Food and Water Safety

Sejah Farm

Over at the Food and Water Watch website a new videohttp://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/ has been put up that alerts all of us living in the US to be aware that some of the safety protections we take for granted are being threatened by this new Congress. 

Independent of each other President Obama and Congress have both proposed cuts in their budgets to food and water safety. “The House GOP budget slashes $88 million from the USDA's meat safety inspections and $241 million from the food safety budget of the Food and Drug Administration, and slashes nearly $2 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency's funds for water infrastructure—money critical to keeping drinking water clean and sewage-free.” This drastic cutting is all going on while retaining subsidies that benefit large corporations and now not paying for three wars.

Cutting up the Jelly Nuts

"Food and Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control."  Their Mission Statement

"At least 14 Americans died and many thousands became ill from tainted meat, spinach, peppers, peanut butter and eggs in recent years," Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, said in a press statement. "Now, Washington is seeking to slash the budget for our food and water protections, which will put more people at risk."

Eating a Jelly Nut

There are all sorts of cutbacks on inspections that are getting the ax under the Republican budget. Cattle that are slaughtered may carry more E. Coli, salmonella and other bacteria’s without adequate inspections occurring. Food in the supermarkets may go inspection free because cutting the Food and Drug Administration by $241 million could mean 8,600 inspectors out of a job.

Yum Fresh Dolphin

Only one percent of the imported food is inspected as it is. As more and more of our food comes from other countries, the gutting of these food and safety departments leaves us all at risk.  The Centers for Disease Control has reported that one out of every six Americans gets sick each year from food-borne illnesses, how many more will that increase to without inspectors on the front lines? How much does that cost in medical expenses that are unnecessary?

No one company will ever do the job that government can perform in ensuring safe, edible food and drinking water. Relying on companies to recall their own tainted food is a fool’s errand. Remember the corporations that sold peanut butter, chicken, pork etc. until they got caught? Selling food that is substandard may be good business if you can get away with it, but its not good for the population as a whole.

Cocao

Regulations, inspections, and fines are a necessary part of government to keep spoiled and infected meat,contaminated water, and e-coli riddled vegetables out of our homes. Without government playing a role in protecting these public resources all of us place ourselves and families at greater risk of illness and or death.

When you see your representatives cutting these vital services, call a halt. We can slash and burn in other areas of the budget, but food and water safety should be a priority for all of us.