hi there-
so here we are in week 7,000 (or so it feels) of the salmonella scare and no one seems to know what's up or what food is the 'culprit,' as the media now refers to our produce. first, it was tomatoes...now it's chili peppers...what's next, broccoli, lettuce? it seems to me that we are spending a lot of time looking at our veggies and trying to find out why they are attacking us instead of looking at the real 'culprit.'
how do we think our produce could possibly get contaminated with salmonella anway? it's almost exclusively a problem of animal food, so what's up? has anyone looked at the water that runs from feedlots onto farmland to see if maybe that is the source?
remember the 'tops' beef recall? what a joke. within minutes (or so it seemed) of the announcement that all these tons of meat were tainted, the u.s.d.a., f.d.a. and all the other 'd.a.'s' were on the news assuring us that america still had the safest meat supply in the world and we should go on guzzling burgers.
now think back to the spinach recall of a few years back. where were the f.d.a. and u.s.d.a. guys then? no one defended this tender little green, whose growers have still not recovered from the blow of this contamination of their crops...and reputation. perhaps the spinach lobby is not so strong and powerful as the meat cattle ranchers lobby.
the biggest joke of this 'tomato scare' is that no one has examined how most people eat their tomatoes in the first place. yes, a small percentage eat them in salads, but tomatoes are most often served as toppings to...burgers! but i guess the meat lobby can't have another problem so soon after the largest beef recall in our history.
it's time we woke up and demanded better from all the agencies that were founded to protect us and our food. for these people to appear on the news each and every night and say that they just don't have the answer; that they just can't find the source of the contamination of our vegetables is way beyond unacceptable. they must think that we're morons.
perhaps we need to consider this idea...crazy as it may sound to you. when meat was an issue, it was quickly resolved. but as more and more people are turning to vegetables for real nutrients and not eating so many dead animals, suddenly, our produce crops are hazardous to our health...and our meat is safe.
i'm not a conspiracy nut by any means, but something stinks here.
talk to you soon.
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I'll say it. The majority of Americans are under the illusion that the DA's are looking out for the public good. Nothing can be further from the truth. Corporate agribusiness, pharmaceutical and insurance executives and lobbyists have been appointed to key decision making positions in the DA's. This part of the reason for GMO's (with no product labeling), still allowing high fructose corn syrup, nitrates and nitrites in our food supply. Americans need to take it to Congress to restore the integrity of the DA's to benefit the public good and not corporate good. I refer to agribusiness, the pharmaceuticals and insurance companies as "The Bermuda Triangle"; but let me tell you how I really feel :) I hope my post isn't appropriate.
I totally agree with this post and the comment above! :)
WELL SAID! Christina, I was just thinking the exact same things. It is maddening.
I was wondering the same things. They deemed Florida tomatoes OK and it seemed the next week they were not Ok. What's going on!
Love you!
Hi Christina,
On one of your shows recently, you showed how to make Mincemeat. I checked you recipe files and I can not find your Mincemeat recipe. Would it be possible for you to publish it. My great aunt used to make a good mincemeat; but she has gone on and no one in the family has her recipe.
My dad would be so happy if we could make a "good" mincemeat for pies again.
Thanks :-)
Nanc
Actually the reason that veggies have the bacteria goes right back to the fact that they get run off from an animal farm. The water with bacteria (from animal poop) seeps into the farms where the veggies are growing and then when we ate raw veegies, we get disease outbreaks. Of course, the aniumal food was bacteria laden, but people cook meat, so it kills the bacteria like salmonella and e. coli.
Not exactly a conspiracy, just government scientists being lazy and only looking to culture bacteria on the veggies that caused the illness, not realizing it is also on the raw meat of the farm next to the veggie farm!
Hi, Christina. That word, conspiracy, connotes at least some level of premeditation and organization, and the corporate organization of our lives now means for me that, tired as we may be after many years of effort, we're obliged to continue explaining and restructuring the food system. In fact, it might even be more difficult now than during the earlier breakthrough period of organics and vegetarianism. More resistance seems to arise as the old system begins to break down with environmental upheaval. I remember when "zero population growth" was a real goal, yet now we see a return to larger families--but fortunately also more adoption. So, 2 steps forward, 1 back?(or is it 3 back?) Yes, it's discouraging. I wrote to both our Denver area PBS requesting that they carry your show, which I've enjoyed elsewhere. No reply yet, not even from the Boulder station. But that illustrates to me how PBS has lost ground, airing plenty of rich comfort food and meat shows alongside a parade of talky global warming programs, refusing to deal through program choices with the huge connection between food production and environment. No wonder people are tired of the dire documentaries. Anyway, keep the faith! The direction is changing. Thanks for your work.
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