The food we eat and who makes sure it's safe

I didn't intend to make political commentaries when I started this blog. There are plenty of those around anyway, so who needs more? And I'll try to be unbiased in this post, though it involves the safety of something we all rely upon for survival - rich and poor (and those in between) alike - the U.S. food supply. This is something we should all consider when we're trolling the aisles to replenish our pantries, especially in these interesting times that we live in.

Did you know that less than 5 percent of all the cargo imported into the U.S. (edibles included) is inspected? Seriously, did you know this? Many of you might, considering the recent spat over the now-defunct bid for control of our seaports by a Dubai-based company. Yes, the deal was shot down, but the fact remains that very few cargo containers are checked.

Do you remember the brilliant (and, yes, sarcasm is a frequently used device of mine) statement made by former Health and Human Services Department Chief Tommy Thompson about his surprise that terrorists hadn't already targeted our vulnerable food supply? (Way to go, Einstein. Sure we'll vote you in for the next pres. Dumbass!)

Now let's turn our attention, for a moment, to the recent melamine contamination in our pet food supply. Thousands of pets were injured or killed by ingesting food made with the tainted product. (By the way, that shipment was considered safe for human consumption. Did you know that?) It came out, months after the epidemic was uncovered, that the Chinese exporter intentionally added the melamine to the wheat gluten to pump up the protein level and get more money by taking a shortcut. Awesome! You know what's scarier? The FDA, for all it's blustering over taking China to task for the fiasco, still says it can't inspect EVERY import headed for American tables.

And that brings me to the point I touched on at the end of my post yesterday. The U.S. started out as a country whose economy was based on agriculture. Yes, folks, farming. Our country's founders grew cotton, corn, tobacco (okay, admittedly not a healthy example ... but still a historically important crop), etc. As the Industrial Revolution dawned, farming declined and technology increased. Eventually, there were less people willing to work as farmhands than there were office staffers and the like.

The U.S. government began paying farmers subsidies not to grow crops because it was less expensive to import them from other countries. But the FDA can't control the growing conditions in those other countries. And, apparently, they have no time to inspect them when they get here. The result? Our food supply is largely dependent on foreign countries and the people who work there, many times at very small wages and in poor conditions.

Meanwhile, many of the technology jobs are being offshored to these other countries as well, and we have a farming community dependent on illegal immigrant day laborers to do the work because many farmers can't afford, or maybe just don't want, to pay the U.S. minimum wage to American workers. Yet the government still thinks it's a great idea to import foods from other countries. (And China's not the only country to screw with our food supply. Read the article in today's New York Times.)

Perhaps I've condensed this all into a simplistic view of what's going on, but the facts are screaming the story for themselves. Many think the movement toward organic, locally grown/produced foods is just another extension of a trendy movement - costly and unnecessary. (Ah, let's skimp on the price we pay for the food we eat that keeps us healthy and get that big-screen TV we've had our eye on instead).

But I say, can you really afford to be so flippant with your family's food supply? Maybe now, as you browse through your supermarket or grocery store, you'll look a bit closer at the labels and see just how much of your fare actually comes from a far off land.

Just something to think about.

Laurie