The food oligopoly and safety
In an op-ed in the New York Times ("Has Politics Contaminated the Food Supply?" 12/11/06), Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation considers the recent Taco Bell e-coli scare and other similar outbreaks and puts the blame squarely on the maneuvers of Big Food. As he puts it, "Part of the problem is that the government's food-safety system is underfinanced, poorly organized and more concerned with serving private interests than with protecting public health."
The reason for that weakened food safety net is not hard to find - the business influences that have gutted the inspection system, the revolving door between the FDA and USDA and Big Food, constant pressure brought to bear by lobbyists, as well as foolish territory disrupts between agencies.
But the most interesting point he brings out is the lack of diversity. Concentration in agriculture and food processing means that an outbreak (and they are, he points, out, impossible to prevent completely) hits much more widely.
"The fast-food industry's demand for uniform products has encouraged centralization in every agricultural sector. Fruits and vegetables are now being grown, packaged and shipped like industrial commodities. As a result, a little contamination can go a long way. The Taco Bell distribution center in New Jersey now being investigated as a possible source of E. coli supplies more than 1,100 restaurants in the Northeast."
The monoculture of food production means that one mistake is compounded throughout a whole region, perhaps even the whole country.
9:29:05 PM 
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