View From The Ditch Bank

FOOD: We all eat it. We all need it. Some of us even savor it. Some of us make it from scratch. Some buy take out or just pop something in a micro wave and nuke it. Some eat at a fast food restaurant. Sometimes we eat at a slow food restaurant. But, wherever or however, we all eat. FOOD.
Did you see the news article on food a while back? No? Well, let me give you a brief capsule of what it said. "Folklore has it that in the 1970's McDonald's used Styrofoam balls as a filler in its milkshakes, until customers began to notice the fuzzy floating substances and complained." The article went on to say that while they didn't use Styrofoam, there are other things in McD's that you might think twice about eating. Ex. Among the 30 plus ingredients in their Chicken McNuggets, in each bite are dextrose, wheat starch and sodium phosphate. And that's just in the meat. In Thailand and the UK, food manufactures are required to disclose specific percentages of ingredients in food. So here are a few more examples of what you are fooled into buying in the good ol' U S of A.
1.Gerber graduates for preschoolers is a fruit drink, with a lot of fruit pictured on the box. What is does have is less than 2% raspberry juice concentrate and a lot of sugar in all its various forms. 2. The Quaker Strawberries and Cream instant oatmeal has no strawberries, but has instead, dehydrated apples dyed red. 3. Betty Crockers Supermoist Carrot Cake Mix is mostly flour, sugar and corn syrup, with just a few carrot flavored pieces mixed in for flavor. 4. Betty Crocker Bac-o's are not bacon, but are bacon flavored bits of defatted soy flour, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt and sugar. 5. Sun Maid vanilla yogurt covered raisins, ( one of the things I actually like to eat ) are made primarily from sugar and trans fatty palm kernel oil with a smidge of yogurt powder for flavor. (Guess I'll just stick to regular ol' raisins )
Well, there was more to the article, but you get the idea. Now, a different article says OBAMA SIGNS BILL TO IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY To paraphrase this article, The President signed a $1.4 Billion overhaul to the nation's food safety system. The first major overhaul of the food safety system since the 1930's, the law emphasizes prevention to help stop deadly outbreaks of food borne illness before they occur, instead of reaction after people get sick. It calls for increased government inspections of food processing plants and for the first time, gives the Food and Drug administration the power to order the recall of unsafe foods. There is a lot of political comment in the article, but then it says "Major food companies backed the bill, recognizing that safe food is good for business." Jack Kingston, a Republican House member from Georgia, said that the funding would be looked at carefully. Supporters of the bill said they would push for full funding. Senator Tom Harkin, a democrat from Iowa, said spending decisions will have to be made, but that food safety shouldn't be sacrificed in the process.
OK, so none of us want our food to make is sick. And when we go to the local grocery store, we expect to buy what we think we are buying. But two things struck me about this bill. $1.4 Billion. And, Major food companies backed the bill, recognizing that safe food is good for business. Uh! I'm not very smart. These blogs are my uneducated opinion, after all. But to me, if Major Food Companies think that safe food is good for business, then why not just PRODUCE SAFE FOOD. Why do we need to implement a tax payer funded $1.4 billion law to bring this about. Produce. Safe. Food... That's period, period, period. In case you didn't catch that. And it would save us $1.4 Billion. Or $1.4 Billion that could be put to other better uses, like education. Education that perhaps could educate Major food companies on how to produce safe food. :-) And That's The View from The Ditch Bank