Feeding Families Better
BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUE
First, there was the contaminated spinach from California; and then report after report of contaminated foods from China, everything from deadly pet foods to dried fruits laces with illegal pesticides and sea food laden with banned antibiotics; and then videos of dying cows rolled by forklift to slaughter and the ensuing recall of 143 MILLION pounds of beef. In the U.S., according to 2000 numbers, more than 5,000 people die every year from food-borne illnesses. Another 76 million become ill and 325,000 are hospitalized.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO FOOD IN THE U.S.?
1. INCREASED IMPORTS FROM CHINA
FDA inspectors are able to check out less than 1% of regulated imports and Chinese food imports are notorious for their failure to pass inspection. Yet, the vast majority are never inspected. According to the Washington Post, the U.S. has become so dependent on the cheap foods that it is unlikely we will be able to increase our standards. Right now, China controls the world’s production of ascorbic acid, citric acid, xylitol, vanilla flavoring, thiamine, riboflavin, and folic acid, among many others. All of these ingredients are nearly ubiquitous in foods from breads to drinks.
2. LAX LABELING LAWS
Labeling laws in the US differ greatly from the EU nations, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and other industrialized countries, which required labeling of GM foods. The US doesn’t label genetically modified (GM) foods and has resisted labeling foods treated with synthetic hormones or even from cloned animals.
GM foods are from plants that have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits. Two of the best known examples are corn that has had Bacillus thuringiensis genes—a natural pesticide—added to it, and Roundup Ready—modified to withstand the herbicide Roundup—soybeans. GM foods are widespread (some estimates are 70% of the foods in grocery stores), although most prevalent in processed foods that obtain ingredients from a variety of “pooled” food streams.
In 2007, the FDA determined that meat and dairy from cloned animals was safe for consumption and didn’t need to be labeled, despite a Pew poll that shows 64% of people are uncomfortable with such food.
This seems in many ways like a replay of the outcry around milk treated with the artificial growth hormone known as rBST or rbGH [made by Monsanto], which has been linked to prostate and breast cancers. This outcry has led many conventional grocers to sell organic milk, which is free of added synthetic hormones. Recently, many states have toyed with banning labels on dairy products making it illegal to label anything rbGH-free. Anti-labeling laws like this make it harder for small farmers to compete because the consumer is not allowed to know the difference in how the products are raised.
American has been reluctant to buy irradiated meat, a process that uses electrons or gamma rays to kill bacteria like salmonella and a harmful strain of E. Coli., so the meat only needs to be labeled “pasteurized.” Europen studies show the formation of cancer-causing properties in irradiated fat.
3. INDUSTRY LEFT TO POLICE ITSELF
In 1996 the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system was passed in the U.S. which basically gives the meat industry the right and responsibility to police itself.
US beef is heavily contaminated with sex hormones. The FDA and USDA maintain that residues of these hormones in meat are safe despite research that link sex hormones to the escalating increase of reproductive caner in the US. In the EU all 25 nations have banned the sale of beef from hormone-treated cattle.
IF NO ONE WANTS TO BUY IT, WE’LL DUMP IT IN THE KIDS’ SCHOOL LUNCHES
Meat and dairy are the staples of the school lunch program. The USDA which is on record as saying that rGBH milk is safe and cloned meats are fine, is responsible for the school lunch program. They in effect buy up foods that consumer don’t want and serve it to school kids in their lunches. The farm bill that was passed last May directs the USDA to buy irradiated beef for the federal school lunch program. Almost 1/3 of the recently recalled meat went to schools and public nutrition programs.
THE GOAL
Buying good food is one of the most important environmental and health investments you will make for your family and it doesn’t have to break the family piggy-bank. Make your goal to buy as much organic food as possible from sources you can trust, like your small, local farm. Make eating home-cooked meals as a family one of your green priorities, what you save from avoiding processed foods will give you enough extra to buy the very best fresh foods. When eating out, support
REAL WORLD OPTIONS
- Shop your local farm market and join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture, or CSAs, are farms where consumers buy a share of the farm’s yield for the season. Typically you pay at the beginning of the growing season for a weekly box of fresh produce delivered to the city. At $15 to $30 for enough produce to feed your family for a week, CSA’s are a great bargain.) Visit www.familyfarmed.org to find a CSA near you and visit the City of Chicago website at www.cityofchicago.org for a listing of farmer’s markets.
- Buy as much as you can organic and when making trade-offs between your budget and organic remember the most important foods to always buy organic: meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, rice, apples, apricots, bell peppers, carrots, celery, cherries, grapes, green beans, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, raisins, raspberries, spinach, strawberries, soybeans.
- Try freezing foods, even dairy, to take advantage of sales and seasonal deals.
- Fish can be great for kids, but many are dangerously high in mercury and other contaminants. For more information on safe fish visit: www.kidsafeseafood.org
- Pack your kid’s lunches with foods that you trust.
