Whoever runs the FDA is banking.

In my classmate's commentary, new FDA laws, he responds to the November 30, 2010 decision to enforce new Federal Drug and Administration regulations to help get "safer" food to American's dinner tables. I am glad that he/she decided to write about agriculture in the U.S., because changing the world of agriculture is crucial to our country's future.


She said she is excited that, the FDA "is making more of an effort to protect us from the foods we eat because we can't all grow our own food." This amazes me. Although it sounds good that there will be more inspections and regulations on growing, what is that really saying?


In 2008 the FDA approved the sale of meats and milk made from cloned animals. If that doesn't make your stomach turn, maybe 50 years from now all this cloned meat will have harmful effects on your children, and their children, etc. All of our beef comes from a handful of slaughterhouses--a HANDFUL. All of our corn products (which is pretty much everything we can buy at a grocery store these days) is genetically modified. This bill claims that it's "intended to keep unsafe foods from reaching markets and restaurants, where they can make people sick..."


How about taking into consideration how the food even gets to us? Farmers and people who work in the fields, work to make the fertilizer, work in the slaugherhouses, whatever--are being exploited by the FDA. How about raising inspections on the humane treatment of animals and the workers? Farmers are forced to conform to the FDA's policies on growing crops, but they encourage genetically modified crops to enhance production flow and profit.


What about obesity in America? Sheesh, what an epidemic. I wish the FDA would make a no-nonsense law and require restaurants to offer nutritional information up front like caloric intake, fat intake, etc, but more importantly--where they got their stuff from.


All Americans deserve to have good and healthful food. It's not right that only the rich can afford to buy local, free range, and grass fed. I agree with her that we can't all grow our own crops or raise our own animals, but we can hold our government accountable and support those agriculturalists who are doing what they can to truly improve the health of America.


I just wish that the media would more openly expose Americans to the real problem with the ethics of agriculture in America--whoever runs the FDA is banking. And I just lost my appetite.