DoubleSpeak From The USDA?

Food safety is more than just disease-free food. It also considers food security and sustainability at its core: Where is the food coming from? How is it raised? How is the soil treated?

More and more people are becoming fed up with the industrial food system and the hype around "convenience." And they're not buying it, literally. More people are opting for accountable, local food than ever, gauging by the 16% increase in Farmer's Markets between 2009 and 2010.

But what does it mean when more people are choosing local, accountable sources for their food? It means that "cheap" fast food is on the way out, illustrated by the decline in sales for many large fast-food companies. So they have to re-invent in order to stay in business. For 25 years our relatively disposable incomes paved the way for bland, salty, greasy food to make its way into our homes, offices, cars and landfills. Now that belts are a bit tighter, we are seeing there is more value in a pound of in-season broccoli for $2.50 over a Big Mac for $3.50.

When Dominoes Pizza realized that their own customer base said their pizza was "worthless" and "tastes like cardboard", they turned to Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) with a $12million dollar contract to fix it.  But who is DMI? According to the New York Times DMI,

"runs the largest of 18 Agriculture Department programs that market beef, pork, potatoes and other commodities. Their budgets are largely paid by levies imposed on farmers, but Dairy Management, which reported expenditures of $136 million last year, also received $5.3 million that year from the Agriculture Department to promote dairy sales overseas"

So the very organization (USDA) that looks to somehow educate American children on how to eat better and exercise more is the same company that marketed a 40% cheese increase in Dominoes Pizza.  Nice. When a record 1/3 of American adults and a whopping 31% of children are considered obese, certainly the thing to do is market convenience and "value" in fast food.

For the same $20 one uses to purchase some a fast-food version of a cultural icon like pizza, one could make twice the amount with healthier, fresher ingredients. And with just a little planning it would take less time to go from mixing bowl to table than from factory-restaurant to door.

Dairy products that come from clean cows that are treated respectfully is a great source of calcium and protein, no doubt. But that kind of cheese costs a more than what many fast-food joints are shelling out, even at wholesale prices. And still, too much of a good thing is simply too much. Overuse of protein is just as bad for the body as overuse of sugar or salt.

The increase in accountable food sources and the outlets by which to purchase them is a good step in the right direction, procuring safe and secure outlets for small-scale, soil-intensive food production that benefits the community in which it is grown. This is the true source of food safety, and it really is in our hands.

Photo credit Hiki Culture