Does Anyone Know What we are Feeding our Kids? Apparently Not...

In case we need more evidence of the perils of our long food supply chain, USA Today does some good investigative journalism today, reporting on contaminated food in the school lunch program. The article tells the story of a school made sick in 2007 by tortillas that were known to have caused outbreaks as far back as 2004, and in fact had been recalled in 2006. In addition, the tortilla factory had failed FDA inspections on more than one occasion. Sadly, the only thing that makes this case unusual is that the source of the contamination was known. Typically, it’s impossible to pinpoint the source because of the diffuse nature of our food system. As a Government Accountability Report puts it, the “complex distribution path can make it difficult to track food from beginning to end.” It’s well worth the read, given that 31 million children depend on the program, and our government agencies cannot verify that the food is safe.

In more encouraging news, I’ve added a new link to Pete & Jen’s Backyard Birds, who offer rabbit, lamb, pork and beef in addition to their birds. They have a delightful blog of their own, where you can read about their mobile poultry processing unit and see lots of great photos of their animals. There is also a new blog from the FRESH, the movie folks in the feed on the right. (h/t Lisa)

Finally, I have an exciting announcement from Michael Urban of the Grafton Farmers’ Market:

Calling all folks interested in starting up a Grafton Community Garden! On December 7th at 7:30 PM in Conference Room B of the Municipal Center we will have an open meeting to discuss organizing a community garden. A community garden is simply a plot of land divided up for local residents to try their hand at gardening. Gardening skills not required, just enthusiasm and the energy to work with others. For more information, please stop by on December 7th or contact Michael at urban_michael2002 at yahoo dot com.

Keep your links and event notifications coming!