Food, safe food: Hello, Pres. Obama? Little help, here?
By Gina Spadafori
December 13, 2008
Pretty obvious to any of the regular readers here that the rolling waves of pet-food recalls and the thousands of pets killed by tainted Chinese ingredients have had a lasting effect on my world view. Honestly, there have been times when I have mused about completely flipping my focus as a writer and reporter to covering food and agriculture policy. Yes, I am that wonky.
Our current ag-food system is not only environmentally deadly, but also unsustainable and a severe risk to our public health. That’s true not only “accidentally” (if you consider the inevitable results of bad policy an “accident”) but also intentionally — if you were a terrorist wanting to kill a lot of people, the food supply is centralized enough to make it easy.
By hey, no need: We’re killing ourselves, with cheap, unhealthy processed food loaded with high-fructose corn syrup and more nasty stuff.
But a lot of people are now seeing the light. Case in point: NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff’s column asking for the cabinet position for “agriculture” be changed to “food” has been a top-read article all week.
Want an even more eye-opening read? I just finished it: Joel Salatin’s “Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal,” a sustainable farmer’s well-documented lament about how an entrenched bureaucracy designed to favor large agri-business is keeping American family farmers from providing regional markets with humanely and sustainably raised livestock and healthy varied crops. And no, it doesn’t have to cost more. Read it and get ready to have your idealogical ox gored: Salatin blasts everyone, left, right and center, for the mess. This guy is a Libertarian with a Triple-cap “L, ” as in “leave me alone to do what’s right.”
It all started with dead pets and melamine. I hope it ends with a significant trend to American family farms practicing sustainable, humane husbandry and safe, healthier food for us all. Salatin’s is one of the voices that might lead the way.
If only someone will listen.
Speaking of problems with our food supply . . .irradiation is being touted as a way to deal with contamination in meat. In Australia, irradiation of imported Orijen cat food (a policy of that country) resulted in neurological disease and death in cats who ate the irradiated food. Take a look at this link:
http://www.championpetfoods.co.....elease.pdf
Comment by Kristi — December 13, 2008 @ 10:58 am
Yikes Kristi! That’s truly frightening.
Comment by 2CatMom — December 13, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
I find it unsettling that 294,000 babies could be affected by melamine and not much is said. Where’s the outrage? The FDA sets ‘safe’ limits for our food and formula, still no outrage. Why no news on the melamine veggies and eggs? Or that soy is suspect? And now they want us to eat more fish and not worry about mercury (what about other toxins in fish from certain countries?!)and feed more to children. And then there is the recent reversal on the ban of certain antibiotic use in livestock.
A question that keeps popping up in my mind is “Are they NUTS?!”
There’s an ongoing discussion over at itchmo about the cat food problem in AU if anyone wants info. Looks of good links in the discussion:
http://itchmoforums.com/news-r.....985.0.html
also at cat-world out of AU:
http://www.cat-world.com.au/fo.....opic=87540
Mass produced food should really carry the warning label: “Eat at your own risk.”
Comment by straybaby — December 13, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
So glad you wrote about this. Some of the names I’ve seen floated for the post just seem like more of the same.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — December 13, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
How interesting that Jack Block and Ann Veneman now think that USDA should be renamed. As I recall, efforts to do so on their watch went absolutely nowhere.
Comment by Susan — December 13, 2008 @ 7:31 pm
Doesn’t Salatin make most of his income from his booksales and lectures?
Not that I’m saying his message is wrong, jst that he may or may not be the best model for sustainable ag.
Comment by Cait — December 13, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
I found several Dept. of Defense Melamine-recall ALFOODACT messages (which contain specific information and instructions on how to identify and dispose of recalled product) reading…
“Ships at sea are authorized to destroy or dispose of recalled products at their discretion.”
Is Melamine being dumped at sea?
Comment by Joy — December 14, 2008 @ 5:11 am
“If only someone will listen. “
Boy Gina you’ve got that right…it has been like screaming in our sleep! But since the squeaky wheel gets the oil….lets keep screaming!
Comment by Carol V — December 14, 2008 @ 7:22 am
If you haven’t seen this site, you might be interested in checking it out. http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/
Comment by Anne T — December 14, 2008 @ 5:15 pm