Food Safety

Although, I'm never excited to hear anyone from The Center for Science in the Public Interest, listening to their representative this evening reminded me of how important it is to actively repulse these people and their machine of disinformation. Federal control of our food supply won't make us safer, but likely increase the risk. The public is mostly unaware of how real food has been marginalized and driven into the black market. Not everyone wants processed (stomped on) foodstuff that is at the heart of the food industry. Not all of us are lazy. We retain our right to enjoy fresh, real, wholesome food! Food safety? Not while the food corporations and their pet politicians have control.

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Permalink Reply by John Antonelli on July 9, 2009 at 7:26am: My thinking is that if it has mold on it, you should throw it away.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Elisabeth Hartline on July 9, 2009 at 9:58am: Maybe, then maybe you shouldn't be so wasteful. We can certainly keep that portion which is still fresh and healthful. We're too "babyish" about our food. I'd rather take my chances with the mold, than with processed "cheese product."

John Antonelli said:
My thinking is that if it has mold on it, you should throw it away.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John Antonelli on July 9, 2009 at 11:07am: So I can eat the mold? Cool!!!!

I hate to waste food and was only throwing the stuff out because someone said I should. I still regret that 10 year old aged paramesian that someone made me toss.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Hewitt Rose on July 9, 2009 at 11:12am: You seem to be going two ways at the same time. On the one hand, you are angry at how our for-profit free enterprise system of food supply has resulted in over-processed and unsafe food. On the other hand, you reject federal regulation as counter productive. But without federal regulation, we are left with a free enterprise system of food supply.

Federal regulation of food started as a direct result of Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle about gross abuses in the meat packing industry. Aimed at capitalist abuse of workers, the book's documentation of the foul conditions of meat production revolted the public. Regulation is necessary, because the consumer lacks information about how the food is prepared; a necessary condition for a free market is missing. Federal regulation is necessary, because food is sold across state lines.

It is true that bad regulation can be counter productive. That's what we had during the Bush administrative when the foxes were put in charge of the hen house. Bush's predatory politics was a more extreme realization of an underlying problem with regulation: the regulated quickly learn how to capture the regulators through politics, lobbying, and favors. For an example see the Washington Post's recent article on how the USDA has turned the label "organic" into a meaningless joke. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/07/AR2... Captured regulation can be worse than no regulation, but I don't think that is the case with food regulation, at least, not yet.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John Antonelli on July 9, 2009 at 11:31am: Hewit Rose, we need to get back to the central issue. Can you eat food with mold on it?

Hewitt Rose said:
You seem to be going two ways at the same time. On the one hand, you are angry at how our for-profit free enterprise system of food supply has resulted in over-processed and unsafe food. On the other hand, you reject federal regulation as counter productive. But without federal regulation, we are left with a free enterprise system of food supply.

Federal regulation of food started as a direct result of Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle about gross abuses in the meat packing industry. Aimed at capitalist abuse of workers, the book's documentation of the foul conditions of meat production revolted the public. Regulation is necessary, because the consumer lacks information about how the food is prepared; a necessary condition for a free market is missing. Federal regulation is necessary, because food is sold across state lines.

It is true that bad regulation can be counter productive. That's what we had during the Bush administrative when the foxes were put in charge of the hen house. Bush's predatory politics was a more extreme realization of an underlying problem with regulation: the regulated quickly learn how to capture the regulators through politics, lobbying, and favors. For an example see the Washington Post's recent article on how the USDA has turned the label "organic" into a meaningless joke. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/07/AR2... Captured regulation can be worse than no regulation, but I don't think that is the case with food regulation, at least, not yet.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Elisabeth Hartline on July 9, 2009 at 6:27pm: I suppose that I do sound dualistic, but truth is, I do not trust that the regulations currently being put forth are working in the right direction. Our problems with the food supply appear to be an excuse to centralize and stomp out the little annoyances (unpasteurized milk comes to mind) that have been pestering our government agencies. As you stated, the USDA ended up turning organic labeling into a meaningless joke. So, whom do we trust? I trust my network of neighborhood food producers and providers. And, they don't need regulation.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Elisabeth Hartline on July 9, 2009 at 6:40pm: Oh, I like you! Gee whiz, don't let anyone make you throw away good cheese!

John Antonelli said:
So I can eat the mold? Cool!!!!

I hate to waste food and was only throwing the stuff out because someone said I should. I still regret that 10 year old aged paramesian that someone made me toss.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John Antonelli on July 9, 2009 at 8:42pm: Welcome to The Conversation Elizabeth; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Hewitt Rose on July 10, 2009 at 1:42pm: Why do you have so much trust for your neighborhood food producers and providers? If you have a reasonable basis, can that be a workable basis for the rest of us? There has to be a better way than choosing between the poisons of an unregulated market and captured regulation.

Elisabeth Hartline said:
I suppose that I do sound dualistic, but truth is, I do not trust that the regulations currently being put forth are working in the right direction. Our problems with the food supply appear to be an excuse to centralize and stomp out the little annoyances (unpasteurized milk comes to mind) that have been pestering our government agencies. As you stated, the USDA ended up turning organic labeling into a meaningless joke. So, whom do we trust? I trust my network of neighborhood food producers and providers. And, they don't need regulation.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amy Moreno on July 10, 2009 at 4:26pm: Have you heard of:

H.R. 875 (S 425): Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
H.R. 814: Trace Act of 2009

http://www.masslpa.org/node/318

The believe is these bills will add such a cost to growing local organic food, that only the big industrialized farms who are causing all of the food safety problems in the first place will be able to afford to operate.

Congress did the exact same thing to protect children from poisonous toys from China. They introduced the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. This bill made it so each toy had to be tested, including ones made by mom and pop shops instead of just putting the burden on imports from China.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/02/business/fi-thrift2

If you would like more information on these bills that will drive hometown organic farmers out of business, and if you would like to contact Congress, check out http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum996.php; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Christopher on July 10, 2009 at 7:20pm: I trust my local farmers, whom I buy from every saturday at the farmers' market. I can talk to them about how they farm, what seeds they use (heritage etc). That is all the regulation I need--at least for vegetables!
The organic industry definitely needs to have tighter control. The larger businesses edging into the organic market do not really hold up the ideals of organic: local, sustainable, genetic diversity, no pesticides, chemicals, humane practices. Thanks to government "regulations" these ideals are being sacrificed for the almighty buck. We are not as bad as the EU though which just repealed their long ban on tomatoes that were ugly and knobby cucumbers! People will definitely sacrifice taste for looks when it comes to vegetables!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Christopher on July 10, 2009 at 7:22pm: mold on cheese actually can still be eaten! Just cut off the moldy part and one inch around it for hard cheeses and 2 inches for soft and the rest is still good, sometimes even better.; ▶ Reply to This