my own drum

This week the news is from Taco Bell. A familiar strain of e-coli bacteria has turned up in their food in the Northeast, making some people very ill. This on the heels of a national recall of fresh packaged spinach back in September, which was closely followed by an outbreak of botulism in carrot juice. Why do I even care? I don't eat fast food as a rule, and I'm not into branded organic products either. But I do like fresh spinach. The reason that I care however is because these cycles of bacterial infection make clear that there are holes in the structure of our food distribution networks. We are a nation of consumers (no news there), and being consumers we must be able to trust our sources since we don't actually produce for ourselves. Those in charge of food safety and distribution seem to be real good at notifications and tracking down sources of infections, but they are failing at prevention. And as much as I hate to point this out, our food chain would seem to be highly vulnerable to external influences - people who would infect that food as a means to an end. So my concern is not about a localized infection, natural or otherwise, but about how the distribution of a that infection or tampering could easily reach a large number of people.

[More:]

Fortunately such widespread tampering has not happened. (Sometimes I wonder about localized outbreaks) But I think it's only a matter of time. All across this country, in lightly guarded warehouses in every major city, there are pallet-loads of Cheerio's just begging to be tampered with. Cereals, candies, tobacco products, and much more are within easy reach. I know this because I have guarded those buildings. I have seen first hand what little effort it takes to steal from them, so imagine someone who breaks in with more nefarious ideas than petty theft. And don't think you can rely on those guards - they're making minimum wage to pay the rent.

So who can we trust for our food? Certainly not the growers or the corporations. They will accept responsibility after the fact, but they have little incentive to move towards prevention. First, it will cost them money. OK, that's probably the only reason. Where else should we look? It really comes down to taking care of ourselves - every man for himself in this nation of equals. Food processing has a time honored tradition in the kitchens of homes everywhere. I say it's time to learn what life was like before there was a Taco Bell.

Before I get flamed I will say that I completely understand the difference between natural occurring outbreaks and potential tamperings'. Regardless of the source of infection, once our food is brought into the distribution systems it will flow directly to the consumer until the contamination has been discovered.