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The politics of food safety
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Photo: AP/Franklin Reyes
On Thursday, November 19, a "Food Forum" is taking place at the Venice (California) Center for Peace with Justice and the Arts. The Forum's tag line is "Who's growing our food? What's in it? Why it isn't safe!" Interestingly, the Forum appears to be sponsored only by groups on the Democratic side of the political spectrum. Should food safety be political?
One reason why food safety seems to have become a political issue, and one of primary interest to Democrats, may be that, during George W. Bush's administration, food inspection was seen as lax, and food safety became a big issue. Implicitly at least, the Bush regulatory philosophy toward food safety seemed to be laissez-faire, or self-regulation by industry. Perhaps the theory was, if food companies provided unsafe food, which sickened or killed some people, the "free market" would eventually drive those companies out of business. It seems to be the same philosophy that the Bush Administration applied to other areas, such as disaster response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and regulation of Wall Street by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). How did that work for you?
Can we all agree that the safety of our food, vigorously enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), should be non-negotiable?
© 2009 Matthew Emmer -- All Rights Reserved
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