Speaking of buying local: tainted food imports from China

[Jenise]

Interesting article about the agrictultural trade balance with China and importation of tainted foods:

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=37077&print=1

One of the problems of globalization, Jenise: having the ability to insure that the rules elsewhere are being followed so that what we get from China (or wherever) are safe and healthy.

Another issue that was recently in the news was that of some tires that caused fatal accidents. A relatively small import company was bringing the tires in from China. The tire company disavowed any responsibility (and shrugged off any complaint the tires were at fault). By our law, suits could only be charged against the importer, which said it was too small to impose a recall of product.

So we find ourselves in the situation where the consumer/customer has no recourse when a product is bad.

I can see much the same scenario played out in other areas with other products. Like, say, food products?

I am not paranoid but this is just one of the reasons I have insisted that everything I plant at our new home cite produce something that is edible. Only fruiting shrubs, trees, ground cover, vegetable garden, herb garden, nut trees . I am hoping that I need to get a new freezer to process some of the crop. ! Once the neighbors get over their shock of seeing vegetable beds instead of lawn I plan on camoflaging the compost pile. They are flummoxed - didn't know that spinach comes from someplace other than the grocery store.

[Jenise]

I can too, Hoke. And this article didn't mention it, but you probably know, that the Chinese equivalent of our Director of Food and Drug Administration was recently sentenced to death for taking bribes and causing thousands of deaths from the failure to insure the safety of food and drug products.

We spent three weeks in China last summer, and it was one of the most interesting trips of our lives. It is a society of vast dichotomies, both vivacious and vulgar, sweet and savage, progressive and centuries behind, all at the same time. Appearance is very important, substance not so much--just like the fake Samsonite suitcase I bought for my purchase overload. Looks just like a Samsonite, but it will fall apart next time I use it. They are justifiably proud of their ability to copy anything, but true quality, and quality control as a means of achieving it, is very obviously a concept they have yet to embrace. It was obvious at all levels of manufacture, from the hotels we stayed in to, quite distressingly, the ming-boggling Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.

So about the tire that doesn't wear well: it was never meant to. It only had to look good enough for you to buy it. Consequences are unimportant.

We came home from that trip totally in love with the Chinese people and Chinese culture, but fearing for them.

Our lab remains heavily involved in the contaminated pet food issue (that preceded the contaminated toothpaste issue which preceded the contaminated seafood reports). It was striking to see how easy it was for a lethal set of contaminants to get into the pet food chain, and then into the human food supply. In this case, the risk to humans was negligible, but we'll all deserve Darwin Awards if this doesn't serve as some sort of wake-up call.



Mike

Yesterday I was buying some anti-freeze for my tractor, which had a radiator leak. A gentleman in the line at the store asked if I thought it was going to get cold today. I responded that, no, I was going to use the anti freeze to make toothpaste.

Unfortunately, ignorance trumped humor--the guy had no idea what I was joking about, and he likely shops at Wal Mart for toothpaste...

One of the problems of globalization, Jenise: having the ability to insure that the rules elsewhere are being followed so that what we get from China (or wherever) are safe and healthy.

I can see much the same scenario played out in other areas with other products. Like, say, food products?

%^)

Ah ... but that's the problem, Hoke ... there is NO insurance that what you buy from OUTSIDE the U.S. will be safe ... LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of all the food imported into this country is inspected ! That's why Kathleen and I think people are CRAZY for buying ANYTHING that is not produced in the good ol' U.S. of A. ! We don't and we WON'T ! And unlike organic that we don't buy for safety sake, U.S. grown costs MORE than imports ! And the sad part is that by people buying imported food, they are putting OUR farmers out of business ... you see, following RULES costs more money than either NOT following them or NOT having them in the first place ...

Clink !

%^)

Ah ... but that's the problem, Hoke ... there is NO insurance that what you buy from OUTSIDE the U.S. will be safe ... LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of all the food imported into this country is inspected !

Er...um...isn't that what I said in my post, Bill? What's your point?

That's why Kathleen and I think people are CRAZY for buying ANYTHING that is not produced in the good ol' U.S. of A. ! We don't and we WON'T !

Well, that's your right to feel that way. I think it's a little overwrought, but I can certainly understand it. I wouldn't call people CRAZY for buying ANYTHING, and I don't necessarily think the "good 'ol U.S. of A!" has a patent on all the good things in the world.

I also don't think it's morally incumbent upon me to support you simply because you're a farmer in the "good ol' U.S. of A." Sorry, that smacks of the ol' "my country right or wrong", or the ol' "Buy America" campaign a few years back to get us to purchase substandard cars when foreign made cars were clearly the better product on the market. Don't get me wrong: I respect what you're doing, and the effort that you are putting into doing it the right way. And all other things being equal, I'd buy your lemons over somebody from China, without question. But I wouldn't buy your lemons if they were obviously inferior, and certainly not simply because you are American.

Besides, you know what, Bill, I don't always inspect what my local supermarket puts out on the produce stands, and I don't always pay attention to where it comes from. Sometimes I buy lemons because I need lemons, and I pick up what's available. That may make me a bad person (and it probably does in your book ), but there it is.

Which leads us to the question I have to ask: do you buy only American made products, Bill? Every time? And if not, why?

Which leads us to the question I have to ask: do you buy only American made products, Bill? Every time? And if not, why?

%^)

Food - yes ... everything else - no ... I'd have to go naked and THAT wouldn't be a pretty sight !

Clink !

%^)

Bill,

I think it would be better for everyone if you, and I, were not to go naked in public.

[James Roscoe]

Bill,

I think it would be better for everyone if you, and I, were not to go naked in public.

Quite frankly this entire thread is going to force me to drink a lot of red wine to get some very ugly images out of my head. Will you two stop it!

Bill,

I think it would be better for everyone if you, and I, were not to go naked in public.

Quite frankly this entire thread is going to force me to drink a lot of red wine to get some very ugly images out of my head. Will you two stop it!

American red wine?

[James Roscoe]

American red wine?

Would you like any more straight lines?

China appears to be entering an era of robber baron capitalism, similar to what the USA went through in the late 1800s. In terms of food safety, they're in the "Octopus" state, about where the USA was just before passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. Or maybe even worse.

The good news is that the central authorities in China know how dependent on exports their economy is, and are aware of how badly this could end up impacting their agricultural exports. Also, the Chinese themselves are beginning to strike back at the rampant problems with domestic food safety and quality. The bad news is that the central authorities don't have very much control over the situation. I think it's going to get worse before it gets better.

If the Chinese aren't careful, "Made in China" is going to become a warning label.

-Paul W.

As a Marine veteran of Vietnam, I recently bought a camouflage baseball baseball hat with "Marines" embroidered across the front. A week or so later I read the tag on the sweatband - "Made in Vietnam".

What gets me are all these "authentic Indian" items for sale all over the South and Southwest, that are made in China.

Howie, Robert,

What do you guys expect? We haven't "made" much of anything in America in a long time, and what we do "make" seems to have entered into the sphere of substandard.

We are a service economy, if only we could actually get service to prove it rather than voice mail and empty apologies...

I am not paranoid but this is just one of the reasons I have insisted that everything I plant at our new home cite produce something that is edible. Only fruiting shrubs, trees, ground cover, vegetable garden, herb garden, nut trees . I am hoping that I need to get a new freezer to process some of the crop. ! Once the neighbors get over their shock of seeing vegetable beds instead of lawn I plan on camoflaging the compost pile. They are flummoxed - didn't know that spinach comes from someplace other than the grocery store.

You are lucky to live in an area that allows you to do this. Would you believe that in CA, some home associations will not LET you plant a lawn substitute? I remember the case of a single mother who took out her front lawn and planted a beautiful, well maintained veggie/herb garden to help feed her children. She was in legal battles for a time but I think she finally won. Good luck with your plan. It sounds like a winner to me.
I, too, am replacing dying or old shrubs with ones that grow edibles. I just put in a lovely, blueberry bush, and a Satsuma Mandarin Tree.

[quote="

If the Chinese aren't careful, "Made in China" is going to become a warning label.

-Paul W.[/quote]

In our house, it became a warning label many years ago. My husband noticed that tools he bought that were made in China were inferior. He would only buy USA made. I noticed it in many other house items and clothing. We look for USA made products, but they are getting harder to find.

In our house, it became a warning label many years ago. My husband noticed that tools he bought that were made in China were inferior. He would only buy USA made. I noticed it in many other house items and clothing. We look for USA made products, but they are getting harder to find.

These things move in cycles. I remember the days when "Made in Japan" meant "warning--this product is complete junk". These days Japanese goods are highly respected for their quality. Now it's "Made in China" that one has to watch out for. They'll sort this out eventually--and then watch out!

-Paul W.