- Food « Red Meat
Candidate, Take Two
Red Meat Candidate, Take Two
On September 20 Rep. Michele Bachmann visited the Amend Packing
Company in Des Moines, Iowa. Amend ("Quality Beef Since 1869") is
a family run business owned by Amy and Kent Wiese; according to its
website they process 15-20 head of cattle per week. During her
visit, Bachmann walked among beef carcasses, cut ribeye steaks, spoke
against over regulation and also read a statement on Iranian President
Ahmadinejad. One week earlier the USDA announced expanded testing
for E. coli, a move opposed by the meat industry (+). According to news accounts,
Bachmann did not address specific regulations but stated, "We want to
have safety. But we also want to have common sense." While
cutting the steaks she noted that her grandfather had owned a meat
market in Northeast Iowa.
Not surprisingly some in the news media had a bit of fun with the
event. Sample headines on the web included:
USA Today - "Bachmann has a beef with
government rules"
ABC News 'The Note' - "Bachmann’s Meaty Moment on the Campaign
Trail"
NBC News 'First Read' - "Where's the beef? Bachmann holds event at
beef company in IA"
Also, HuffPost featured a photo of Bachmann walking an aisle of beef carcasses, inviting readers to "CAPTION THIS: Michele Bachmann's Meat & Greet?"