Elease, that was my exact question when I hear the news this morning. Don't we live in the land of the waving waves of grain? Why do we need to get it from China? Like I've said before, something is definitely wrong in the food chain in this country.

I wonder how long it will be until we hear that some poor person that has been surviving on pet food because it is cheap is dead from this poison.

And I agree, we already have a surplus of wheat and don't get me started on what is wrong with our food chain, in my opinion it is so fouled up that it may be unfixable especially since practically everything we eat is fertilized with chemicals derived from petroleum products and you don't want to know what goes into the feed that cattle are fattened on in our feed lots. I have delivered high moisture corn to some of these lots and have seen the blends of garbage the beef is fattened on. That is why for the last 20+ years we buy a grass fattened beef in October and split it up with our sons family. The rancher we get it from doesn't crowd the cattle and never feeds them supplements with antibiotics or anti-acids like industrial strength Zantac or other H2 blockers as they must in feed lot cattle. The beef we get doesn't have quite the intramuscular fat that feed lot fattened cattle do but it is tastier and I'm positive is bettter for us.

And here I was not going to get on a soapbox, guess I already did. By the way, the feed lot people would prefer that we call the intramuscular fat marbling, it does have a better ring but, it is just intramuscular fat!

Sorry for the hijack, not sure what set me off except the idiocy of importing wheat.

A very sad development, but not really very surprising.

Unfortunately food isn't food anymore but a commodity that is treated not too differently than any other commodity, and we end up suffering.

Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is a fascinating read on food today, especially our relationship with corn. Very interesting and well written. I only got to read part of it before DH whisked it away to Denmark. He's finished it and it's coming home with me after our Easter break visit.

We have many trade agreements with China especially
agriculture.
Including this agreement: Wonder what happened here:

JOHANNS SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH CHINA ON FOOD SAFETY AND PLANT AND ANIMAL HEALTH

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2006 -- Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Minister Li Changjiang of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to improve bilateral cooperation on animal and plant health and food safety.

"China is an increasingly important market for U.S. food and agricultural products," said Johanns. "In 2005, U.S. farmers and ranchers sold more than $6 billion in agricultural products to China, making it our fifth largest export market. This memorandum of understanding will create a structure to enable us to address sanitary, phytosanitary and food safety issues before they become barriers to the thriving agricultural trade between our two countries."

Under this MOU the two countries will exchange information on food regulations and standards, inspection and quarantine procedures, and other issues such as pests and disease, harmful residues, and food certification.

The MOU was signed in conjunction with the 17th meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) plenary held in Washington, D.C. The JCCT provides the United States and China with an opportunity for high-level discussions on bilateral trade issues, and a means to strengthen commercial relationships. The JCCT last met in China in July 2005.

Johanns participated in the 17th U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) meeting held in Washington today. The forum was co-chaired by Vice Premier Wu Yi for China and on the U.S. side by U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

The JCCT provides the United States and China with an opportunity for high-level discussions on bilateral trade issues, and a means to strengthen commercial relationships. The JCCT last met in China in July 2005.

#

Release No. 0124.06
FAS PR 0046-06

Ed Loyd (202) 720-4623
Harold Kanarek (202) 720-0328

The JCCT last met in China in July 2005.

Well that about says it all, doesn't it?

Andie, that release is dated April 2006 - so at that point was a year after the JCCT meeting. I think we'd need to find out if they've met since that release came out.

I'm in total agreement about our food - it's compromised beyond belief.

However, at this point, no one seems to know just how this poison got into the food. I wonder if there's a deliberate act here, although I did read there's no criminal investigation at the moment.

The food isn't manufactured in China is it? It's just their wheat? If so, there are plenty of other places this food could have been contaminated. I'm also puzzled by how much poison must have been introduced to have this effect. I mean, if they mix huge batches of this stuff, and they must, there must have been more than just a little bit of poison that got in there otherwise wouldn't it have been very diluted and therefore less lethal?

In any event, it's a tragedy...I feel so sorry for the people who have lost their pets.

That's a good point, Sheila. Nobody knows yet how the substance entered the production process. It could have happened at any level, either through negligence or intent. Just because this substance has been illegal for use in this country, that doesn't mean there aren't quantities of it stockpiled in warehouses, production facilities or farms. I get in line, however, with wanting to know why on earth we are buying in wheat products from China? Politics (including trade agreements) does indeed make for strange bedfellows.

I wish everyone knew what tremendous amounts of products crossing continents occurs and how little actual inspection is done when it does physically enter this country. Budgetary constraints have always been a factor in hiring enough inspection, even before the free trade treaties and global marketing. We didn't have enough money then for the kind of inspection the public assumed they were getting. You really even think it's happening now? We assume that goods are being adequately inspected from the originating countries per trade agreements. If you believe that, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. If that were the case, then we shouldn't have all the new introduced plant diseases and pest currently threatening to ruin our lumber and nursery resources.

Rat poison is cummultive in the tissue and it now very slow working so more rats die. The food was on the market since Dec. so many animals would be getting a low dose for quite awhile and time took it's toll. This is just the tip of the iceburg. It could be in our food it will take longer because we eat more of a varity of foods. I too eat range fed beef and buy as little as I can from ConAgra even if it means getting most of my food from The Health Food Store. And these folks are now hijacking Organic.

There is also the fact that as production of goods expanded and diversified to the point where sources are so wide-flung, there is a loss of ethics based on a sense of community.

Does a warehouse owner in China (if that is the source) care if the wheat is contaminated? If it means he chooses between making money and a few pets in the United States dying, or condemning his stock and destroying it then it's probably a no-brainer.

Heck, just a year or two ago tons of cheap metal toys, charms and trinkets meant to be given to children here, and made in China, were all recalled because they contained high levels of lead.

When the source for your food is smaller and closer to home there is hopefully a higher sense of accountability.

It boils down to what standards are being followed in each case. China doesn't have our standards.

Years ago I subscribed to a magazine called Harowsmith that was, I think aimed at ex-hippies who now had a bunch of money & could afford country places & liked to garden. In one of the issues it talked about food coming from Central America & Mexico and the level of pesticides used in production of fruits and vegetables. The level was so high that workers would literally keel over in the fields. After that, we mad a serious effort not to but any produce coming from out of the country and no out of season fresh fruits or vegetables at all.

Since the great spinach scare last year we've now expanded that to only buying from producers we know locally & luckily we live in an area where that is possible. It would be a lot harder to do in a large urban area.

Our food chain is a ticking time bomb and if you love to hate ConAgra, put ADM in the same category.

A friend spent timein costa Rica- most food was organically grown but Dole had a large farm. He said you could see the haze of pesticides and a bunch of sad looking workers.It surprised me because that country is known for their environment- no one can even cut down a tree without permission. they even generate their own electricity.
I am careful what I eat but much organic veggies look poor and are very expensive. My only meats are local turkey fed no additives and also local buffalo meat-delicious.. I buy honey at farmers market- but the bees range so I try to get just the wild kind- goldenrod and basswood.

Dole isn't from Costa Rica. And we have the same problem here in the US with giant corporate syndicates having their anti-social way. Welcome to the Global Economy. You can go anywhere and find a Hellish situation for local people created to line the pockets of somebody somewhere else. The fantastic and the real merged. Remember that old science fiction show where they come from outer space and recruit earth people for vacations? temporary work? on their home planet - and it turns out they are actually planning to eat the humans? For a long time westerners have been the Martians who 'land' in the neighborhood and 'eat' the locals. Victorian England, for instance had the largest empire ever known. The Raj lasted for what? 300 years? Now India is the big economic player and England a minor force.

Dangerous pesticides (and defective medical supplies) are gotten rid of by sending them overseas. It's called 'dumping'. There the pesticides are used on cash crops that are then sent back to us.

I've quit buying imported fruit that isn't labeled 'organic'. Not real hot on buying domestic produce that isn't labeled 'organic' as well, but I am not adamant about it. Next problem is corrupting of organic certification by commercial interests.

Check out the Dole website and the locations of their farms.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dole Farms

I'm lucky enough to have an excellent Co-Op nearby and so I can buy pretty much all of my food organic and produce is usually local. They also have a lot of green products such as laundry soap, dishwashing soap etc., If I use bleach (which I rarely do) I use un-chlorinated.

The public is dumping it's own share of additives and chemicals into the environment too.

Grow it cheap overseas, sell it high here. Same as build it overseas or answer your computing questions overseas. It's exploitation of cheap labor for profit. Period.

Brief story about this recall in the Canberra Times on the weekend.

Good comment Beanmomma. I know international trade has benefits. I would hate for people in cold countries to miss out on tropical fruits or people in landlocked countries to miss out on seafood. There are probably better examples but you know what I mean. There's a logical level of sharing of resources and skills. And then there's what we have now. For example much of our seafood goes overseas and our shops are full of imported vanamai prawns and something called bassa. Doesn't make sense to me.

We buy most of our food at the markets. The greenies would probably criticise me for that extra weekly car trip but what I buy has travelled a lot less than what I would have to buy at my local supermarket.

I discovered the European Union consumer website a couple of years ago (ec.europa.eu/consumers/dyna/rapex for products and there's a section for food as well). Interesting reading. Most of the recalled products originate in countries where things are produced cheaply. Makes one's efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle seem like a joke when one contemplates the amount of cheap rubbish (always including lots of toys) that gets shipped huge distances only to be thrown out. Or is it then shipped somewhere else that will accept it? A few years ago there was a travelling sale in town of manchester originally destined for Europe. No further explanation was given. I found out a little later it was around the time the Europeans were tightening their rules regarding fungicides and dyes in imported textiles. I'm glad we didn't buy any.

Sorry about the rant. Hope this problem has now been stopped and no more animals suffer.

We go in with some friends every year & buy a share of the yield from a local organic farm. It's not cheap - probably 20% higher thsn the equivalent produce at the local grocery store - but at least I know where it's from & how it's grown.

We have that available here too, Andie. It works out great. Organic and local - the ideal combination. There is local produce available here almost year round, you just have to be ready to buy and eat what's in season. Remember when we used to do that?

We've been doing that for about 20 years now. I've got to say that it makes the tomatoes taste all the better when they start to come in.