this article seems to suggest that the coating is safe. Plus tin and other metals that leach into the soil don't end up in the plant, or if they do sometimes that is ok. (iron) They combine with other elements and substances in the soil. I think it is bad to grow food in rubber tires. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: epoxy lining in food cans

That's a great article you found. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to pass it on!

For the record, that FDA article goes back almost 18 years now, and needs some points updated and/or clarified. Why did you ditch all your non-stick cookware? What did you base your decision on? Was it PFOA, by any chance? From "Teflon Pan Scare Comes with Sales Pitch": "What Mercola misses in his rush to indict Teflon, and - funnily enough - sell you his own line of cookware - is that it is impossible to ingest PFOA from Teflon. PFOA is used to bond the Teflon coating to a metal surface, but in the process, which involves extremely high temperatures, virtually all of the PFOA is incinerated. The remainder is not accessible under any normal cooking method - unless you actually ate the pan along with whatever you cooked in it (in which case, PFOA would be the least of your problems). "All of which is why the Food and Drug Administration and the EPA have said that consumers are just not at risk from using Teflon-coated cookware." So, as long you treat your non-stick cookware nicely (no metal utensils, no screaming-hot burners, etc.) there is basically no risk, and that is according to numerous sources.

I don't buy imported foods, at least to the best of my knowledge. I also do not buy any mass produced foods, from Smithfield or any other company. I certainly do not buy ANY mixes or prefab box foods. This country is just as deplorable in their food practices as any other. I have talked with many a farmer who left the USDA way of farm life because much filth is allowed while the inspector is sitting there. Bad things are alowed in feeds, the farm conditions are filthy, and people think eggs are fine because they are run through disinfectant water full of feces. The cracked ones sitting in that filth are sold to go in cake mixes. Do you really think workers at a factory farm care? They don't. They don't care if a child dies due to contamination. Read some of Joel Salatin's books. They are an eye opener, and due to his wonderful sense of humor, a delight to read. We vsited his farm in Virginia last fall. What a wonderful place! A well run cattle or chicken farm, where the animlas are allowed to be happy animals and are rotated on fresh pasture daily, DOES NOT SMELL. At all. The meat and milk taste fresh and sweet.The cheese is not the rubber stuff the stores sell. Better yet, make your own cheese from local fresh milk. It's a fun past time. So if the masses want cheap food, buy it, and eat it, I don't care. It only exists because they don't care enough about themselves and support it with their dollar. Make a nice meal for family and guests out of pure basic ingredients, and a roast or hamburgers from a local organic farmer. If you're a vegetarian, make a nice lasagna from cheeses you made youself and sauce you cooked from scratch and simmered all day. It's some effort but make enough for the freezer and you have easy meals for other days. Serve them a cake actually made from scratch and not a grocery store or box. They will rave about your meal, probably over eat a little, and ask to come back soon for a visit. Smithfield? Yuck!