Lynn Rambles On

During the fall of 2011, a huge recall of cantelope from Jensen Farms was made.  More than 20 people died from the listeria contamination.  It was widely publicized, but not the only listeria related recall during 2011.  It is obvious how the cantelope listeria spread to so many areas, but I wondered why.  Where does it come from and how does it enter the food system?

With a little research (thank you, internet!), I learned more about listeria than I ever knew I needed.  This post isn’t aboout listeria and how it lives but I did uncover a couple of interesting facts.

Listeria is known to have six different types and two of the strains are responsible for illness.  Listeria can be long lived on the equipment in processing plants.  The same strains can behave differently in different animals (for instance, cows or goats or sheep).  The bacteria can live in soil and be spread to animals through the food they eat, if that food is contaminated. Heat kills listeria and cold doesn’t.

The public and government officials want to be afraid of food and identify ways to chemically or radioactively treat the foods.  Some want to put in place (expensive) tracking tools and processes so that when  problem is found, finding the source and destination of contaminated food can be identified.

I think both solutions to the problems are band-aids for a bigger, more urgent issue.  The problem is the way we’re growing our food and the distance between where the food is grown and where it is consumed.  Food, especially “fresh” foods,  shouldn’t be traveling 1500 miles from farm to table.  It just shouldn’t.  You’re probably thinking “Why not”?

And I’m thinking I have to get to bed.  Let’s talk more about food and distance tomorrow.

Where did food regulation come from?  I was pondering that this morning, seeded by thinking about the ‘unlawfulness’ of raw milk in our neighbor state, Oregon.  Some of our current food laws, in the U.S., will probably coincide with industrial revolution and scientific breakthroughs.  What I was thinking is that as our culture moved away from its agricultural setting and we industrialized food production, and created more unsafe foods, then the rules started.  I’m thinking the influence of the rise of socialist philosophies in the 1920s and 1930s would also contribute to our creation of food laws.

Then it struck me that the Jewish cultural has had food rules as long as they’ve had a culture (probably).  I suppose many of the ancient societies have rules I don’t know about.  That would be interesting to learn more about.  It may be true food rules have a long history but are they currently in the consumer’s best interest or in the big, faceless corporation’s best interest?

I might explore that some more, but right now I’m reading about water issues.  Water management is a big deal that isn’t getting enough top-of-mind-awareness in our society.  But, that’s another post.