I heard an NPR story the other day about food that comes in to the US from China. Any food that is even slightly processed has a very high chance of having products from China in it: asorbic acid, garlic granules, various other chemicals used in mass food production.
In light of the recent pet food scare when public authorities assured us it would not turn up in human food, but instead it turned up in pork, shrimp, chicken, farmed fish food and more, this is a very important issue about which we should all get more educated. Read this article, or listen to the archive, and if it does not scare you into buying local and organic, then I don't know what will. But, I wonder if the organic brands out there (Safeway, Whole Food and Wild Oats organic and non-orgnanic brands) also use food products from China. If so, I guess I have to move to the boonies and grow my own food. (I am not joking...!)
My immediate reaction to this story is, I am going to contact various food manufacturers and ask them where their ingredients come from. If they say China or that they do not divulge this information, I will never buy their product again. It is not an issue of trade protection, but a straightfoward issue of food safety. It is also an issue of cultural differences in that Americans assume they are getting food that has been prepared and sourced in a way that is culturally and acceptable to them (and from a cleanliness standpoint). Most of the time, although we are not aware, this is not the case. And, it seems we are eating what I'd surely call non-food products (petroleum, lead, plastics). Even in doses that are "not harmful to humans", I have to say, 1) I don't believe it, and 2) even if true, sorry, but I don't want to eat plastic. Very, very scary.
I am also going to hook up with a local, organic producer of fruits and vegetables who delivers door to door, whatever is in season, on a weekly basis. When it is that easy, we really have no excuse not do it.
I wonder if other cultures (France others in Europe) have these types of problems with their food sources. Probably to some degree, but I don't know if it is this bad (?).
Find the NPR story text and audio file at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10410111
