According to conventional cattle raising, be it for slaughter of for milking, the cow and the ox are considered food processing machines that should take what is fed to them, be it food or medicines, and transform them in ever increasing productions of meat and milk, until they can no longer function. Problems on the animal’s bone structure or metabolism are seen as aberrations to be eliminated no matter the cost, even if it implies on shortening the animal’s useful life. This happens because the system is directed to deal only with effects, ignoring the causes.

The "mad cow" disease, so abundantly diffused in the media, is not an isolated fact; it is a symptom of this mentality: animals are treated with a diet based on concentrated rations containing animal protein, that is, rations made with bone and blood flour instead of a diet based in the available fodder found in pastures. The result is an increase of stress which clears the path to diseases. It is not a matter of rejecting bovine meat, which is essentially healthy; the disease comes from the disrespect to the animal’s nature.

On the other hand, when the producer treats his herd with respect, thinking of the animal’s well being, besides preventing a series of physiological and behavioral disturbances (which generate diseases) he will be allowing the animal to realize its potential to produce meat and milk without wearing out its organism. Because the animal, more than ‘beefs" and udders, should be seen as whole, as prescribed in the organic agriculture. In the organic agriculture there are no "machines", only live beings that provide people with food, deserving therefore a dignified treatment.