Is the food really that unsafe?

(Please excuse me if this post seems unusual; it is my first of hopefully many.)

There are two links that I’ve read today that got me thinking:

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/04/will-food-safety-law-be-toothless-without-funding/

http://www.radioiowa.com/2011/01/06/harkin-says-republican-block-of-food-safety-bill-may-be-a-bluff/

Is the food supply really that bad? Are thousands of people in Iowa really getting sick every year from food poisoning? How has this not been a huge media frenzy? I’m not going to lie; I am not upset in the slightest that the FSMA may get blocked by the Republican party via severing of funds.

Many laws are written in a very ambiguous manner which leaves itself open to interpretation by those that enforce it. The problem with that is an inspection can very easily become more “Who you know,” instead of, “Are you doing things in an proper and acceptable manner”, the latter of which is how it should be. However, I am doubtful of how inspections will be carried out.

Perhaps I am being cynical. Maybe the government really is trying to do what is best for this country. But all signs point to no, as it were.

There are organizations, such as the Weston A. Price Foundation, that are dedicated to protecting small farmers from the overbearing government bureaucracy. Larger farms, or more specifically industrial agriculture companies, can afford to hire lawyers and to fight legal battles for them. The average projected farm income in the United States for 2010 is $83,194. Wow! That’s great, isn’t it?

But wait… let’s take a closer look at that number.

A majority of that amount is generated via off-farm income. The actual farm itself is forecast to have accounted for 13 percent of Total Household Income for 2010. So, how much lawyering do you think you can get for that? More than what the government (federal or state) is going to throw at you? Certainly not.

When you really dig down, you find that the average farmer cannot possibly contend with an agency that has more power than it has common sense. They just don’t have the resources. And so you have farmers that just fold up shop, call it quits, and we all lose a valuable resource. We have been slowly losing touch with where our food comes from. Up until the past few years I myself really didn’t think about where that cheeseburger came from. How that cow that was the origin of the milk I drank was doing. But a little bit of research goes a long way, which is why we are slowly but surely doing our best to become more self-sufficient. Not only that, but to be able to provide offerings to those that cannot or do not have the resources available to have their own farm, whether that be time, space, or capital (and in thinking about it, time is the scarcest of them all).

This next year our farm is expanding to have ducks, turkeys, and more chickens. Possibly even some cattle and pigs, if we can manage it. The industrial food complex that we all rely on just doesn’t suit me any further. I hope to see more growth in the farm sector, but the government (which is funded by taxes of which Big Ag pays a lot) would rather have less small farms. The marketplace just doesn’t care very much for competition, and when that is the case the consumer loses.

My original question was whether or not food is really that unsafe. It depends on the source, I suppose. Large factories can get away with a lot more than the small farmer can. If you look at the stories about food poisoning scares, one of these are present:

1. The food came from a factory farm or facility.
2. The food was improperly prepared.

Small farmers must take great care to keep their food safe. They discover a potential problem, and they remedy the problem. Same thing with the small abattoir, they cannot afford to have any sort of issues that would cause a loss of business and/or lawsuit.

Large operations, on the other hand will create a band-aid fix for the problem, such as rinsing out ground beef with ammonia to kill off bacteria that could have been contracted at some point in the trip through the factory, whether it be from improper handling, personnel hygiene issues, cross-contamination, a contaminated animal, etc. Because it’s more economical to perform that one particular addition than it is to track down and resolve the original issue.

I would hope that you, the one reading this, will take a moment and dig into a story you read about a case of food poisoning. You will likely find that the source was a large industrial production farm or facility, and yes, that can even include organics, because many of the BigAg producers have started up their own and/or bought out organic production facilities. Some of the organics come from overseas (China). If you haven’t already, check out Food Inc. and The Future of Food in order to gain a better understanding of the difference between large industrial production farms and smaller, sustainable facilities. Find out of there is a food co-op or community supported agriculture group in your area that you can join and benefit from sustainably produced, responsibly raised foods. Look for a farm in your area at http://localharvest.org or http://eatwild.com/ and support local food. Dealing face-to-face with those who produced it will offer you a greater appreciation of the food (and it usually tastes better, too!) Raise your awareness of the food you eat and you will only benefit from doing so.

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