Consumer Alert - Food Contamination

Yay, Trader Joe's. Via Raw Story, we learn that Trader Joe's is phasing out "organic" food from China, on the obvious grounds that standards in that country are not as stringent as they could be.

"We feel confident that all of our products from China meet the same high quality standards that we set for all of our products," the statement read. "However, our customers have voiced their concerns about products from this region and we have listened.

Kudos to them for listening. Of course, we really ought to talk about standards in this country as well.

On the plus side, if you buy local, organic, your chances of getting good uncontaminated food are high. On the minus side, if you're poor, you can't afford to shop at most organic food emporia. Look around for farmers' markets, and talk to your local/state organic certification authority. We need to scrutinize much more carefully everything we use. This ought to be the government's job - it's too much to expect people to manage things that they are individually powerless to change, along with everything else that entails surviving in the world today. We can only implement health and safety standards if we have the access to information and the large numbers that spell power.

Republicans believe that government should get out of the way - that it should not govern, except when it comes to who you sleep with, or marry, or whether you can afford to give your sick children health. Then they're all up in your bed, checking out your underwear. The hell with that. It's gonna be a lot of work, but let's all work together to make sure we kick out all the bums who are willing to sacrifice us, and our children, for that extra dollar in their pockets.

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