People talk...

"Neither the Chinese or American government is doing their job."
(Source: Washington Post, July 2, 2007)
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) calling for a federal import czar, blaming safety and quality problems with Chinese imports on lax inspection and a “bureaucratic morass” perpetrated by both governments.
>PS: Both governments have taken pot shots at each other lately in a pot vs kettle argument.

“Realistically, it’s possible that we will need to extend the current farm bill a year or two. There are a lot of pieces to this thing that we are trying to put together. It’s already $8 billion over budget, and they haven’t done conservation or commodities yet. There’s some really weird stuff going on.”
(Source: The Rapid City Journal, July 2, 2007)
Senator John Thune (R-SD) calling the Senate version of the farm bill a budget buster and likely to grow larger when key provisions are added.
>PS: Do we really expect a congress overdosed on Lunesta to actually wake up and do something BEFORE the next presidential election? Oh, puh-leeze! as my eye-ball rolling daughter used to say in her teen years.
>PPS: And let’s not forget the usual last minute pork barrel polka…always a source of financial amusement for our elected officials.

“This right here is going to be a zero. This is what we call a weed.”
(Source: New York Times, July 4, 2007)
Dennis Bragg, the biggest farmer in Madison County, Alabama, center point of the Southeast’s drought of the century, holding up a stunted corn stalk and talking about his lost crop.
>PS: Alabama is ground ‘zero’ for proof of global warming. At least 75% of that state’s 2007 farm crops are already lost.


“With imports of agricultural products rising sharply and sporadic scares about their safety, Americans surely have a right to know what country their food has come from. Unfortunately, they have little chance of finding out, due to the intransigence of meat importers and grocery retailers.”
(Source: New York Times, July 4, 2007)
Unsigned editorial urging immediate implementation of country of origin labeling (COOL).
>PS: Is this just more foolish ramblings by a naïve “Eastern” press or are they really on to something? See Tim Hammonds’ comment below.

"You don't see drops in confidence that large that quickly that often. It got our attention."

(Source: Washington Times, July 5, 2007)
Tim Hammonds, chief executive officer of Food Marketing Institute, an association of supermarket chains, worrying about the public’s rapidly diminishing confidence in the safety of our food supply.
>PS: A study by his group found consumer confidence dropped from 82% last year at this time to just 66% today.
>PPS: Peanut butter, spinach, pet food, ground beef. Melamine, salmonella. E.coli, listeria! It’s nervous times for carnivores, omnivores and vegetarians.