Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Food Safety Shell Game

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The Food Safety Shell Game

by Mark Kastel and Will Fantle from Common Dreams.

The relatively new phenomena of nationwide pathogenic outbreaks, be they from salmonella or E. coli variants, are intimately tied to the fecal contamination of our food supply and the intermingling of millions of unhealthy animals. It’s one of the best kept secrets in the modern livestock industry.

I recall the TV coverage of the latest food disaster--the salmonella contaminated eggs. They only showed photos taken from at least 500 feet in the air of the large pens in which the chickens were raised. There was absolutely no mention of the conditions that the chickens were raised in. Isn't it wonderful how mainstream media supports factory farms? It might be because the same people own both, or that they all--the investor class--have an interest in advancing profits regardless of public consequences.