People, Places & Things

 
 
[Sapphire Blue steps on her homemade soapbox]
Fear and panic always seem to arise whenever a report surfaces in the mainstream media about a food recall. Worried and concerned citizens would pillaged through their refrigerators and cabinets, tossing out anything associated with the said containment product and sales of that said product would plummet – if only temporarily. Remember the Fairback Farm ground beef recall of last year, after a deadly strain of E. Coli was detected?  That meat was sold in retailers like Trader Joes and B.J.’s Warehouse and affected over 500,000 pounds of ground beef.  What about the peanut recall of March 2009 when some of us began to look sideways at our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  And how can we forget the great tomato recall of 2008 that had millions running away from the Border (that’s a Taco Bell joke if you didn’t get it).

Perhaps this is why we are hearing less and less about these recalls in the mass media.  The exception of course is when the call back involves millions of noticeable products sold in multiple states such as the big Kellogg’s’ cereal recall that happened last week. That story made national headlines, however the story about the Pure Base Garlic Spread call back, which was recalled on the same day as Kellogg’s, had failed to garner a blip on the national media radar. And while I’m not suggesting that there is some massive conspiracy or anything (because that might get me sued), I do think that most people would be really surprise to learn about the massive underreporting of what is being recalled from our dinner plates.  Just in June alone, nearly 20 food and drug corporations, under the nudging of the FDA, have voluntarily recalled millions of products from the store shelves.  The vast majority of these recalls had failed to receive decent coverage in mainstream media or have been done without proper customer notification from the retailer.

I get the point that food recalls are bad for a company’s bottom line, however potential contamination of food supplies are ultimately bad for our health – so as a consumer, what should you be more concerned with? I’m not suggesting that folks should live in a constant state of fear and panic of what could be lurking within that ham and cheese sandwich; however I do believe that folks should be a genuinely concerned about the products that we ultimately consume. I mean, what’s wrong with having a COMPLETE list of recalled items posted on the entrance of your favorite supermarket? Too much like right, I guess. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age when sustaining advertising dollars are just as important as the general public’s right to know, so the odds are even slimmer that we will be told in a timely fashion when items are pulled from the shelves of supermarkets. That’s why folks have to do their due diligence to educate themselves.  One such step is to sign up to receive free email alerts through the FDA’s website of all food and drug recalls including pet food.  

One a side note, I also believe that folks need to spend more time playing in some dirt.  Part of the reason (and there are dozens but I’ll save that for a later post) that we are subjected to tainted food is our overreliance on foods not produced by our own hands.  And while certain food production requires extensive space, most fruits and veggies do not.  Even apartment dwellers are setting up window seal and small roof top gardens.  Will you ever produce enough to dine for 365 days?  Not likely.  However, I believe that growing your own will help guarantee that at least one meal – or side dish – meets certain quality standards. Or at the very least, help you easily track the source of your own food poisioning (see video below) :S

Stepping of the box now. Fewsh, glad I got that off my chest.