Is it just us or is there alot of contamination and recals on food?

[punkin]

Visit farmer's markets. Then you are supporting your community and the american economy. Plus the more people who go to farmers markets, the more people who see it as profitable, the more people will do it...

Very true. We have a big garden ourselves and try to buy local AMAP. It's just such a shame that large scale farming isn't as profitable as it used to be. I guess fuel prices took way too big a bite this year. I guess you could say our country (as great as it is) isn't as self sufficient as it used to be or as it needs to be now.

 

[1acrefarm]

It does seem alot of food is contaminated.Is it more than usual or are we just looking for it more and have better medical and food testing. Are our immune systems getting weaker because we have become way too germaphobic and never exercising our immune system? We need to think about these things as a society.

 

[RTRChick]

Ghandi once said "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

So I suggest doing your own thing to be more self sufficient, as more people become aware, more will follow. People have just gotten used to the way things are, someone needs to come in and shake things up a bit, then our country will become more self-sufficient. Contact your politicians, they are the ones speaking for you after all.

 

[hoosier]

When I was newly married, my MIL was certain that I was going to poison her son by canning our own food.

 

[MorelCabin]

When I was newly married, my MIL was certain that I was going to poison her son by canning our own food.

Believe me that is high on my list of my own canning fears! Poisoning all of us somehow...

 

[Beekissed]

That's funny, in a way. I grew up on home canned foods, as did my parents before me, and it just wasn't as stressed as a big deal all those years. Not that we hadn't heard of ptomaine poisoning...called summer sickness back in those days...but we weren't ever afraid of eating in this manner. I guess so many folks did eat from their own canned foods back then and everyone was quite adept at canning, so they didn't worry quite so much if it were being done properly.

 

[RTRChick]

Thats actually the reason UA gave us as to why we couldnt have a farmers market on campus at the quad. Although you arent supposed to sell canned food at farmers market, so now I'm confused..

 

[reinbeau]

Local Harvest is a great place to check for local foods, I use it all the time.

As for the contaminations and recalls, it's simple, they're using bad methods to raise what they try to pass off as food. Nevermind the influx of goods from China, where they don't give a fig about individual lives, it's all about their money machine (hmmm, then again, maybe that's true of our own!)

I know some don't have as much to spend on food, but really, think long and hard about stretching a buck with cheap food. In the long run cheap food is going to cost you way more in terms of your health.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I agree that some of the problem is imported food from places without many standards but simply getting food from other places with different bacteria is a problem. A person can develop immunity to their environment but it the different environments keep being imported, something is sooner or later going to get you. There was an ad a few years back about an Indian family vacationing in the US that touted the virtuess of Pepto Bismol for travelers diarrhea. lol
But still what is the purpose of making our own food expensive by regulating the production and processing if we just import cheaper foods without that protection?

We may end up learning to cook everything to death to kill bacteria like people did before the advent of popular antibotics. My father and mother both boiled or steamed vegetables to the level of mush before eating them. I thought for years that all peas were kacki colored naturally.

 

[annmarie]

I don't know if everyone is aware of this but a country-of-origin law was recently passed, and when I went shopping Friday I was already noticing a huge improvement in labeling on fresh and frozen produce.

Many Foods Will Soon Be Labeled by Country of Origin


By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: September 30, 2008
Country-of-origin labeling finally became a reality on Tuesday for meats, produce and some nuts sold in American supermarkets.

But it may be a matter of weeks or months before consumers see the new labels at some grocery chains.

Under the new rule, grocery stores will have to identify the country of origin for meats, produce and certain nuts; seafood is already labeled. Though it took effect on Tuesday, the Agriculture Department gave retailers six months to comply with the new law.

Wal-Mart planned to have many of the labels in place by Tuesday, if not soon thereafter, a spokeswoman said. A Kroger spokeswoman said the company expected to introduce the labels in the coming weeks as store employees and suppliers became familiar with the new law.

Country-of-origin labeling has long been sought by consumer groups, farmers and ranchers, who argue that consumers deserve to know where their food is coming from, at a time of food safety concerns focused on China and elsewhere. But the meat and grocery industries have opposed the rules, saying they would be expensive and burdensome.

Some consumer groups and members of Congress complain that the rule remains too broad because it exempts many processed foods, including roasted nuts and mixed vegetables.