Food in the News and on the ‘Net

Lots going on this holiday season – so much so that it’s been hard to keep up on the food news! I’ve been most interested in following the intersection of food and politics lately – this topic also made the Atlantic‘s “Top 10 Food Stories of 2010.”

While the Child Nutrition Act seems to be laid to rest for now (and happily so, for the most part), the debate about the Food Safety Modernization Act continues.

Amid all the hullabaloo that surrounds the definitions of “farms” and “facilities,” FDA oversight or exemption from it, I can’t help but think (or maybe that should be “hope”?) that any small farmer who is making a go of farming in this day and age is probably doing so because of two simple practices:

• s/he already uses a system similar to HACCP (dare we call it good old common sense?) to ensure that the food provided to customers is safe;
• s/he already does business with all the necessary certifications and licenses in place (aka honesty);

The FDA budget is stretched so thin, it’s highly unlikely that inspectors will be visiting each and every farm – but then again, I’m much more certain that those who feed my family are doing a better job policing themselves than the FDA would do – they’re in it to make a living, after all!

Planning ahead: School lunch is around the corner!

Still trying to get across town to the asian market, but in the meantime a very important quick link for those of us with kids and those of us who care about all kids: sign up to support Slow Food’s Time for Lunch campaign, which promotes  small changes to the Child Nutrition Act, which is up for renewal this fall. Their platform is simple, it’s the right thing to do, and you can read about it at http://www.slowfoodusa.org/downloads/campaigns/time_for_lunch-platform.pdf.