First shipment of US beef banned in South Korea

"South Korea has banned the first shipment of US beef to arrive following a three-year ban, after a small piece of bone was found in violation of an agreement to combat mad cow disease."

I realize that the above headline holds little, if any, interest for the average American. Perhaps, those who raise cattle or who have a livelihood that is in some way connected with the beef industry will have the most interest. But as an American living in South Korea, I can tell you that the article I read about South Korea banning a shipment of 8.9 tons of U.S. beef because a "peanut-sized" bone fragment was found in one of these packages is quite disappointing and ironic.

First, it is disappointing because in a country the size of the state of Indiana and which is about 70% mountainous, home-grown beef is quite expensive. In fact, the average cost of Korean-raised beef is near 8 to 10 times the cost of its U.S. equivalent. You can, however, buy beef imported from Australia for only 4 times the cost, but this is hardly what I would consider to be cheap. Fortunately, as my wife and I discussed earlier today, I have yet to have in my nine months in Korea a well-prepared steak or hamburger. Twice my family has been struck with illness of the most unmentionable kind because of our associations with Korean-prepared steaks or hamburgers. And even when these risky meals don't involve convulsive trips to the bathroom, they still utterly lack in their preparation. Last Saturday I ordered a Texas ribeye steak at a Bennigan's restaurant (this was not on my dime, in case you were wondering). I ordered the steak "medium-well tem-pu-la-tur", as the waiter put it. Now I'm certain that if one were to divide this steak into about 4 equal quadrants, sample the temperature from each, and then average these 4 samplings, the mean temperature would probably somewhere near whatever the indicated range is for "medium-well". However, there would be absolutely no continuity among these 4 quadrants. One section could be (and in fact was), charred to crispiness, while another would be (and in fact was), blood raw. Needless to say, the experience does not merit the exorbitant cost. So even if the influx of U.S. beef resulted in a lower average cost of beef products, it would have very little effect on the whole eating-out experience.

The second reason the article surprised me is because of its extreme irony. In Korea, finding a peanut-sized piece of bone is not only common, it is almost expected. Just last week as I was eating lunch in the cafeteria at work, I experienced this phenomenon. Some type of bulgogi (sliced and marinated beef) was on the menu. As I sat enjoying my bulgogi, spitting out the peanut-sized pieces of bone and gristle which accompanied the majority of pieces and having formed an already sizeable pile of bone and cartilage on my tray, something became distinctly obvious to me. I was the only one who had such a bone pile on his tray. Was it just a lack of luck on my part? Do I have some type of hidden propensity for choosing the lowest cuts of beef? Am I the least qualified person ever to become an inspector for the USDA? I stood in the same line as everyone else. I used the same serving utensil as they did. But the trays of the people before me and after me in line were completely unblemished. Then I realized the truth. It is not that they hadn't picked-up any peanut sized bone pieces, but rather that it didn't bother them to ingest this in the way it bothers my Americanized pallet. So to think that less than 50 KM away from where I live there is an 8.9 ton-sized barbecue of USDA prime which no one will be allowed to enjoy because of one peanut-sized bone fragment is ironic.