| Here's what he wrote:
There are those who blame the tainted food supply from China on an insufficiently gargantuan U.S. army of food inspectors. A much simpler solution is to consume goods produced as locally as possible -- there is no law preventing that, and there is no law preventing local producers from proudly labeling their goods accordingly. If consumers vote with their dollars and preferentially use foods from local sources, a healthier food supply and a healthier local economy results.
First, we need the FDA. It's easy to say that the market will steer consumers towards safer food sources, but the unspoken in that statement is that, in order to steer the market, consumers will have to have eaten consumed contaminated foods. That means sick people. That means dead people, especially children and seniors. IMHO, eating should not be a game of Russian roulette. We should have a safe food supply.
Second, the FDA used to to work, until the Republican party got its hands on it and ruthlessly politicized it. "Deregulation." That means voluntary reporting, overlooking industry abuses, and generally sabotaging bureaucracy to support corporate profits.
That is, the FDA's failures are not the result of some inherent characteristic of government, they are the result of applied conservatism. (The fate FDA and FEMA and the bodies they've left behind is evidence that politics do matter. And, yes, there is a consequence to voting poorly.)
Third, what's left out of MH's post is the fact that 'free' trade contributed to contaminants entering our food system. Does our 'free' trade pact with China and Mexico include provisions that guarantees products entering the U.S. market are made with labor working in humane conditions? Does our 'free' trade pact guarantee that Chinese and Mexican food processing plants are following reasonable health and safety guidelines? No, but our 'free' trade pact does protect intellectual property. So big business protects its products while we get contaminated lettuce and peanut butter and mushrooms and summer sausage and ham steaks and pet food and...
Well, you get the idea.
Food produced and processed in the United States is generally safer, largely because of the rules and regulations (albeit, shrinking, thanks to the Bush administration) ensuring healthy and safe and sanitary working conditions.
In the end, while I certainly advocate eating locally, it's pretty durn difficult to accomplish given today's economic structure. Most of us buy our food at the supermarket, which imports food from all over the world. There isn't a food-processing industry in Montana anymore, thanks to historically cheap fuel prices and all our 'free' trade pacts. So if you want to live off of locally-produced food, you'll have to scrounge. (That was the subject of Bill McKibben's "The 100-Mile Diet.") I'm hopeful we can grow our food-processing industry locally again -- fuel prices are growing, and there's a rising tide of sentiment against "free" trade.
In the meantime, let's advocate for fair trade, country-of-origin labeling, and re-empowerment of the FDA and bring back a safe food supply. |
