E.coli: Spinach, Lettuce & Hamburger
The outbreaks have sparked demands to create a new federal agency in charge of food safety. Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, both New York Democrats, are sponsoring legislation authored by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., to create the unified Food Safety Agency.
"This recent outbreak must be a wake-up call to get our food safety house in order, because right now it's in pure disarray," Schumer said at his Manhattan office. "We need to have one agency take charge to ensure the next outbreak isn't far worse." - CNN.com
Once popular cartoon characters, Popeye and Wimpy are virtually unemployed.
Farm workers in the Salinas Valley have been laid off as farmers plow fields of spinach under. As this week’s E.coli “suspects,” hamburger and lettuce, drive “food-fear” into the political arena, one can be sure of legislation that will propose to “take charge” of agriculture. Excuse my skepticism, but the distance between Manhattan and the dirt we raise our food from seems more than geographic.
This is, of course, the crux of It – whether cattle or crops, independence or serfdom, the necessity for more control over producers’ lives is driven mostly by fear and convenience. Culturally, we resist control and live in places a long ways from Manhattan for a number of good reasons, but in reality, our space is getting smaller as we plant houses, mine and develop ground that once produced food. That foreign countries claim more shelf space at the supermarket seems consistent with the ongoing economic colonization of the planet, however contrary it may be to the welfare and good sense of US citizens. Early congressional response to these latest E.coli possibilities runs parallel with the NAIS as agriculture may become the next political football.
But promoting fear is like crying “wolf": poor platform for professional politicians.