A New Food System
Comment A New Food System Winter is upon us and I can no longer enjoy visits to the farmers' market to buy locally grown produce. I miss the berries and the zucchini blossoms, but more than...
...From now until November 4, 2008, a few thousand people are likely to die from food poisoning...
...Harkin's bill could be a step in the right direction...
...In this election cycle, it's spreading its largesse among the leading Presidential contenders...
...I fear, though, that food isn't important to the Presidential candidates except when sipping milkshakes in Dubuque...
...The U.S...
...Congress must stand up for the consumer, rather than the industries it has become beholden to...
...If we want to be certain of the quality of our food, we need publicly financed campaigns...
...Metz Fresh shipped spinach before the company's testing confirmed the presence of salmonella...
...We need radical reform...
...Dole Foods recalled packages of its "Hearts Delight" romaine lettuce brand sold in nine U.S...
...We need national standards and better oversight...
...Instead, a patchwork of largely unenforceable rules and the producers themselves regulate the $1.5 billion industry...
...Best practices include frequently testing water and soil and creating buffers between growing areas and cattle ranches...
...Neither agency has the power to recall products...
...food supply," says Harkin...
...The FDA has authority to require recalls only for infant formula...
...She said she was dismayed by the Presidential candidates and has vowed not to vote for anyone who doesn't address the dreadful state of the food system...
...The industry lobbied hard to police itself with voluntary food safety guidelines...
...There have been no reports of anyone becoming sick from these products...
...California's Central Valley is the salad bowl of the nation, supplying the bulk of leafy greens sold at supermarkets...
...I now face the daunting prospect of buying greens trucked in from somewhere, most likely California...
...die each year due to food-borne illnesses...
...Raw vegetables have actually surpassed meat as the primary culprit for food-borne illness...
...Who will develop an energy policy that addresses the fact that transporting food across the country burns nearly a fifth of all petroleum consumed in the United States...
...Every time E. coli shows up in a bag of prewashed greens or in frozen hamburger patties, our Congressional representatives mumble about safeguarding our food system...
...But we also need to rethink our whole food system...
...of these, 15 percent suffered kidney failure...
...More than 205 people in twenty-six states also became ill...
...It would be refreshing if a candidate stopped acting tough on terrorism for one minute and started talking about something closer to home, as close as the dinner table...
...Food guru Alice Waters told The New York Times that a total overhaul is needed, and it must be led by the President of the United States...
...The nation's largest producer of frozen hamburgers shut its doors in October, six days after it issued the second-largest beef recall in U.S...
...But government regulators failed to increase inspections or to create new laws...
...Department of Agriculture branch that prevents animal diseases gets almost twice the funding as the FDA receives to safeguard produce...
...And it was the New York State Department of Health that found the problem, not the feds...
...Produce caused nearly twice as many multistate outbreaks than meat from 1990-2004, but the funding has not caught up to this trend," reports AP...
...Farm district representatives blocked that proposal...
...The bill seeks to remedy this, and also requires more frequent inspections to prevent future E. coli outbreaks...
...Metz Fresh, a grower and shipper based in the Central Valley, recalled 8,000 cartons of fresh spinach sullied with salmonella...
...They suggest recalls...
...Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA...
...But we need more than hope and a prayer to solve this crisis...
...None have died, but at least one suffered kidney failure...
...After all, 5,000 people in the U.S...
...The company regrets that its patties had been linked to illnesses...
...But here's an additional argument: Safe food could save jobs...
...A little more than a year ago, three people died from eating spinach contaminated with E. coli...
...So it was with dismay that I read about yet another recall of spinach grown in California this past September...
...But if salad growers or handlers violate these new guidelines, they are not subject to any fines, they are not punishable under state law, and they may be allowed to keep selling their products, reports AP...
...states and in Canada after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found E. coli in a sample...
...We are all so dependent upon the Golden State for our food supply...
...Canadian health inspectors found it in a random test...
...The non-obligatory, "best practices" program, which the vast majority of leafy green producers joined, officially began in California on July 23...
...California State Senator Dean Florez sponsored a bill earlier this year that would have created mandatory state regulations and stiff penalties for the industry...
...I miss the berries and the zucchini blossoms, but more than anything I miss the spinach...
...There were calls for stepped-up inspections of leafy greens in light of last year's E. coli outbreak...
...Even Representative DeLauro, who co-sponsored the Food Safety Act, has received campaign contributions for the 2007-2008 election cycle from the following Political Action Committees: Campbell Soup Company ($1,000), Cargill ($1,000), Florida Citrus Mutual ($1,000), Ice Cream, Milk and Cheese ($1,000), National Broiler Council ($1,000), National Cattlemen's Beef Association ($1,000), National Chicken Council ($1,000), National Meat Association ($1,000), Sugar Cane Grower Association ($1,000), United Fresh Produce Association ($1,000), USA Rice Federation ($1,000), Land O' Lakes ($2,500), and the United Egg Association ($6,000...
...Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, has introduced legislation to establish national standards for all fresh produce and to step up inspections...
...The Safe Food Act has languished in Congress...
...Eighty-seven people have lost their jobs at the New Jersey-based Topps Meat Company...
...It may be too soon to tell if this voluntary program is working but this much we do know: Dole's own testing, which has increased since the 2006 recall, did not detect the E. coli contamination...
...The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that thirty people in eight states had E. coli infections matching the strain found in the Topps hamburgers...
...We hope and pray for the full recovery of those individuals," said Topps executive Anthony D'Urso in a statement...
...Why can't we come up with a better one that takes into account environmental, health, and labor concerns...
...Currently, the government's oversight duties are split between the U.S...
...Since 1996, the food industry has donated more generously to Republicans than to Democrats, about 70 percent to the GOP and 30 percent to the Dems...
...Topps admitted that much of the meat had already been eaten by the time the company announced a recall on September 29...
...history...
...This September, two companies recalled tainted leafy greens...
...How about debating the merits of a food system that makes us sick...
...It is increasingly clear that the Food and Drug Administration lacks the resources and the authority to ensure the safety of the U.S...
...Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, introduced the Safe Food Act of 2007, which would put all food safety responsibilities under a single new food safety administrator...
...Not much gets done...
...The USDA was aware of the possibility of E. coli contamination as far back as July 5, but it didn't suggest a recall until September 26...
...Elizabeth DiNovella...
...It's been introduced in five consecutive Congressional sessions, but it never gets anywhere...
...The health of the American public should be enough to ensure passage...
Vol. 71 • December 2007 • No. 12
