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Written by Richard R. Oswald
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Thursday, 22 February 2007 |
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According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle
, small food producers are falling victim to the latest round of food
born illness. The problems of small producers are not due to careless
or poor production practices, but are the result of the ability of big
business to convince government to allow it to self-regulate while
small producers cannot. This preferential self regulation is unfair
competition for small agribusiness. Economic power translates
into political power which translates into regulatory influence.
Seals of assurance and hand-holding
between Big Biz and Big Government have little to do with real food
safety. Even the most stringent rules mean little, if enforcement is
lax. Add to this fact that mported food is not regulated and
seldom inspected under our trade agreements.
Birds
may be a source of contamination, but it seems unlikely that wide
spread illness would suddenly be caused by birds in fields of green
vegetables. E Coli
lives and multiplies in a moist, nutrient rich environment. Careless
application of contaminated irrigation water, manure, or both is the
most likely source of contamination. It is not the application itself,
but timing and method, which cause food contamination.
Americans
must be confident that domestically produced food is safe. Eliminating
small food producers through selective rulemaking under the guise of
safe food cannot accomplish that goal. The only way to accomplish true
food security is through a diverse, inclusive system that honors
productivity, integrity, and sustainability.
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In the news
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Here is another piece written by Dr. McMillion of MBG Information Services.
Even during year of recession, the US is producing almost $2 billion each day LESS than it is spending and is forced to borrow and sell assets abroad to make up the difference
The Dept. of Commerce’ BEA reported today on the most complete accounting of US commercial relations with the world – the Current Account -- for 2008-Q3. Despite the US recession that started one year ago, today’s report shows that during the 91 days of Q3 the US suffered another -$174.1 billion in global losses bringing total Current Account losses for the first three calendar quarters of 2008 to -$530,675 billion.
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/transactions/transnewsrelease.htm
That is, despite the US recession that began in December 2007, through the first 274 days of 2008 the US produced goods and services worth -$1.94 billion LESS each day than it spent and was forced to borrow and sell assets abroad to offset the difference. Economists expect that when a country’s economy is growing slower than the world economy – and certainly when it is in recession – that country’s current accounts will be in surplus as it imports less and exports more.
Since 2001 the US has grown slower than the world economy every year and yet the US has accumulated current account deficits (production shortages/net foreign borrowing) totaling -$4.8 Trillion.
Any economic rescue plan that ignores this constant hemorrhage of production and wealth is doomed to tragic failure. |
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