You cannot competently discuss the current abysmal state of government oversight of the food supply without also looking at the 3rd party audit system.
Your question about whether families should check for recalls daily is one of the most important points in this article. Food regulation exists because no parent, allergy sufferer, or shopper can keep track of every ingredient, facility, and supply chain on their own. When official protections become weaker, the risk doesn’t just disappear—it shifts to individuals. Families often have to take on responsibilities that a strong national system is meant to handle. Even though individual recalls might seem small when viewed in isolation, considering them alongside staffing, inspection, and regulatory changes raises a bigger concern: not just what was recalled today, but what risks might become harder to spot in the future.
Besides taking personal precautions, what is the one most effective collective action readers can do right now to help safeguard the public food-safety system?
Food safety is one of the most fundamental things a government can do for its populace. Unfortunately, it is not something that we are able to do for ourselves, in a comprehensive way. You can grow some of your own food, some of the time. However, we can't grow all of our own food all of the time. There may need to be a focus on locally sourced food or community gardens to provide for more. I've always kept a few garden plants for food but this year I did expand my garden. Since my backyard is small and pretty shady I ended up putting a bunch of pots on my driveway, the only Sunny spot I have. A good crop of cucumbers, eggplants and tomatoes this year. Maybe more next year...
I think what’s crucial is that we all start thinking about sourcing our own foods and doing it together. One person can grow certain things and another can grown other things. Community gardens, as you mentioned are critical—that’s a game changer. Plus, it helps when you think about climate change, too.
Cryn, thanks for the shout-out and republishing this piece. I hope people can check the link in the note I posted that goes to the ProPublica story too. It shows graphically how much the workforce was cut back in each area of HHS and by specialty. It's alarming. Compare that to the EU's animal protein tracking system in this link. Night and day.
You cannot competently discuss the current abysmal state of government oversight of the food supply without also looking at the 3rd party audit system.
Your question about whether families should check for recalls daily is one of the most important points in this article. Food regulation exists because no parent, allergy sufferer, or shopper can keep track of every ingredient, facility, and supply chain on their own. When official protections become weaker, the risk doesn’t just disappear—it shifts to individuals. Families often have to take on responsibilities that a strong national system is meant to handle. Even though individual recalls might seem small when viewed in isolation, considering them alongside staffing, inspection, and regulatory changes raises a bigger concern: not just what was recalled today, but what risks might become harder to spot in the future.
Besides taking personal precautions, what is the one most effective collective action readers can do right now to help safeguard the public food-safety system?
Food safety is one of the most fundamental things a government can do for its populace. Unfortunately, it is not something that we are able to do for ourselves, in a comprehensive way. You can grow some of your own food, some of the time. However, we can't grow all of our own food all of the time. There may need to be a focus on locally sourced food or community gardens to provide for more. I've always kept a few garden plants for food but this year I did expand my garden. Since my backyard is small and pretty shady I ended up putting a bunch of pots on my driveway, the only Sunny spot I have. A good crop of cucumbers, eggplants and tomatoes this year. Maybe more next year...
I think what’s crucial is that we all start thinking about sourcing our own foods and doing it together. One person can grow certain things and another can grown other things. Community gardens, as you mentioned are critical—that’s a game changer. Plus, it helps when you think about climate change, too.
Cryn, thanks for the shout-out and republishing this piece. I hope people can check the link in the note I posted that goes to the ProPublica story too. It shows graphically how much the workforce was cut back in each area of HHS and by specialty. It's alarming. Compare that to the EU's animal protein tracking system in this link. Night and day.
https://time4europeanbeef.eu/meat-traceability-european-beef/