Shutdown plays chicken with public health as antibiotic-resistant Salmonella outbreak spreads

boing
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Without the FDA you wouldn’t even know if the pills you were buying were real drugs at all. People could sell you powdered bonemeal and call in Penicillin. Or worse, sell you poison and tell you it was medicine.

Government regulation doesn’t always get everything right, but it’s a helluva lot better than the alternative. Anyone who tosses around the word “useless” in regards to bodies like the FDA is either ignoring or completely unaware of just how vital a role they play in our collective well-being.

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Whenever I cook chicken I just assume it has salmonella creeping all over it because it usually does. Chicken has salmonella regardless of being inspected or not and should be handled as such.

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“People have figured out a great alternative to our food system for those who happen to be privileged in terms of money, time, transportation, geography(1), etc. etc.”

There, fixed that for you.

1- Trust me, you do not want to be stuck “eating local” in Gary, Indiana in February. Just for example.

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Let me amend your amendment to “People have figured out a great alternative to our food system based on what makes sense in the long run, and are now trying to make it work for everyone in the short run, too. Which requires your involvement as much as mine.”

The system is not widespread simply because not enough people know about it or are pushing for it. Other than that, it works for everyone- poor and rich alike. Like any other movement that we now love to celebrate (civil rights, women’s suffrage, etc.) the first steps are the hardest since they require fighting against the flow the current system has created. So what? Given the seemingly-monumental task ahead of them, CSA’s and similar groups have fared extremely well. Despite no government support and all the other reasons everyone loves to give (“too expensive!” etc.) This new system grows every year.

I will repeat, every CSA I know makes provisions for folks with lower income. Similar to our new Obamacare subsidies, CSA’s offer either a sliding scale or a cheaper price to those that qualify- we happen to cover 1/2 the cost of a yearly share. That means, if you’re not rich, you can get a huge box of organic vegetables that just came out of the ground yesterday and which will feed your family of 3-4 for the week, for 6 full months, at around $10 a week. Don’t tell me that’s a deal for the privileged.

If you live in rural America, you live near farms and can start something similar with your local farmers. If you live in a city, you live near lots of other people, which makes it a very attractive customer base for a farmer to drive in on his truck every week and deliver to. Suburbs are a mixed bag- here in the East Coast, they’re dense enough to be successful (like cities.) I can’t speak for Gary, Indiana, but unless you’re saying that the system has to work, in 2013, for 100% of the American population in order to be worthy of your endorsement, it’s a great, great system that works right now for lots of people and can work for a hell of a lot more.

Like anything else, if you want it to succeed, you’ll find a million ways to make it work. And if you don’t, you’ll find a million excuses why it can’t. If that’s the case, enjoy your McFood!

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