My Greatest Achievement

In a recent interview, I asked one industry leader what he thought his greatest achievement was. This is a man who directs 600 people in his company and has served on the boards of several industry associations.
"Marrying my wife," he said simply. He went on to describe how much she meant to him as a friend, sounding board and confidant. Another man told me that he and his wife's greatest accomplishment and joy was adopting a baby and bringing it into their family. As I smell the cinnamon rolls my wife is baking this Sunday morning for our two college sons and high school girl, I too am thankful for the blessing of family above all. Our struggles and sweat wouldn't mean as much without someone to share it with. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family.

A story retold

The Contra Costa Times does a good job with this feature that goes from farm to fork with the story of a Wisconsin woman who was one of the first ones sickened by the E. coli outbreak. Stories like those of Lisa Brott - the formerly spinach-loving 50-year old Milwaukee woman who endured hospitalization and racked up $150,000 in bills during the course of her illness - pack a wallop and will be perhaps the most effective agents of change during the debate about food safety over the next few months.
Meanwhile, The State, a South Carolina newspaper, argues here for a single food safety agency in an editorial.