Omnivore Atlanta

A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday that would give the FDA much greater oversight on where food additives come from, what they go into, and who violates cleanliness standards along the way.

The legislation is a response to the salmonella outbreak due to contaminated peanuts that left nine dead earlier this year. Inspectors found that a Georgia plant for the Peanut Corporation of America had not been inspected for seven years, and that the company had not disclosed contaminants when they found them in their products.

Under the new bill, the FDA will charge every food facility $1000 to pay for the new system of checks. Private laboratories used to test products will report to the governmental agency, and manufacturers and handlers will have to identify and document contamination risks. The hope is that the FDA will be able to trace any product from source to a consumer’ stomach — the lack of such ability was one of the major issues in the recent salmonella outbreak.

(Photo by Alice Welch)

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New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof writes that President-Elect Barack Obama should consider appointing a “secretary of food” to replace the antiquated position of secretary of agriculture:

A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat.

Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy — all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

“We’re subsidizing the least healthy calories in the supermarket — high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil, and we’re doing very little for farmers trying to grow real food,” notes Michael Pollan, author of such books as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.”

Pollan, incidentally, will be the keynote speaker at the Georgia Organics 12th Annual Conference and Trade Show in March. Pollan is without doubt the nation’s most influential writer about food, politics and culture. You can find details about his appearance on Georgia Organics’ website.

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