Food safety - Do you trust where your food comes from?

I am listening to the CBC who are running a major piece on food safety. At the heart of their analysis is that the key issue is traceability. The Issue of Traceability is of course Trust.

Nearly weekly we hear of problems - spinach, hamburger, feed, dog food. I don't know about you - but I have lost all trust in the industrial system. They do what they can get away with. Even those who try hard get lost - look at Mattel and Toys - they just don't know what their suppliers are up to and they do care. But they are toys you say - it's the process that is the issue - a globally aggregated process ensures that safety is prejudiced.

When food and ingredients are aggregated in an industrial process - their source gets lost. How do you think that your hamburger is made today? Do you think that one cow was involved or that the cow was killed near you? When you buy a packaged meal, do you know what is really in it? What are Meat By Products? What are all those chemicals? Where did the ingredients come from?

You can't know or in some cases such as hamburger maybe you don't want to know. But should you care? Should you care what you feed your children every day? Should you care what you eat every day? Would you like to know for sure?

This is a factor that the Food Trust has put at the centre of how it brings food to you. Every farmer that participates in the Food Trust is a known individual.

Here is a quick look at Lori Robinson one of my heroines in farming on PEI. Lori is an owner of Eric Robinson along with a number of other family members. Who are the Robinsons?

They are above all a family that has a proud name that they will do anything to protect. They are a 3 generation family that all work with each other. They are a family that has had their personal losses and pulled together as a family can do at its best.

Robinsons are not "recipe" or commodity farmers - they are constantly on the lookout for a better way - finding varieties and methods that reduce the impact on the land and that have better properties for you. Here is a link to their research page.

When they say  "Better" this is what they mean -

Robinson's is continuously experimenting with new and improved farming methods in an effort to bring the best quality product to the consumer. The focus is to reduce the level of inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, while maintaining the same standard of quality the customer has come to expect. Ongoing projects include: Integrated Pest Management Technology, World Wildlife Federation Project, Ecological Potato Project, Reduction of Pesticide Use Project and Quality Control and On-farm Food Safety Issues in its Packing Facility.

This is not corporate bull shit. They live in a place, PEI, where you have to live your name. This is what "better" means in practice -

Approximately 500 acres are under strip cropping and diversion terrace management.
Both measures are soil conservation measures to protect the land.

So dear reader - Do you know who grows your food? Would you think that having a real relationship with the people that grow your food is important?

What might happen to you and your region if you did know who grows your food?

Lots of key data in the follow on

	(printer-friendly version)
	Consumer Reports food-labeling poll shows consumers want to know where their food comes from and expect higher label standards Amid troubling food safety issues in the United States, most consumers want to know where their food comes from and favor strengthening food labeling requirements, a recent Consumer Reports poll has found.  The survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, polled a nationally representative sample of 1,004 people on issues concerning food safety and labeling. In addition to those listed below, consumers were asked about labels including “no hormones administered,” “free of disease,” and “irradiated” foods. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING According to the poll, 92 percent of consumers agree that imported foods should be labeled by their country of origin. While the federal government mandated country of origin labeling, or COOL, back in 2002 for nearly all food products, implementation has been delayed until October 2008, with the exception of seafood. Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, has called for immediate implementation of COOL. NATURAL AND ORGANIC LABELING The poll also found that foods labeled as “natural,” or “organic" are highly popular among consumers. At the same time, consumers indicated that they expect more from natural labels than current standards dictate for processed food and meat. Eighty-six percent said they expect the natural label to mean that processed food does not contain any artificial ingredients. But current standards only prohibit artificial colorings and additives. Artificial sugars and oils like high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils can still be used in natural foods. In addition, nearly 9 out of 10 consumers want natural meat to come from animals that were raised on a diet without drugs, chemicals and other artificial ingredients. Currently, the natural label on meat only pertains to how the cut of meat was processed and not how animal was raised or what it ate. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in the process of reconsidering a variety of options concerning the natural label on meat. As for organic fish, 9 of out of 10 consumers agree that it should be produced without environmental pollution and be low in contaminants. But the USDA is still working on developing standards for organic fish. In the meantime, organic fish is being marketed without any government oversight. In July 2007, Consumers Union, which helped institute a ban on the organic label on fish sold in California, joined the Center for Food Safety's petition to ban the organic label on fish nationwide. Consumers can find out which labels are most meaningful on food and other products on our dedicated labeling site, Eco-labels.org. The Consumer Reports poll was conducted via telephone from June 7 to 10, 2007. Get the complete food-labeling poll results and press release. Last updated July 2007
	Copyright © 2003-2007 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. No reproduction, in whole or part, without written permission.

Comments

[Alex Briggs]

Just started a food safety section on our community site. Your article brought home on a local level a lot of the issues that we are all facing globally. Have posted on your article on www.businessassurance.com/food.

Alex

[Robert Paterson]

Thanks Alex
It's a an important topic that is really growing isn't it?

I see no solution other than helping form real relationships between those who grow food and those who eat it.

Farmers markets are doing a good job and I think that social software can amplify their work.

I posted this on Fast Forward last week
http://fastforwardblog.com/2007/09/03/the-artisanal-economy-food/

It got picked up by CNN here
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/08/31/buying.local.food/