8 Ways to Fix Our Broken Food System

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.alternet.org/news/149567/8_ways_to_fix_our_broken_food_system

Food politics and nutrition expert Marion Nestle explains how we can transform our food safety system.

Bill Marler, the food safety lawyer in Seattle, is asking for responses to the question, “if you had a magic wand, how would you fix the food safety system?”

I’ve been mulling over his question in light of the recent enactment of the food safety bill, as yet unfunded. Magic wand in hand, here’s what I’d do:

1. Create a single food safety agency: the new law is designed to fix the FDA. It does nothing to fix the USDA’s food safety functions. These remain divided between the two agencies, with USDA responsible for the safety of meat and poultry, and FDA responsible for everything else. This division pretends that animal wastes have nothing to do with the safety of fruits and vegetables which, alas, they do.

2. Require safety control systems for all foods. Everyone who produces food should do it safely using proven methods for identifying where hazards can occur, taking steps to prevent those hazards, monitoring to make sure the steps were taken, and—when appropriate— testing to make sure the system is working.

More at the link --

[theophilus]

1. Thanks for posting! Something definitely needs to be done.

Proper inspection, etc. would mean good jobs, too! I would hope that people of all parties could agree on a lot of this if proposed by those not considered "liberal". I mean, people on the far right wouldn't let a "liberal" put them out if they were on fire.

[ixion]

2. 8 things that won't do a thing to fix the food system, because NOT ONE

of these items mentions curtailing the destructive practices of Monsanto. In fact, this is a Big Ag list all around, that will in fact propagate the commercial farming vertical and continue to kill off small family farms and organic producers.

I'm actually kind of surprised that AlterNet chose to publish this status quo dogma. Disheartening, to say the least.

[Recursion]

3. Food safety regulations have always had the effect of cementing corporate power

It's the nature of the beast. Or the price of playing. Or however you want to put it.

[ixion]

6. It IS the nature of the beast, and the reason none of these items mentioned will

help at all.

[Recursion]

7. Well, no, they do actually make the industrialized food safer

That's something.

[ixion]

9. Well, no, they don't. They serve the will of Big Ag

and nothing more.

If your statement were true, the grocery stores wouldn't be loaded to the gills with garbage.

[Nikia]

10. They do both

Despite press on major food borne disease outbreaks, it was much worse in the past. Food safety practices were much more lax in the "old days" like 20-30 years ago. This is according to some older people who I know in the industry.

[ixion]

13. If that is true, then why are our grocery stores filled with garbage and poison

masquerading as food? :shrug:

[Nikia]

15. I'm not saying it's perfect

It is just that in the past companies used to do some unsafe things more because there were less stringent regulations.
I suppose that by garbage and poisions you mean certain food ingredients that might be unsafe. That is different than protecting people from food borne disease. It does need to be addressed because companies will continue to use those ingredients as long as they are legal and everyone else is using them.

[ixion]

16. So now there are thousands of stringent regulations, and companies still

practice unsafe methods of raising/growing, processing, and distributing foods. You are correct. It's not perfect. In fact, it's not even functional, by any rational standard.

The government regulators will occasionally catch a Salmonella or E-Coli outbreak, but the miss far more than they catch. And beyond catching things that make people sick on the short-term, they consistently turn a blind-eye to things like HFCS, which is used in just about everything, and is, in effect, a slow poison.

It affects the enter food supply, from beginning to end, and winds up for sale at your local grocery store. And when a company tries to produce real food in a tradition practiced for thousands of years, what happens? They get a visit from the USDA. But when chickens, for example, are de-beaked and de-clawed and pumped full of antibiotics to keep the sores on their legs from infecting because they're being held in tight quarters, well, that's just a-okay. Or when cows are pumped full of BGH (Bovine Growth Hormone), well, gee, that's just swell.

And the list goes on and on.

I'm sorry, I am unable to accept your premise. The system is not working. They system is corrupted.

[Nikia]

18. They do stop more outbreaks than happen

You don't hear about it because the product is withdrawn before any consumer buys it. It is not just the government inspectors but employees of the food company. The food company is also doing things to minimize the liklihood that pathogenic bacteria will even be present. Traditional foods may be safe but some are risky and could cause outbreaks.
Some regulations are favored by the food industry because they would prefer that consumers do not get sick from their food but want everyone else to have the expense of making the change too as well as not having to worry about their ingredient manufactures as much. Bigger companies are often more able to afford these changes more than smaller companies.
Unfortunately some not so healthful ingredients are approved and are in wide use because they are cheap and functional. To avoid them, I guess that you have to buy organic.

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. I agee n/t

[Desertrose]

8. My thoughts, too!

[endless october]

4. clearly marked irradiated foods would be a good start.

people who are scared of the word irradiation could avoid the labeled food.

people who don't want food poisoning could buy the labeled food.

everybody wins.

[jody]

5. "Fix Our Broken Food System"! If something is broken it's not the farmers fault. We feed our nation

and lots more people around the world.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, established by Lincoln, has to be one of the most successful government agencies in our history by conducting research in agriculture and training farmers in better methods.

[Nikia]

11. Better enforcement

Many food companies see food regulations as recommendations rather than the law. As it stands, food regulations are sort of like speed limits. It causes them to come closer to the standard, but as long they are not much more deficient than their competition, they probably won't be punished for their behavior.

[Shagbark Hickory]

12. How about inspecting more often.. than say...... never.

[WinkyDink]

17. Why I swore off beef.