Where's the funding?

James Lindsay, national program leader for the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, gave a presentation to the fruit and vegetable industry advisory committee outlining some of the ARS ongoing research projects related to produce safety.


One of the most telling things is that he talked about was the lack of research money that is available to support produce safety research. "We have requested produce money every year since 1999 and it has not come," he said. The produce safety research unit has $14.1 million in funding this year, compared with about $12.5 million in 1999.
The ARS has received grant money from USDA's Cooperative State Research Education & Extension Service for produce related food safety, but any internal funding shifts for research have come from retirement or resignation of staff.

Given recent foodborne illness outbreaks, clearly the time has come to rebalance USDA's food safety research to reflect the urgent need to understand how pathogens interact with produce.