Heather talks to Amaltheia Organic Dairy farmer Melvin Brown and Iowa black hog farmer Neil Kirkhart.

What goes into meat inspection? Find out on another informative episode of "What Doesn't Kill You", as Katy Keiffer chats with Ted Conover, the author of five books, most recently The Routes of Man, about roads, and Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, an account of his ten months spent working as a corrections officer at New York's Sing Sing Prison. Newjack won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2001 and was finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His other books are Whiteout: Lost in Aspen, Coyotes: A Journey Across Borders With America's Illegal Migrants, ( and Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails With America's Hoboes. In recent years he has taught at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the University of Oregon. He contributes to publications including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. Most recently he published “The Way of All Flesh”, the cover story for this months Harpers Magazine about working as a USDA inspector in a meatpacking plant in Nebraska. This program was sponsored by Tabard Inn.

"They need inspectors at lots of small town slaughterhouses - these spots are not always easy to fill." [03:00]

"The machinery is all about the interface between industry and life." [15:00]

"The abscesses begin when the cattle's diet changes from grass. The bacteria that results from that makes ulcers in the cattle's stomachs and livers. The antibiotic is used to control those abscesses." [16:00]

--author/journalist Ted Conover on What Doesn't Kill You

Welcome to another episode of Straight, No Chaser! On this week's installment, Katy Keiffer is talking with Raoul Baxter of R.J.B. World Wide, and formerly of Smithfield Foods Company. Today's theme is the commercial meat industry; topics range from health regulation to growth promotion. Tune in to hear Katy and Raoul discuss the need for transparency in the beef industry, the phenomenon of 'stress meat', and the pink slime controversy. The discussion also touches on antibiotics in commercial cattle feed and ethanol production, as well as the need for the beef industry to turn a profit while considering public health. Will cuts to subsidies from The Farm Bill cause beef prices to rise? And is there a way to meet the demand for beef internationally without feeding cattle grain? Find out the answers on this week's Straight, No Chaser! This program has been brought to you by White Oak Pastures.

"As you look at all the programs that go on, from different groups...it seems like you're having a government convention at each plant everyday. The question becomes, 'How much information do you need to make a decision [about beef safety]?'"

"Humanity and good business go hand in hand."

"It's the most difficult thing to do - raising cattle on grass."

-- Raoul Baxter on Straight, No Chaser