We're Bad, We're Nationwide

Congratulations, gang. We've hit the big time.

No, I don't have the gatekeeper's key that unlocks the answer to the cause of the dreaded outbreak. Through the ineptitude of the government agencies, they have put us produce folks front & center on the national news like never before. Thanks, guys. We'll try to remember to return the favor when this all gets straightened out.

Lead story on Katie Couric tonight! She's a hard-hitting one, that gal. The FDA was in the crosshairs in this story, with self-serving members of Congress railing against the bonuses FDA employees receive for doing a substandard job. I take no pleasure in having reported that in this blog previously. Well, maybe a little.

But the slant was just scary enough to maybe steer a few more folks away from tomatoes that had been slowly, cautiously returning to the fold, like a little trembling squirrel coming back to the nest for another one of those nuts that are so tasty, but it risks being eaten whole by a big, bad wolf lurking nearby.

I couldn't catch what, if anything, was on NBC Nightly News because our three televisions are in three different rooms & it was getting much too complicated & time-sensitive for me to whip out the VCR manual. But, twenty minutes into the ABC newscast, ol' pal Charlie Gibson introduced a story highlighting fields in Arvin, CA being disked under for lack of demand. Gonzales Packing principal Melanie Horwath was interviewed, and she was everything that the government & association bureaucrats haven't been up till now---honest, direct, and non-political. Dang fine TV. Watch it if you can find it on YouTube.

Great job, Mel. I liked you 20 years ago when I visited you & husband Tim while you were concurrently raising kids & running a packingshed--the ultimate multitask--and I really like you now. Thanks for communicating.

Later,

Jay