in the barnyard. My mother Nagnagiti waddled over and plopped herself down to deliver me. As the labor pains ensued, she stretched all four legs and began panting. The gopas (cowherd men) had been watching her udder swell over the last few days and were awaiting my arrival.

They gathered around my Mom to assist if necessary and as my front hooves protruded they understood that I was in the wrong position to be delivered. I was upside down and stuck in the birth canal which is a dangerous complication.

I should have been in a diving position with my head between my legs with my nose at my knees. I was in the position of a back dive which is a dangerous way to take birth. The gopas tried to shift me over with no luck. They called the vet who was experienced with this complication and he tied a thin rope to my hooves and pushed me back into the womb and gently turned me around so I was in the proper position and then pulled me out. I had been warm in the womb, then cramped in the birth canal and then thrust into a record cold winter. As my Mom began to lick me I felt reassurance and soon felt my instincts direct me to try to stand. My legs felt numb but after a few tumbles I was able to stand unsteadily while trembling.

I was distressed as I realized that I was quite helpless to ward off the cold. My instincts further directed me to find my food source and all I could understand was that it was located somewhere above my head. I stumbled around my mother pointing my nose skyward attempting to find my quota of food. I knew that if I did not get something warm and nourishing soon, I would perish. I raised my nose trying to locate the milk as my instincts directed but failing to locate it I began to pray, “He Govinda! I am helpless and in danger. You are known to give pleasure to cows so please help me or I’ll perish.” I repeated this prayer as my wobbly legs fumbled around my mother who remained seated. Even though the gopas tried to help her stand, she could not as she was too exhausted from the stress of the delivery. I had no choice but to continue searching with my head held high and chanting my prayer.

Then I felt a heavy hand on the back of my neck. While I struggled to search above, now a much stronger force pushed me down. I resisted with all my might but it was of no use… After crumbling unto the cold ground I intensified my prayer thinking these may be my last words, “He Gopala! If You don’t help me now, I will surely die!” The heavy hand pushed me down until my nose nuzzled against my mother’s udder and I could smell the milk within. Instinct directed me to nurse and all my fears fled as the rich ambrosial nectar filled me with warmth and comfort. I was united with the source of my life. The force I had taken to be hostile was actually the hand of a gopa helping me find what I most needed.

My prayer had been answered!

I drank my fill and was covered with a wool blanket in a warm room for several days. I became steady on my legs and drank all the milk I wanted and soon became strong enough to run. On the first day of my life I learned this important lesson: If your prayer is not answered while holding your nose in the air... pray harder and bow your head. One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly. Sri Sri Siksastaka ,Text Three

by Kurma Rupa dasa

Cows Influence us to be Good

Bhagavad-gita explains that material nature is composed of three modes ― goodness, passion and ignorance ― and that when the living entities, who are spiritual, come in contact with nature they become conditioned by these modes. Of these three, the mode of goodness (sattva guna) is superlative as it conditions one to develop peace and clarity of mind, illumination, wisdom and furthermore frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in the mode of goodness experience a sense of happiness and knowledge.

The mode of passion (rajo guna) inspires an endless flow of uncontrollable desires and longings: attachment to possessions, self-indulgence, self-promotion, oneupmanship, elitism, consumerism, and other forms of fruitive activity. As all these can never be fully accomplished, those situated in the mode of passion are characterized by frustration and misery.

The mode of ignorance (tamo guna) conditions one to foolishness, madness and illusion. Those situated in this lowest mode manifest lethargy, procrastination, listlessness, depression, disorientation, inertia, senseless violence and destructiveness all of which lead to gradual and steady dehumanization.

Certain aspects of material nature impel us towards goodness, others towards passion and still others towards ignorance and thus according to the predominating influence of the particular time, place and circumstance, one is forced to act accordingly. For those interested in personal upliftment or spiritual progress cultivation of the mode of goodness is essential as it results in developing peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness (Bg. 18.42) all of which are essential ingredients in the recipe of a wholesome life.

While cultivating sattva guna (goodness) is elaborate and intricate, this article will touch on the main three aspects: purity, peacefulness and illumination (knowledge/wisdom) and demonstrate how cow protection compliments the effort.

1. Purity

Purity is accomplished by performing certain external and internal practices. Succinctly put, external purity means keeping the body clean and healthy which means bathing regularly, eating salubrious foods and avoiding those foods which are disease-producing; it means observing habits which are life-promoting as opposed to those which promote decadence and decay. Thus, the symptoms of external purity are cleanliness and good health. Internal purity refers to cleanliness of the heart and mind. While no doubt diverse types of yoga, meditation and prayer are recommended, experts have concluded that in this age internal purity is most effectively accomplished by congregational recitation of the holy names of Hare, Krsna, Rama, Govinda, Gopal, Radharamana and so on. The main symptoms of purity of mind and heart are self-satisfaction and the diminishing presence of lust, anger and greed.

2. Peacefulness

Peacefulness is generally said to be a state free from disturbance. Since this material world is in constant flux, disturbing factors are ever-present. Peacefulness then, means one can remain tranquil, steady and equipoised while undergoing changes and challenging circumstances. Peace can be achieved by following yoga discipline under competent guidance. Briefly this means regulating one’s life with respect to diet and habits. Peacefulness is directly related to the types of food we eat. We’ve all heard the maxim, “You are what you eat.” Foods affect our physical and mental health. According to the Gita, sattvic foods increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and yield strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. These are foods naturally grown and obtained with minimum violence. Eating other foods will influence us towards passion and ignorance and their concomitant reactions (Bg. 17.8-10). Sattvic food are fruits, grains, vegetables and milk which are best obtained in a natural rural setting. Cows and bulls are most helpful in the production of these foods as they provide the finest fertilizer and tillage. Natural rural settings are in themselves sattvic and serene and of all creatures in the animal kingdom cows are said to be the most sattvic so together they produce a powerful influence spreading peacefulness to all in their proximity. I am told that Ayurvedic and Naturopathic hospitals in South India commonly keep contented cows in natural settings near the cottages of their patients as simply seeing them creates an atmosphere tranquility enhancing healing. Today in Europe, Australia and North America more and more people are discovering the therapeutic effects cows have on relieving stress, anger, anxiety and depression which deeply plague urban dwellers today.

3. Illumination / cultivation of knowledge

Perhaps the most important element of illumination is that one can distinguish reality from illusion... the temporary from the eternal... Truth from falsehood. The influence of sattva guna stills the mind, promotes the intelligence and enables one to penetrate the surface of things -- to differentiate substance from shadow; good from evil; the apparent from the actual. Sattva guna is the catalyst which transforms theoretical knowledge into realized knowledge. It makes one eligible to live knowledge rather than to just possess it. To a large degree each one of us has the choice to pick which of the three modes we want to predominate our lives. If we eat food obtained by violence, that which is decayed... expose ourselves to media which depicts violence, death and destruction, live in filth and squalor, associate with criminals, drug addicts, pessimists and so on, we will undoubtedly be predominated by tamo guna.

If we eat food that is excessively spicy, meant only for stimulating the tongue and arousing sensual desires, live in places where passion predominates (urban areas), subject ourselves to media that promotes accumulation and consumerism and associate with heathens, we will be influenced to act in rajo guna.

If, however, we eat fresh foods which promote tranquility, good health and are obtained by minimum violence, live in natural settings and associate with those who are peaceful, virtuous, honest, loving, and oriented towards giving rather than taking, we place ourselves under the influence of sattva guna, the most favorable environment to achieve spiritual progress.

One may now ask, “What do cows have to do with cultivating goodness?” In brief, cows are pure, peaceful and enhance learning and perception which are the essential elements of the mode of goodness as described above. It is an established fact that cows are unpolluted, even their dung and urine are antiseptic and medicinal (purity); they are known to be tranquil and content (peaceful); and their influence promotes concentration and increases learning (illumination). Researchers from the Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, have determined that specific bacteria found in cow dung and healthy soil (micobacterium vaccae) effectively increase levels of serotonin in the brain and decrease anxiety. Vaccae is the Latin term from which the Spanish term vaca is derived which means cow. Anti-depressant medicines are being made from this bacteria.

Tests conducted with mice also suggest that micobacterium vaccae increases learning behavior. Researchers found that mice who ingested micobacterium vaccae could navigate mazes more quickly than those without the bacteria. Dorothy Matthews and Susan Jenks, who conducted the study, shared their findings with those in attendance at the meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego. In short, their findings indicate that ingestion of micobacterium vaccae results in happiness and enhanced learning which are key aspects of sattva guna. The above scientific findings reinforce the copious Vedic statements declaring that protecting and serving cows offers human society great benefits; mainly that cows have a sattvic affect on their loving caretakers. Thus the Vedic scriptures declare: “A person who serves the cow, and takes care of her in all respects, receives the most rare benediction from her. “Do not become envious of the cow, even in your mind. Always try to please her and serve her as far as possible. Offer respect and worship her. A human being who joyfully serves the cow daily becomes fit to receive great prosperity.” ―Gomati–vidya from Visnu-dharmottara Part II – 42/49 to 58

Lord Brahma said, “I created the cow for the nourishment of everyone. She is the form of the demigods and she is merciful to all living entities. Every object produced from the cow is pure. If one drinks pancagavya, (cows milk, ghee, yoghurt, dung and urine), all their sinful reactions become destroyed. That is why pious people use her products daily. The products of the cow are sacred and auspicious. A person who does not have the good fortune to consume cow products is said to be unlucky, and his body is as good as stool.” ―Padma Purana, Sristhi Khanda 57/151-156

By Kathy Freston : - A while back, I began considering my diet as a way to practice my spiritual beliefs, and as I weighed what would be right for me, I came up against so much inner turmoil. As a southern gal, I grew up going to church and enjoying various get-togethers with other parishioners over BBQ dinners and Sunday brunches of eggs with grits. It all seemed lovely and warm at the time, so I struggled many years later with the question of how eating meat, dairy, and eggs could be ill-advised when so many (good) people do it daily and with gusto. If longstanding faith traditions hold that eating animals is acceptable, why in the world was I questioning those traditions?

And yet, especially after watching behind-the-scenes video of what happens to animals as they become our food, I remained troubled, on a spiritual level, at the thought of eating them. These are the questions that kept gnawing at me: If I am someone who wants peace in the world, how can I make peace with my part in the system of institutionalized cruelty and misery toward animals? How could I feel peaceful inside if I continued to collude with this bringing of suffering? The more I meditated on it, things began to clarify in my mind: Choosing to move away from eating animals is not just about my physical health, it's about the wellbeing of all creatures of this planet. It's a vital part of an awake and aware spiritual practice as well. It's not just that I don't want to contribute to the suffering of animals; my choice to move away from eating animal products would also allow me to become more the person I want to be.

Back to the traditions, though: How could a religion that has endured for thousands of years not have reflected on so fundamental a question as how we relate to these fellow creatures? Animals are so totally in our power, after all, and isn't spirituality in part a matter of how we choose to treat the powerless?

I decided to do some searching -- both soul searching and researching the Christian tradition to find out what's really suggested about the question of eating animals.

The first thing that became clear was that the question of whether it's ethical for humans to eat animals has indeed been considered. It seems that spiritual leaders throughout the ages have grappled with the contradictions inherent in following and advocating a peaceful, humane existence while killing and eating animals. For Christians and Jews the dilemma is so central that it's addressed in the very first chapter of the first book of the bible, Genesis, preceding even the Ten Commandments! It says that the first thing God does after creating humans is call humanity to steward the earth and its creatures, but the second thing God does is declare, "See, I have given you every plant-yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food." (Genesis 1:29-30) A clear call for vegetarianism, it would seem.

Aaron Gross, Ph.D., professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego and who holds graduate degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the University of California, explained to me that, "One of the most striking things one discovers in comparative religion is that the potential moral danger of meat eating is a major theme across religious traditions. Eating meat is often condemned and, if not, it is surrounded by cautions and restrictions as is the case in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Mircea Eliade, arguably the most influential scholar of religion in the 20th century, in fact argued that the ancient hunter's sympathy for the animals he killed was one of the origins of religion itself."

Eating animals, it seems, has never been taken lightly.

And today, it appears that Christian theologians are rediscovering the links between our dietary and spiritual choices. Many are arguing that vegetarianism is the diet most compatible with Christian values like mercy and compassion. Anglican priest and Oxford professor Andrew Linzey, Ph.D., argues that "to stand with Jesus is to ... honor life for the sake of the Lord of life ... to stand for Jesus is to stand for active compassion for the weak, against the principle that might is right." For Linzey, this means Christians should be vegetarian.

Theologians like Linzey, I learned, are part of a long tradition of meat abstainers that stretches back to the origins of Christian faith. The Desert Fathers, 4th-century Christian saints, abstained from meat. The 1,500-year-old "Rule of Benedict," a pillar of monastic spiritual practice, severely restricts meat eating. Under the influence of this rule many contemporary monastic orders, especially in Eastern Christianity, are vegetarian to this day.

Some later Christian leaders were semi-vegetarians, like St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), who avoided meat as best they could. Others, like the founder of Methodist Christianity, John Wesley (1703-1791), were fulltime vegetarians. Many more were vegetarian for limited periods. Still today there is a vibrant Catholic tradition of giving up some or all meat for Lent, the period before Easter.

While contemporary Christian vegetarianism is usually rooted in ethical concerns about the abuse of creation, historically Christians who chose not to eat flesh also saw their diet as a path to greater spirituality and increased sanctity.

I was delighted to learn about this rich tradition of incorporating vegetarian diets into spiritual practice, but I admit that it first surprised me. It certainly is not something most Christians in America know about. If you do some searching like I did, though -- even simply by searching "Christianity and vegetarianism" on the Internet -- it's easy to see just how important the idea of peace between all creatures has been in the Christian moral imagination. In fact, you don't need to look any farther than the first 30 lines of the Bible: Jewish and Christian biblical interpreters have agreed for millennia that Genesis 1:29-30 -- the verse I quoted at the beginning of this article -- showed that the ideal spiritual diet was meat free. The vision was of a world where humans did not eat animals but instead lived on the gifts of food growing on trees and in the ground. According to the biblical narrative, it was only after the fall that humans started eating animals, the ideal being to strive to return to the original perfection. In sync with that is the prophet Isaiah describing the messianic era in which the world is again made perfect, declaring that "[t]he wolf shall live with the lamb ... and the lion shall eat straw like the ox" (Isaiah 11:6-7). Given this, it makes perfect sense that today more Christians are questioning the rightness of eating meat and are turning toward vegetarianism.

The endorsement of vegetarianism in the first chapter of Genesis is sometimes ignored by Christians who like to emphasize that by the ninth chapter human beings have been given permission to eat meat. So I decided to look into how that "permission" to eat animals is portrayed in the Bible.

One thing all commentators seem to agree on is that the late tolerance of meat eating doesn't mean that God just "made a mistake" and realized that slaughterhouses were actually a good idea. A long history of Christian and Jewish commentators have taught that granting permission to eat meat is portrayed in the bible as a concession to human weakness. In the very same biblical verses where permission to eat meat is given, all humanity is required to drain blood, an ancient symbol of life, from the animals. At first draining the blood from animals -- still practiced in virtually all slaughterhouses today -- just seemed bizarre to me, but scholars have deciphered its meaning: namely, to remind human beings that meat eating was not part of God's original plan, and that we need to remember to have "reverence for life," symbolized by draining away the blood before eating. Rather than giving humans carte blanche to eat meat, the Bible saddles the practice with restrictions such as this.

And if eating meat even from animals raised back in the good old days before intensive confinement and industrial slaughterhouses wasn't easily endorsed, I have to wonder what that would suggest about our own day where animals suffer miserable lives on factory farms and painful deaths in industrial slaughterhouses?

In sum: What would Jesus think of a factory farm? It's one thing to concede meat eating is temporarily tolerable to ancient herders, but when all you have to do is order something different from a menu or reach for a different part of the supermarket shelf, wouldn't the Christian thing be to choose the more peaceful option? Things were becoming clearer for me... Everything the churches I attended taught about the life of Jesus -- his love for creation, mercy, compassion, and special concern for the powerless -- led me to think he would never have accepted a diet that contributed to the suffering I've seen animals go through on those videos. At the end of the day, I don't see how the ultimate Good Shepherd, the Prince of Peace, could be okay with a lifestyle that promotes misery for billions of creatures per year. Maybe Jesus wasn't a strict vegetarian 2,000 years ago, but there sure is something to the idea that he would be today.

As for spiritual practice, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul calls on the community to "pray ceaselessly." It occurs to me that he probably didn't mean that we should constantly have our heads bowed, murmuring prayers necessarily, but rather that we should live as if we are constantly trying to be the people we are guided to be. Since eating is so central to our lives, it seems to me that eating consciously can be the foundation of our conscious life. It can be our way of praying ceaselessly.

I'm reminded of the reflections of the Jesuit priest John Dear, who explains that, "today Jesus ... would want us to change every aspect of our lives, to seek complete physical, spiritual, emotional, and ethical wholeness ... So, when we sit down to eat ... we should also choose to adhere to his life of compassion and nonviolence by maintaining a vegetarian diet." He adds that, "we know that as we practice mercy to one another and to all God's creatures, we too shall receive mercy and blessings, as Jesus promised in the Beatitudes."

The Christian teaching of compassion for animals was especially emphasized by St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis not only spoke eloquently about compassion for animals but also taught that kindness to animals is good spiritually and promotes peace among humans. "Not to hurt our humble brethren, the animals, is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission: to be of service to them whenever they require it. If you have people who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity you will have people who will deal likewise with other people."

And so I faced a kind of spiritual choice. I could press the images of those animals in fear and pain from my mind and pretend that the violence I was supporting by eating animal products was someone else's responsibility. Or I could begin to align my diet with my beliefs and principles, thus becoming more the person I want to be. In this manner, moving away from a diet of animal products has become a living spiritual exercise to cultivate compassion, and I'm glad for the daily opportunity.

In the fall of 2001 the Padayatra came to Vrindavan to conduct the Vraja Mandala Parikrama and during their stay we often visited their camp to admire the bulls. The most impressive of the lot was Krsna, the black and regal Kankraj veteran who had circumambulated India twice during his ten years on the road. His massive horns were almost perfectly symmetrical and when he held his head up, their tips rose to a height of seven feet. Though gentle, when he wanted to be left alone, he would cock his great horns threateningly to distance all admirers who irritated him.

H.H. Lokanath Swami decided to retire Krsna and gracefully bestowed upon Care For Cows the honor of hosting him in Vrindavan . The day the Padayatra pulled out, Krsna was disturbed to be left behind and since I was holding his lead rope, he blamed me for his misfortune. He was attached to being with the other bulls and especially to pulling the cart of Sri-Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar.

Since he was the only Kankraj bull in Vrindavan, he quickly became known by the locals as the Bara Singh Walla (The Great-Horned One). More than once elderly men driving by on tractors would stop to bow their heads respecting his majestic presence. His ten years of divine toil earned him reverence underscoring the scriptural statement, 'Unto one who has transcendental qualities due to friendly behavior with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all living entities offer honor, just as water automatically flows down by nature" (S.B. 4.9.47). Krsna knew he was special and became affronted when treated as ordinary.

It took him a few months to settle in and he was often more than unruly. In the attempt to pacify him, we proposed to build a cart so he could do some light work as he was used to walking about twenty kilometers a day. Everyone liked the idea so we began immediately and on the day we finished I asked Jaya Vijaya, who had worked with Krsna on Padayatra for several years, to help us hitch him up and take him on a ride through Raman Reti.

Like in a dream, a picture arose in my mind of this noble bull, luxuriously garlanded with flowers and brass bells, strutting in royal gait down Vrindavan’s main street with hundreds of admiring eyes first falling on him and then on me perched proudly on the cart holding his reigns in my left hand while showering blessings upon all with my right, as flower petals showered from the heavens.

As we led him to the harness, Krsna firmly resisted but after a twenty minute struggle, four of us managed to secure him. While Arjuna sat on the cart, Rama Babu walked beside him holding the lead rope, while Jaya Vijaya and I followed behind.

Since Krsna was accustomed to pulling the Supreme Personality of Godhead on a teak-wood intricately hand-carved cart he did not find it becoming to pull an ordinary mortal on a puny mango wood cart fit for a horse. To demonstrate his dissatisfaction, he took off at full speed eliciting a chorus of shouts from the four of us. I ran after the cart while a distressed Jaya Vijaya fell behind holding his hand on his hernia. When Krsna reached the main road he tried to scrape the cart off on two of the biggest neem trees lining the road but Ram Babu tugged the lead rope just in time to divert him. Snorting in irritation, Krsna broke into a full gallop and waved his horns wildly threatening the opposing traffic of cars, bicycles, three-wheelers and rickshaws sending them into a flurry. On that day Providence arranged for all reckless drivers to reap their just desserts!

Shouts at desperate volume warned all on the road that the Bara Singh Walla was running amok. Children taking a dump on the side of the road quickly gathered their pants around their knees and hid their dirty bums behind trees fearing for their lives. A fruit vendor’s metal scale with three mangoes clanged on the street as he frantically shoved his cart to safety. Under a tree, a man with his face fully lathered toppled out of the barber’s chair and bolted with the barbers cloth trailing behind.

Rama Babu was well into his sixties but managed to keep up the heated pace knowing that if he lost the lead rope Krsna would unleash his full fury. Arjuna desperately tugged on the tail on the Great-Horned One in the vein attempt to slow him down but only to emblazed his anger.

As Krsna approached the Parikrama path, pilgrims, vegetable venders, horse-carts and five-year-old girls carrying their infant siblings scattered in all directions. Village women dropped the loads on their head and shrieked in various high pitches filling the ether with fear and panic.

Two men on a motor scooter rudely dismissed lesser pedestrians and bicycles with shrill beeps and fearlessly entered the road unaware that their superiority would too soon be foiled. Their eyes widened and their pan-stained teeth chattered as Krsna lowered his massive horns like the prongs of a fork lift preparing to scoop them into the air. They skidded abruptly and desperately dragged the scooter to safety, the cart whisked by missing them by inches… the driver embarrassedly discovered he had wet his pants.

As the cart sped under the Bhaktivedanta Swami Gate, the veins in Arjuna’s neck bulged as he alerted everyone of the danger, "Bara Singh Walla pagal ho gai!" (The Great Horned One has run amok!). Rama Babu, at great personal risk, bravely ran along side the angry bull pulling the lead rope to break his speed.

Oblivious to everything but their ears and genitals, three young men in a motor rickshaw meandered in the middle of the wide road, their arms extending out of the vehicle gyrating to the rhythm of the cinema song blasting unnervingly from their cassette player. On the back of the three-wheeler was written, “King of the Road” and as the driver leaned out to proudly decorate the pavement with red slime, the corner of his eye caught the raging bull in full gallop about to overtake them. The party was over.

Providence arranged to dispel their illusions of grandeur by having their royal conveyance side-swiped by a speeding ox cart. The initial crash silenced their song and sent the vehicle spinning. Cries and screeching tires predominated briefly before the smashed heap toppled over on its side, smoking. Sunglasses, a greasy comb, broken mirrors, a plastic Ganesh murti, an imitation Seiko watch, a bundle of 555-brand beedies, cassette tapes, a photo of a busty Bombay cinema actress showing her cleavage, a puddle of black oil and the shattered hopes of three tangled Bollywood wanna-be's lay in disarray on the black top.

Krsna was disappointed that the impact did not free him from his bondage and in greater anger swung into a wide U-turn and headed back toward the Bhaktivedanta Swami arch in search of a stationary object to side-swipe. By some stroke of luck he lost his footing and fell to his knees and upon attempting to get up got twisted and bound in the harness and lay on his side snorting furiously. The cart and his massive heaving body formed a road-block and cars traveling in both directions began to pile up and honk uproariously. Hundreds of gawkers instantly gathered to scream in Hindi which easily lends itself to shrill exclamations.

Krsna’s rear leg was caught in the harness and as I tried to release it so he could stand, a merchant woman shook her fist at me while retrieving cans of sugar-fizz rolling on the sidewalk. Truck drivers and their seedy assistants descended their screeching, smoking beasts to goad me in chorus to clear the passage; their cavernous mouths yawned while caustic obscenities drenched in red slime shot out between their swollen gums and red and rotten teeth.

The dethroned princes screamed frantically. One held his long red pinky fingernail skyward as he flashed his bleeding elbow, the other showed a skinned knee protruding from his torn imitation Levis, the third displayed his torn kurta all demanding I drop everything and attend to them. Pandemonium.

Despite the chaos we managed to get Krsna up and with four hands clinching his nose harness, we slowly walked him to the goshalla while maybe fifteen opportunists followed behind formulating strategies on how to capitalize on their scratches, rips and dents.

When we arrived the cowherd men were filling the feeders with fresh grass and after unhitching Krsna, he calmly walked over to his new shed and began devouring his share as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. As I approached to chastise him, he dismissed my intimidating posture by closing his eyes and pointing his muzzle at me while nonchalantly munching the fresh clover. After swallowing, his penetrating gaze firmly expressed, “Don’t EVER AGAIN try to use me to enhance your false prestige.”

rajasas tu phalam duhkham

Action performed in the mode of passion results in misery.

Bhagavad-Gita 14.16 (End Note: Know for certain that elitism, oneupmanship, self-indulgence and self-promotion are all products of raja guna and those who indulge in them will be attended by misery. No exceptions.)

Soaring oil prices and government incentives are fueling increased interest in renewable energy sources such as cow manure.

And what better place to do manure research than in the Texas Panhandle, which holds the aromatic distinction of being the country's biggest producer of cow pies in a state that leads the country in cattle production.

For years, researchers have studied manure as a fertilizer. Now, however, they are focusing on developing other uses for the abundant substance as the livestock industry grows and fertilizer's role diminishes. State and federal energy bills also call for increasing renewable energy sources.

Cattle manure can be used as fuel instead of coal or natural gas to create steam to run turbines, which create electricity.

That's how The Panda Group of Dallas plans to fuel a $120 million ethanol plant set to open next year in Hereford. The company said it will realize an energy savings equivalent to 1,000 barrels of oil per day by turning manure and cotton-gin waste into clean-burning fuel to power the plant.

"I see it as a valuable tool in our tool box," John Sweeten, resident director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Amarillo, said of cattle manure's energy potential.

"Sixty-dollar-a-barrel oil recruits a lot of interest in biomass," Sweeten said. "At $10-a-barrel oil, there's not much interest."

Biomass is renewable organic matter, such as manure and crops including corn, grain sorghum and soybeans, all of which can be processed into ethanol.

"Anything that's renewable and is at least competitive with other prices, it's better for everybody," said Donald L. Klass of the Biomass Energy Research Association in Washington.

The potential for surplus manure stems from more cattle, dairy cows and hogs coming to the Panhandle, and farmers moving toward planting more dryland crops, which demand less fertilizer.

STUDYING THE PROCESS

Researchers at a feedlot are trying to figure out the best process and mix to create the most usable heat and energy.

A future research project will examine using manure from dairy cows, Sweeten said, which, like swine manure, requires a different process to capture the energy.

But cattle for meat outnumber other concentrated animal-feeding operations in the Panhandle. Nearly 5 million head of cattle come to about 100 Panhandle feedyards each year.

While there, they produce billions of pounds of manure.

"It's almost too good not to use," said David Parker, a professor of agriculture at West Texas A&M University.

The experiment station's feedlot study involved taking cattle-manure samples from pens with different floors.

One set of pens was paved with fly ash, a by-product of the coal-fired power generating industry; the others had dirt floors.

In a sampling taken this summer, manure composted from the dirt-floor pens had more unusable material (59 percent) than that from the fly-ash-covered pens (20.2 percent). That means the pens paved with fly ash had more than twice the usable biomass from which to create energy.

But not many pens in commercial feedlots have fly-ash floors in pens.

"The trick is to recover the biodegradable and leave the dirt in the ground as it is," Klass said.

BEST USED REGIONALLY

Sweeten said manure contains at best about a third to a quarter of the energy value as coal so "you don't get as much bang for your buck, literally."

That makes transporting manure far from where it's produced impractical, so Sweeten said manure-generated energy would be used only regionally.

Large bulk samples from a composting manure pile from the fly-ash pens will be tested further in a small-scale combustion-testing project in College Station.

"I see it as something that can enhance our portfolio of renewable energy, but it can also help us on manure management," Sweeten said.

About a third of an ounce of botulism toxin poured by bioterrorists into a milk truck en route from a dairy farm to a processing plant could cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in economic losses, according to a scientific analysis that was published yesterday despite efforts by federal officials to keep the details secret.

The analysis by researchers at Stanford University, posted yesterday on the Web site of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, seeks to quantify security weaknesses in the nation's milk-supply chain and makes recommendations for closing those gaps.

Although some suggested changes are underway, federal officials felt the material had enough potential for misuse to warrant a last-minute effort to halt publication. That effort, which delayed the report's release by a month but ultimately did not keep it from becoming public, proved to be as contentious as the publication itself. It has assured the report's place in the scientific canon as one of the first test cases of how to balance scientific freedom and national security in the post-Sept. 11 era.

Study leader Lawrence M. Wein, whose previous research had forecast the likely effects of terrorist attacks involving anthrax and smallpox, said he was surprised by the government's push to block publication, which involved a flurry of phone calls and meetings with officers of the National Academies. The organization advises the federal government on matters of science and publishes the journal.

Last fall, Wein said, he briefed high-ranking officials of the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, along with dairy industry representatives, on his work.

"It was clear the dairy people were nervous about this paper coming out," Wein said. But when federal officials did not follow up, he said, he assumed they had concluded -- as had every reviewer at the National Academies -- that the information in the article was publicly available and easily obtained through a Google search.

Bill Hall, a spokesman for HHS, said yesterday that his department still opposes publication but was not in a position to block release of the data, which are not classified.

"We don't see eye to eye on this," Hall said. "If this ends up being the wrong decision down the road, the consequences could be quite severe and HHS will have to deal with it, not the National Academies."

The analysis by Wein and graduate student Yifan Liu considered what might happen if terrorists poured into a milk tanker truck a couple of gallons of concentrated sludge containing as much as 10 grams of botulinum toxin, a potent bacterial nerve poison now popular in low doses as a wrinkle eraser.

Because milk from many sources is combined in huge tanks holding hundreds of thousands of gallons, the toxin would get widely distributed in low, but potentially lethal, concentrations and within days be consumed by about 568,000 people, the report concludes.

The researchers acknowledge that their numbers are very rough. But depending on how thoroughly the milk was pasteurized (which partially inactivates toxins) and how promptly the outbreak was detected and supplies recalled, about 400,000 people would be likely to fall ill, they conclude.

Symptoms of botulism food poisoning arise within hours and progress from cramps, nausea and vision problems to paralysis and death by asphyxiation. Although only 6 percent of victims would generally be expected to die, the death rate could easily hit 60 percent, they conclude, because there would not be nearly enough mechanical ventilators or doses of antitoxin to treat so many victims.

Children could be hit first and hardest, because milk goes directly from processing plants to schools, avoiding the grocery-distribution system.

"They'd be the canaries," Wein said.

The report concludes that the most efficient ways to reduce such risks are to insist that latches on tanker trucks have locks; improve pasteurization processes; and develop tests that can detect contamination before milk is delivered to outlets -- changes, the team concludes, that are likely to cost just a few pennies per gallon.

Publication was scheduled for the week of May 30, but was abruptly postponed days before that date when HHS officials contacted the National Academies with concerns that the paper might inadvertently aid terrorists, according to an accompanying editorial written by Bruce Alberts, president of the Academies.

Those concerns were discussed in detail on June 7, after which the Academies decided to publish. By then, a preprint of the article had been widely distributed to journalists as part of the journal's standard procedures, and the New York Times had published a summary by Wein in an opinion piece.

Barry R. Bloom, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, who oversaw an independent review of the paper earlier this spring, said he is convinced that the report did more good than harm by quantifying the risks posed at each point in the milk-delivery system -- a difficult job that now allows the industry and regulators to concentrate security efforts where they are most needed.

"This paper didn't just slip in with no one thinking about it," Bloom said. "But science depends on openness and the free exchange of ideas. And being aware of threats gives us a better chance of protecting against them than not being aware of them and having only the terrorists aware of them."

A national security directive signed by President Ronald Reagan and still in force demands that fundamental scientific information remain openly accessible unless it is formally classified.

Chris Galen, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation in Arlington, criticized the Academies' decision, saying the information "could inform someone with malicious designs on food safety, even just as a prank."

The need for improved pasteurization "is something that has already been addressed" by the industry, he said, as has the need to keep locks on truck latches.

He acknowledged, however, that those improvements, encouraged by the Food and Drug Administration in recent years, are not mandatory. And although he said the newer standards are being "widely followed," he conceded he had no data to indicate what proportion of dairies and milk processors are adhering to the tougher recommendations.

The goal of the "Got Milk?" campaign may be to sell more milk, but the main beneficiaries of this advertising effort could well be the bones and health of current and future adults.

As we learn more about the benefits of calcium and the particular importance to a healthy skeleton of calcium during childhood and adolescence, nutrition experts are becoming increasingly alarmed about the failure of most young people to drink enough milk. Although calcium can be obtained from foods other than milk, as well as from supplements, it is the main source of this vital nutrient for young Americans. Few children or adults consume enough cheese and nondairy calcium-rich foods, like collard greens or broccoli, to meet the daily calcium requirements.

Some people avoid milk because they are lactose-intolerant and experience flatulence or diarrhea when drinking the milk on an empty stomach.

Nutritionists, however, have found that most lactose-intolerant people can handle up to three glasses a day if they are consumed slowly and with meals.

And nearly every supermarket now sells lactose-reduced and lactose-free milk, although usually at twice the price of regular milk.

Children Are Shortchanged

The National Academy of Sciences says that children ages 4 through 8 should be consuming 800 milligrams of calcium daily and that teenagers 13 through 18 need 1,300. People 19 through 50 need 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day, and those 51 and older are urged to consume 1,300 milligrams, the academy says.

According to Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, "Without including milk in the diet, it is nearly impossible to meet calcium needs" through foods alone. Milk, he noted, supplies slightly more than half the dietary calcium consumed by children in this country.

A national survey in the mid-1990's, however, revealed that only 13.5 percent of girls and 36.3 percent of boys ages 12 to 19 consumed the recommended amount of calcium.

Such data, and especially the poor calcium intake among adolescent girls, prompted the institute to begin a public information campaign called "Milk Matters" to educate health professionals, parents and children about the importance of consuming enough calcium, particularly from milk and other dairy products like yogurt and hard cheese, to protect bone health.

Far too many children consume carbonated soft drinks and fruit drinks and juices instead of milk or dairy-based drinks. Schools that permit soda vending machines in or near their cafeterias (in exchange for big bucks from beverage companies) hardly help matters. Yet middle schools and high schools that installed vending machines that dispense flavored as well as plain milk report that they routinely sell out each day, with chocolate milk being the overwhelming favorite.

Aging Bones

In this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital reported that adult women who consumed less than a glass of milk a day during childhood had flimsier bones and a twofold greater risk of fractures than those who consumed a glass of milk or more each day as they were growing up.

Now, a glass is hardly enough milk to meet the daily recommended intake of calcium for anyone. So it is a safe bet that if the researchers had compared those who drank less than a glass of milk a day with those who drank three or more glasses during childhood, the differences in bone density and fracture risk would have been that much greater.

Dr. Connie Weaver, who heads the department of foods and nutrition at Purdue University, points out that "adolescence is a critical time to optimize bone health" because about half of an adult's skeletal mass is accrued during the teenage years.

For girls, 95 percent of the body's total bone mineral content is accumulated by age 17, and 99 percent is completed by age 27. Thus, a girl who shortchanges herself on calcium will enter adulthood with a skeleton that is less than adequate, and she will face an increased risk of fractures throughout life.

"Current calcium intakes of adolescents are well below recommended levels," Dr. Weaver said. "Studies indicate that four to five servings a day of calcium-rich foods are needed to optimize peak bone mass during adolescence."

An eight-ounce serving of a calcium-rich food like milk or yogurt would provide at least 300 milligrams of calcium. Comparable amounts can be obtained from calcium-fortified soy milk and orange juice and a cup of cooked collard greens. Many breakfast cereals are now fortified with calcium. And even some milks have added calcium.

Unlike most other foods, milk is fortified with vitamin D, which the body needs to absorb calcium through the digestive tract. The natural sugars in milk also aid in calcium absorption -- another reason milk is the preferred dietary source of this bone-building mineral.

Other Health Benefits

Emerging research is showing that the importance of calcium goes well beyond bones.

Studies using supplements have indicated that calcium is good for the heart. Calcium helps to lower blood pressure in about one-third of people with hypertension.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin showed that hypertensive women who took 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day, in addition to their medication, for four years experienced a significant drop in blood pressure, while those who took just medication experienced an overall rise in blood pressure.

Calcium also improves blood lipid levels. In a study at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, researchers found that a daily 1,000-milligram dose of calcium citrate increased protective H.D.L. cholesterol levels and lowered harmful L.D.L. cholesterol, a change that could reduce the rate of cardiovascular problems by 20 percent to 30 percent.

Although the role of calcium in cancer is still being investigated, the latest study, which followed 135,000 health professionals for 10 to 16 years, found that total calcium intake in excess of 1,250 milligrams a day was associated with a nearly 30 percent lower risk of developing cancer in the lower colon.

There is biological support for this finding. Calcium protects the bowel by binding bile acids and reactive fatty acids, which are known to promote cell growth.

Also, in a colon cancer prevention study, a daily 1,200-milligram calcium supplement resulted in a 20 percent decrease in the recurrence of colorectal adenomas, benign growths that are the precedents to colorectal cancer.

And various studies have suggested that calcium may play a role in countering premenstrual syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome.

9/30/2003 -- A non-human, cellular molecule is absorbed into human tissues as a result of eating red meat and milk products, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, published online the week of September 29, 2003 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers also showed that the same foreign molecule generates an immune response that could potentially lead to inflammation in human tissues.

Several previous studies have linked ingestion of red meat to cancer and heart disease, and possibly to some disorders involving inflammation. However, that research has primarily focused on the role of red-meat saturated fats and on products that arise from cooking. The UCSD study is the first to investigate human dietary absorption of a cell-surface molecular sugar called N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), which is found in non-human mammals. Not produced in humans, Neu5Gc occurs naturally in lamb, pork and beef, the so-called "red meats". Levels are very low or undetectable in fruits, vegetables, hen's eggs, poultry and fish.

Conducting laboratory studies with human tissue, followed by tests in three adult subjects, the UCSD team provided the first proof that people who ingest Neu5Gc absorb some of it into their tissues. In addition, they demonstrated that many humans generate an immune response against the molecule, which the body sees as a foreign invader.

The study's senior author, Ajit Varki, M.D., UCSD professor of medicine and cellular and molecular medicine, and co-director of the UCSD Glycobiology Research and Training Center, said that although it is unlikely that the ingestion of Neu5Gc alone would be primarily responsible for any specific disease, "it is conceivable that gradual Neu5Gc incorporation into the cells of the body over a lifetime, with subsequent binding of the circulating antibodies against Neu5Gc (the immune response), could contribute to the inflammatory processes involved in various diseases."

He added that another potential medical barrier related to Neu5Gc might occur in organ transplantation.

"Over the past decade, the number of patients waiting for organ transplantation has more than tripled, with little increase in the number of donor organs. This has led to an exploration of using animal organs for transplantation into humans, a process called xenotransplantation," Varki said. "However, the leading donor candidate is the pig, an animal in which Neu5Gc happens to be very common. The current study raises the possibility that human antibodies against Neu5Gc might recognize the Neu5Gc in the pig organ and facilitate its rejection."

In describing the research approach taken by his team, Varki explained that humans do not produce Neu5Gc because they lack the gene responsible for its production. And yet, other researchers have reported small amounts of Neu5Gc in human cancer tissues.

To verify the existence of Neu5Gc in human cancers, Varki's collaborator, Elaine Muchmore, M.D., UCSD professor of medicine and associate chief of staff for education at the San Diego VA Healthcare System, developed an antibody that would be attracted by, and bind to Neu5Gc on tissue samples. The antibody was purified by Pam Tangvoranuntakul, B.S., the study's first author and a Ph.D. student in Varki's lab.

Working with Nissi Varki, M.D., UCSD professor of pathology and medicine, Tangvoranuntakul found that the antibody stained not only human cancers, but also some healthy human tissues. They found that small amounts of Neu5Gc were present in blood vessels and secretory cells, such as the mucous membranes. A further chemical analysis by Sandra Diaz, a Varki research associate, confirmed the presence of Neu5Gc in human tissue.

Meanwhile, an analysis of healthy human tissue by postdoctoral fellow Pascal Gagneux, Ph.D., and Tangvoranuntakul determined that most people had circulating antibodies in the blood that recognized Neu5Gc, and thus could potentially initiate an inflammatory immune response.

In the absence of any known molecular mechanism that would produce Neu5Gc in humans, the group reasoned that the small amounts of Neu5Gc found in human tissue could arise from human ingestion of Neu5Gc in dietary sources. Postdoctoral fellow Muriel Bardor, Ph.D., showed that when human cells in culture were exposed to Neu5Gc, they easily absorbed and incorporated it onto their own surfaces.

However, to study the possibility of dietary absorption, it was necessary to carry out an ingestion study in healthy people. Because the researchers were hesitant to give a potentially harmful substance to humans, Ajit Varki volunteered to be the first subject, followed by Muchmore and Gagneux.

When the three volunteers drank Neu5Gc purified from pork sources and dissolved in water, there were no immediate ill effects. An analysis of the volunteers' urine, blood, serum (the clear liquid that can be separated from clotted blood), hair and saliva, both before ingestion and regularly for several days after, determined that the human body eliminates most of the Neu5Gc, but retains and metabolically absorbs small amounts of the foreign sugar. At approximately two days following ingestion, the Neu5Gc levels were two to three times the baseline level prior to ingestion. By four to eight days following ingestion, the levels had dropped nearly to baseline.

The authors cautioned that a causal relationship between Neu5Gc expression in human tissues with any human disease would be premature and scientifically speculative at best. Instead, they said their findings point to the need for population-level analyses of the presence of Neu5Gc in human tissues in relationship to disease incidence, and the mechanisms of human incorporation and antibody response against this sugar.

The study was supported by grants to Varki from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation. Some human studies were done in the UCSD General Clinical Research Center, which is also supported by the NIH.

Bhishma said:

No sacrifice can be performed without the aid of curds and ghee (clarified butter). The very character of sacrifice which sacrifices have, depends upon ghee. Hence ghee (or, the cow from which it is produced) is regarded as the very root of sacrifice.

Cows have been said to be the limbs of sacrifice. They represent sacrifice itself. Without them, there can be no sacrifice. With their milk and the Havi produced therefrom, they uphold all creatures by diverse acts. Cows are guileless in their behaviour. From them flow sacrifices and Havya and Kavya, and milk and curds and ghee. hence cows are sacred.

Afflicted by hunger and thirst, they bear diverse burdens.Cows support the Munis (sages).

Among all objects mobile and immobile, the mobile are superior. Among mobile creatures Brahmanas are superior.

The sacrifices are all established upon them. It is by sacrifice that Soma (nectar) is got. Sacrifice has been established upon cows. ( For without ghee or clarified butter, which is produced from milk, there can be no sacrifice). The gods become gratified through sacrifices. It is from the cows that the means have flowed of the sustenance of all the worlds. They yield Soma (nectar) in the form of milk. Cows are auspicious and sacred, and grantor of every wish and givers of life.

They who make gifts of cows, and who subsist upon the remnants of things offered as libations on the sacred fire, are regarded, as always performing sacrifices of every kind.

Of all kinds of gifts, the gift of cows is applauded as the highest. Cows are the foremost of all things. Themselves sacred, they are the best of cleansers and sanctifiers. People should cherish cows for obtaining prosperity and even peace. Cows are said to represent the highest energy both in this world and the world that is above. There is nothing that is more sacred or sanctifying than cows.

One should never feel any repugnance for the urine and the dung of the cow.

[Note: The following comments are by the scholar and translator of The Mahabharata Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli: The Rishis (ascetic seers) discovered that the magnetism of the cow is something that is possessed of extraordinary virtues. Give the same kind of food to a cow and to a horse. The horse-dung emits an unhealthy stench, while the cow-dung is an efficacious disinfectant. There can be little doubt that the urine and dung of the cow possess untold virtues.]

Vyasa said:

Cows are sacred. They are embodiments of merit. They are high and most efficacious cleansers of all.

One should for three days drink the hot urine of the cow. For the next three days one should drink the hot milk of the cow. Having thus drunk for three days hot milk, one should next drink hot ghee for three days. Having in this way drunk hot ghee for three days, one should subsist for the next three days on air only.

Vasishtha said:

By bathing in water mixed with cow-dung, people shall become sanctified. The deities and men, shall use cow-dung for the purpose of purifying all creatures mobile and immobile. One can sit on dried cow dung. One should never eat the flesh of cows.

One should never show any disregard for cows in any way. If evil dreams are seen, men should take the names of cows. One should never obstruct cows in any way. Cows are the mothers of both the Past and the Future. Cows have become the refuge of the world. It is for this that cows are said to be highly blessed, sacred, and the foremost of all things. It is for this that cows are said to stay at the very head of all creatures. Every morning, people should bow with reverence unto cows.

Cows are the best Havi for the deities. The Mantras called Swaha and Vashat are forever established in cows.Sacrifices are established in the cows. Cows constitute the fruit of sacrifices.Cows are the future and the past, and Sacrifices rest on them. Morning and evening cows yield unto the Rishis, Havi for use in Homa (sacred fire ceremony).

Cows are always fragrant. The perfume emanated by the exudation of the Amytis agallochum issues out of their bodies.Cows are the great refuge of all creatures. Cows constitute the great source of blessing unto all. (Swastayana is a ceremony of propitiation, productive of blessing and destructive of misery of every kind). Cows are the source of eternal growth.

Cows are sacred. They are the foremost of all things in the world. They are verily the refuge of the universe. They are the mothers of the very deities. They are verily incomparable. Cows are the mothers of the universe.* There is no gift more sacred than the gift of cows. There is no gift that produces more blessed merit.

Vyasa said:

Cows constitute the stay of all creatures. Cows are the refuge of all creatures. Cows are the embodiment of merit. Cows are sacred and blessed and are sanctifiers of all.

One should never, in even one's heart, do an injury to cows. One should, indeed, always confer happiness on them.

Living in a pure state, in the midst of cows, one should mentally recite those sacred Mantras that are known by the name of Gomati, after touching pure water. By doing this,one becomes purified and cleansed. Brahmanas of righteous deeds, who have been cleansed by the knowledge, study of the Vedas, and observance of vows, should, only in the midst of sacred fires or cows or assemblies of Brahmanas, impart unto their disciples a knowledge of the Gomati Mantras which are every way like unto a sacrifice (for the merit they produce). One should observe a fast for three nights for receiving the boon constituted by a knowledge of the import of the Gomati Mantras.

The man who is desirous of obtaining a son may obtain one by adoring these Mantras. He who desires the possession of wealth may have his desire gratified by adoring these Mantras.

The girl desirous of having a good husband may have her wish fulfilled by the same means. In fact, one may acquire the fruition of every wish one may cherish, by adoring these sacred Mantras. When cows are gratified with the service one renders them, they are, without doubt, capable of granting the fruition of every wish. Even so, cows are highly blessed. They are the essential requisites of sacrifices. They are grantors of every wish. Know that there is nothing superior to cows.

Cows are endued with the elements of strength and energetic exertion. Cows have in them the elements of wisdom. They are the source of that immortality which sacrifice achieves.

They are the refuge of all energy. They are the steps by which earthly prosperity is won. They constitute the eternal course of the universe. They lead to the extension of one's race.

Bhishma said:

One should not, by imparting a knowledge of this ritual, benefit a person that is not one's disciple or that is not observant of vows or that is bereft of faith or that is possessed of a crooked understanding. Verily, this religion is a mystery, unknown to most people. One that knows it should not speak of it at every place. There are, in the world, many men that are bereft of faith. There are among men many persons that are mean and that resemble Rakshasas. This religion, if imparted unto them, would lead to evil. It would be productive of equal evil if imparted to such sinful men as have taken shelter in atheism.

"Cows are the mothers of the universe." The human infant is fed breast milk by its human mother for under three years. After weaning, the cow acts as the surrogate mother providing milk for the rest of the human life - through childhood, adult age and old age. Cow is verily the mother of the world. One would be filled with repugnance at the ungrateful idea of killing mother, whether surrogate mother or otherwise.).

THE ACTUAL PHILOSOPHICAL REASON FOR COW PROTECTION IS VERY SIMPLE: First of all, all living entities should be protected from slaughter and other violence at the hands of humans. Not only cows, but animals have SOULS the same as we do. All are children of God, all are dear to Him. With this view in mind, it can be seen that slaughter is a form of MURDER.

The cow, however, is our MOTHER. Vedic philosophy teaches there are 7 mothers:

• 1) the birth mother,
• 2) the nurse,
• 3) the wife of the brahmana,
• 4) the wife of the king,
• 5) the wife of the spiritual master,
• 6) the earth, and
• 7) the cow.

You may wonder why the cow is considered one of the 7 mothers. Well, it is because she gives her milk to nourish us. A ll mothers should hold a position of respect, and since one does not kill and eat one's mother, the cow should not be killed and eaten. Likewise, the bull is our father because he can plow the earth to produce food grains. One does not kill and eat one's father and mother - not even when they are old and less economically useful.

In practice the first principle of cow protection, surprisingly, is OX EMPLOYMENT.

A mistake is made when only the cow is considered because typically her main usefulness is seen as milk production, and she won't give milk unless she first has a calf. Since half of all calves are bulls, the result will be a lot of excess bovine population. The expense of feeding them will be a deficit to the farmer. Unless employed as oxen, their only economic usefulness will be in their slaughter to produce meat. The modern system of agriculture sees no other economically viable means of management. And most people, accustomed to this viewpoint and seeing no alternative, will throw up their hands and agree, even if they'd prefer a less violent solution. But that is only because they don't have the facts. They don't know that the overall value of the ox is greater when he is utilized for work than when he's slaughtered for meat.

The present system (in America) is full of ironies and very wasteful. Everyone laments the loss of the small family farm. But economic forces today require quantity control - which is dependent on expensive tractors, polluting fossil fuels, chemical fertilizers, and heavy mortgages - and the small farmer is driven out of business. Yet, beef production is subsidized with tax dollars. And in a world with increasing population and mass starvation, tons and tons of grains are inefficiently fed to cattle for a smaller return in protein. Cattle are usually concentrated in feedlots where their manure becomes an environmental hazard instead of the fine fertilizer it is meant to be. We are still importing millions of barrels of oil to run our tractors. And the government must from time to time give away surplus cheese to keep prices artificially raised.

A BETTER SYSTEM would be rearranging the components. First, breed cows not to provide milk with calves as the by-product, but to provide a team of oxen for every family farm with milk as the by-product. There will be neither excess milk nor excess calves. The oxen will be out in the pastures eating simply, and naturally fertilizing the soil, saving the farmer the cost of the tractor, fuel, and fertilizer. The oxen will be quite content to use their big muscles in such wholesome work, and the humans can become healthy vegetarians. As for the government, if it wants to subsidize something, why not the small family farm instead of the beef industry? The beef industry may have a powerful lobby, but who wants all that heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, not to mention all that bad karma from killing innocent animals!

Don't we all hanker for a simpler, cleaner, more wholesome, less violent Earth?

While NASA engineers have grown fish tissue in lab dishes, no one has seriously proposed a way to grow meat on commercial levels.

While NASA engineers have grown fish tissue in lab dishes, no one has seriously proposed a way to grow meat on commercial levels.

But a new study conducted by University of Maryland doctoral student Jason Matheny and his colleagues describe two possible ways to do it.

Writing in the journal Tissue Engineering, Matheny said scientists could grow cells from the muscle tissue of cattle, pigs, poultry or fish in large flat sheets on thin membranes. These sheets of cells would be grown and stretched, then removed from the membranes and stacked to increase thickness and resemble meat.

Using another method, scientists could grow muscle cells on small three-dimensional beads that stretch with small changes in temperature. The resulting tissue could be used to make processed meat such as chicken nuggets or hamburgers.

"There would be a lot of benefits from cultured meat," Matheny said in a statement. "For one thing, you could control the nutrients."

Meat is high in omega-6 fatty acid, which is desirable, but not in large amounts. Healthful omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in walnuts and fish oils, could be substituted.

"Cultured meat could also reduce the pollution that results from raising livestock, and you wouldn't need the drugs that are used on animals raised for meat," Matheny said.

Raising livestock requires million of gallons of water and hundreds of acres of land. Meat grown from tissue would bypass those requirements.

The demand for meat is increasing worldwide, Matheny said. "China's meat demand is doubling every ten years," he said. "Poultry consumption in India has doubled in the last five years."

Writing in this month's Physics World, British physicist Alan Calvert calculated that the animals eaten by people produce 21 percent of the carbon dioxide that can be attributed to human activity. He recommends people switch to a vegetarian diet as a way to battle global warming.

"Worldwide reduction of meat production in the pursuit of the targets set in the Kyoto treaty seems to carry fewer political unknowns than cutting our consumption of fossil fuels," he said in a statement.

The Kyoto treaty is a global agreement aimed at reducing production of so-called greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that help fuel global warming. But a new study conducted by University of Maryland doctoral student Jason Matheny and his colleagues describe two possible ways to do it.

Writing in the journal Tissue Engineering, Matheny said scientists could grow cells from the muscle tissue of cattle, pigs, poultry or fish in large flat sheets on thin membranes. These sheets of cells would be grown and stretched, then removed from the membranes and stacked to increase thickness and resemble meat.

Using another method, scientists could grow muscle cells on small three-dimensional beads that stretch with small changes in temperature. The resulting tissue could be used to make processed meat such as chicken nuggets or hamburgers.

"There would be a lot of benefits from cultured meat," Matheny said in a statement. "For one thing, you could control the nutrients."

Meat is high in omega-6 fatty acid, which is desirable, but not in large amounts. Healthful omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in walnuts and fish oils, could be substituted.

"Cultured meat could also reduce the pollution that results from raising livestock, and you wouldn't need the drugs that are used on animals raised for meat," Matheny said.

Raising livestock requires million of gallons of water and hundreds of acres of land. Meat grown from tissue would bypass those requirements.

The demand for meat is increasing worldwide, Matheny said. "China's meat demand is doubling every ten years," he said. "Poultry consumption in India has doubled in the last five years."

Writing in this month's Physics World, British physicist Alan Calvert calculated that the animals eaten by people produce 21 percent of the carbon dioxide that can be attributed to human activity. He recommends people switch to a vegetarian diet as a way to battle global warming.

"Worldwide reduction of meat production in the pursuit of the targets set in the Kyoto treaty seems to carry fewer political unknowns than cutting our consumption of fossil fuels," he said in a statement.

The Kyoto treaty is a global agreement aimed at reducing production of so-called greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that help fuel global warming.

Nearly 250,000 people signed a petition calling for abolition in Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital.

The regional government must now approve the ban, the first of its kind in Spain, for it to become law.

Supporters of the sport, regarded by many as a national pastime, have threatened to take to the streets in protest.

In a secret ballot, 21 councillors voted in favour, 15 against, with two abstentions.

HISTORIC PASTIME

• * One of earliest references dates back to 200 BC in Andalusia
• * Banned by Pope Pius V in 16th century
• * Also popular in Portugal, southern France and Latin America
• * Bulls are specially bred and colour-bind
• *One of most memorable literary portrayals is in Ernest Hemingway's

Death in the Afternoon (1932)

The motion states: Barcelona is an anti-bullfighting city.

The BBC's Danny Wood in Madrid says the vote reflects a feeling that bullfighting is incompatible with Barcelona's image of a city famous for art and architecture.

The aim also expresses a Catalan desire to forge an identity separate from Madrid, he adds.

The vote has inflamed fans of the sport.

Apart from Madrid and Seville, no other city stages more bullfights.

About 100 bulls are killed each year in bullfights in Barcelona's only working bull ring, La Monumental, watched mainly by curious tourists.

However, a city council spokesman told BBC News Online that there has not been a large bullfighting following in the region since the 1960s.

Of the 93 dairy cattle, 55 were bull calves that would have been slaughtered at a young age. The other 38 were females and investigators have found that in November 2004 one animal was a downer cow that tested negative for the disease. Nine additional animals from this group have been found and quarantined. They will be euthanized and tested for BSE this week. That leaves 28 dairy animals of interest still as of yet unidentified.

On the beef cattle side of things, investigators are trying to determine if these animals were exposed to the same risk factors  namely contaminated feed -- or not. In addition, investigators have found that in February 2002 one of these birth cohorts was imported into the United States for immediate slaughter. Officials say there could be others and USDA is working with Canadian officials to determine if any of these other birth cohorts did arrive in the U.S. and if so, what is their current status.

USDA, in collaboration with FDA, is currently tracing the disposition of this one birth cohort known to have crossed the border and will provide further details as they are available.

USDA and FDA have had a strong program in place for years to protect the U.S. livestock population from BSE, said Ron DeHaven, administrator Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service. Import controls on live cattle and certain ruminant products from countries at high risk of BSE were put in place more than 15 months ago.

In 1997, both the United States and Canada finalized animal feed bans, which are the single most important safeguard to prevent the spread of the disease through the cattle population. Public and animal health in the U.S. and Canada have also been protected through ongoing surveillance efforts and inspection of animals at slaughter for neurological signs, and now by the removal of specified risk materials from the human food supply.

Ms. Kubersky and her sister, Sarah, have parlayed their distaste for meat and, for that matter, all goods derived from animals, into a vigorous business selling vegan products - that is, imitation leather shoes, bags and motorcycle jackets - at MooShoes, their boutique in Lower Manhattan. MooShoes, where the best sellers include pointy-toed microfiber dress shoes ($85) and canvas bags, is one in an expanding roster of shops catering to people who, from motives of conscience or style, have banned animal products from their diets and, often, their wardrobes as well.

"I haven't given up wool or silk," said Jen Mazer, a 23-year-old New York Web site designer, "but leather is where I draw the line." Until recently ferreting out stylish vegan clothing and accessories has been a futile exercise. But Ms. Mazer says she's impressed with her new options. "It looks like more designers are realizing that people have become more conscious about the kinds of products they buy," she said.

Dozens of merchants now offer wares that are labeled cruelty free. Pangea in Rockville, Md., sells vegan shoes, bags, wallets and guitar straps; the Web site Vegan Essentials offers hemp shoes and clothes. Vans now includes vegan sneakers in its footwear line. And Stella McCartney, long an activist for animal rights, has added shoes stamped "suitable for vegetarians" to her collection. Her fabric and Lucite pumps are available at Nordstrom.

Vegan products are finding takers not only among the roughly six million Americans who call themselves vegetarians, but also among shoppers attracted to prices that are often 60 percent to 75 percent lower than leather. A spike in demand prompted Earth Shoes to introduce some 15 vegan styles this year. "We are marketing to people who, whether or not they are vegans themselves, would be happy to have stylish vegan products," said Vern Aisner, the company's director of marketing.

High-profile animal rights activists like the actress Alicia Silverstone and the skateboarder Ed Templeton have helped fuel the trend. "Today vegan products appeal to a younger generation that is interested in culture and fashion and has a sense of humor," said Josh Hooten, the publisher of Herbivore, a national quarterly for vegetarians.

All the more reason for the makers of vegan styles to buff up their image. "A lot of people still assume we are granola hippies or that we are overly political," said Jeremy Crown, an owner of Otsu, a San Francisco store selling vegan accessories. But there are no tie-dye products and no harsh slogans on T-shirts. "Hopefully we will change people's minds about what a vegan looks like," he said.