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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Bill S510

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  • From: Leslie Moyer <unschooler AT lrec.org>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Bill S510
  • Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:21:58 -0500

On 9/11/10 9:34 AM, Richard Stewart wrote:
B8FF0E75-7D69-4521-AA32-050B45C19B13 AT zoomtown.com" type="cite">Finally, I think we need to ask ourselves, do we pass legislation in this nation to guarantee no one dies EVER except from old age?  Do we eliminate inground pools, cars, firearms, sharp sticks, sidewalks with ice and snow?  Do we wrap Americans in bubblewrap?  Food born illness accounts for a fraction of a fraction of fraction of deaths of the population: .0000167% if my math is correct.  Yes I think companies that break the rules and play fast and loose to achieve profits over safety need to get hammered when they cause debilitating injuries or death.  I, however, question the wisdom of a government that promotes cheap mass produced food AND is attempt to force us all into the same mold through continuous regulation, documentation, and fees.

This is an older thread, but I'm catching up on email today.  I might not have agreed with this even a year ago, but I do now.  A year ago I would have wanted more regulation for "them" and less for "us" but these days I'm leaning towards a cautious approach toward more regulation for all of us.  It just seems like pouring money down a rat hole....  I think food safety incidents can only act as a tipping point toward people wanting to know where their food comes from.  The fact of the matter is that anonymous food produced on a huge scale can never be safe--no matter how much regulation we have. 

As Richard points out, life itself carries risks.  (He left out automobiles, which is one of the leading causes of death, yet one we happily accept as a necessity of modern life.)  Even food produced on a small scale WILL carry risks.  It certainly did 100, 200 years ago and it does today.  We can't delude ourselves into thinking that if we only got rid of big factory farms (and all that they entail), our food supply would suddenly be safe.  If we do, then it will be small farmers that will be under the gun next time and we don't have the money to fight legislation like the big guys do.

I think the answer, instead, is to fight reasonably against the anonymity of our food system and to demand to know where our food comes from.  But most importantly, to realize--and help everyone else realize--that the government is--and always will be--poorly equipped to regulate food safety.....that every family must once again take that responsibility into their own hands. 

I have taken that responsibility now and I honestly can NOT purchase meat from a grocery store anymore. There have been times I *wanted* to--needed the meat for company, for example--and just cannot bring myself to do so. We don't raise our own meat animals yet, but I purchase 100% of our meat either from the farmers market or from the Oklahoma Food Coop, which is 100% locally grown and processed at small processors. I get physically ill when I think about trying to eat meat from the grocery store anymore.  If everyone knew what I knew about factory farms and about industrial meat processing, then we wouldn't NEED government regulation to change things.

As far as food safety goes.....there are 2 types of food safety....the one that will kill you directly and/or quickly (salmonella or e.coli, for example) and the one that will kill you slowly (growth hormones or antibiotics, for example).  When these topics of "food safety" come up in the media they have focused on the things that kill you directly or quickly and that has often led to MORE of the things that kill you slowly.  For example, chickens have salmonella on their bodies during processing, so they dunk them in a chlorine bath.  No one is talking about things like growth hormones and antibiotics when they talk about food safety.  I'd rather purchase food grown without hormones and antibiotics and then practice good hygiene at home for the other issues that I *do* have control over.

Anyway....that's my long rant, but for myself I've decided to be very careful about insisting on more food safety regulation for "them" as I think it will eventually backfire on "us" if we're not careful.  As Richard said, I'm certainly in favor of punishing those who deliberately flaunt the rules....but it's very difficult to figure out how to draw the line between "them" and "us" and we should think carefully about whether that's the kind of legislation we want or if some other approach would work better.

--Leslie (whose husband works in risk management)







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