When worlds collide

The Internet has changed the speed at which the industry reacts to information, and it has changed the way the "outside world" relates to the industry. One good example of this is that I was looking at the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group this morning (we added two new members today- yee haw!) and I found that one of the posts linked to a story put out by another division within Vance Publishing Corp., owners of The Packer.

What's more, Doug Powell of K-State's Food Safety Network subscribes to a clipping service that sends him Danny Dempster's column about produce safety printed in a Canadian newspaper. (By the way, Danny and I talked the other day and I will try to unpack that conversation later. ) Meanwhile, I refer to the Food Safety Network post and Jim Prevor also notes Danny's column in his blog. Now Doug Powell in Barfblog has a commentary on the comment.

What does it all mean? The industry and the public are becoming one. Anything said in an industry seminar will be shouted from the rooftops. One year after E. coli and spinach, a lot of people care what the industry says and does. We can like it or not, but that's the new paradigm.