Why Not Precaution?

I recently followed an exchange on RISKANAL listserver (you can find it off of Riskworld) contrasting the bioterrorist threat to food supply, beef specifically, with the normal microbiological threat associated with the supply chain. The discussion ranged from the various hazards (E.coli in beef and BSE) to the nature of the threat (we probably wouldn’t notice much of a terrorist incident with the beef supply because it’s pretty contaminated anyway. . .) to what can be done about it (cook your hamburgers and close the border to Canadian beef). The one thread I didn’t see taken up was the possible benefits of a precautionary principle approach where you limit your beef consumption, consume only grass-raised, locally grown livestock, or curtail it altogether. You could achieve multiple benefits of improved health and nutrition, coupled with a reduced burden on ecosystem services.

I suspect that the precautionary principle is a topic that secretly scares people in the same manner as endocrine disruptors. I wonder if the disdain for it held by many well-off, conservative pro-business types is a mask for their fears of having to give up their indolent, resource-sucking, pollutant-spewing lifestyles for the sake of the planet and future generations.