John Block: think about the small farmer and blame it on the sand hill cranes

John Block was Agriculture Secretary during the Reagan Administration and now he is an agriculture advisor to the McCain campaign. He represented McCain during a presidential "debate" at the WPPC, and at one point during the exchange with Obama's surrogate cast a skeptical eye toward food safety regulation. Here is a blog post by Block forwarded by Doug Powell of the Food Safety Network relating to food safety regulation that captures his uncommon old school take on the issue:

For a long time, we have been hearing the screams of anguish from consumer organizations and politicians (especially the politicians) demanding that the government fix the food safety problem.I am here to say, yes, we can do a better job, and we should. However, to fix the problem will not be easy or cheap, and there will be some casualties.It is worth taking a look at a produce terminal market. I have visited these markets. Small growers and large growers deliver their produce in pick-up trucks. Tons of produce is sold every day. Move it fast while it’s fresh before it spoils. Some produce markets are huge – acres and acres in size with all levels of produce on display – peppers, mangoes, lettuce, spinach, watermelons, tomatoes, and more. Sometimes, product from different growers can be co-mingled. Produce from different countries is co-mingled. Distributors are selling. Buyers are buying. Some times on credit; sometimes with cash. Some buyers require records for traceability. Others don’t. They don’t have time. It costs too much money to handle all that paperwork. It is a madhouse.Improving traceability is going to cost the consumer. It won’t be free. I said there will be some casualties. Small producers may not be able to compete. Already, some distributors are buying direct from big produce farms, leaving the small pick-up truck suppliers out in the cold.Think about the small farmer markets that we’re familiar with. How much paperwork will they put up with? I was in my local supermarket last week. They featured tomatoes, melons, peaches, and other produce “locally grown.” Can all this be traced? Maybe.The fact is we have the safest food supply in the world. We need to do a better job of improving traceability. The salmonella tomato problem this summer cost tomato growers millions and they now believe the problem wasn’t even a tomato but a pepper.Our food safety system is not perfect. In fact, it never will be. Let me ask, do you get up in the morning worrying that you won’t be able to find any safe food to eat? I didn’t think so.Until next week, I am John Block from Washington

Blame it on the birds. Doug Powell of the Food Safety Network also passes on this link about sand hill cranes implicated in a foodborne outbreak in Alaska. From the story:


Apparently the migratory birds love the peas in Mat-Valley Peas' fields. And what geese can do to a sidewalk, cranes do to a field.
"The farmer thinks that's the likely scenario," McLaughlin said. "He has another field with cattle nearby, but it's highly plausible that the cranes' poop is the cause."
The 18 people were sickened by a campylobacter infection, according to a press release from the state and Municipality of Anchorage on Thursday. The illness' symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, weakness, fever, nausea and vomiting. One person was hospitalized, the release said.