Let’s feed it to our children, after all it only killed our cat

May 12, 2007 in Boston Globe, Future, Globalization, Media Environment, Public Health

With, as a special bonus, a pop quiz to test the e_f reader…

Since they passed their pet food test with flying colors, it seems the USDA is considering allowing China to import chickens, for human consumption. Nothing, apparently, can stop the relentless wave of globalized ‘free trade’ certainly not something so stupid as a food safety concern. As reported in the Boston Globe, which has started to independently report on some health issues:

Hat tip: Ezra Klein

Chicken from China?
Questionable farming practices fuel skepticism of US plan to import poultry

By Diedtra Henderson, Globe Staff | May 9, 2007

…..

Federal authorities are working on a proposal to allow chickens raised, slaughtered, and cooked in China to be sold here, and under current regulations, store labels do not have to indicate the meat’s origin.

Agricultural exports from China to the United States ballooned from $1 billion in 2002 to nearly $2.3 billion in 2006 , according to the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service . DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut and chairwoman of a US House agricultural subcommittee , said Congress should signal its willingness to restrict imports from China until it improves food safety oversight.

Recall that it took every bit of six weeks to trace the origins of the pet food poisoning, and even that investigation isn’t complete.

But in any case, this post has a pop quiz. Just one question. Here’s the story as it appeared on the Boston Globe website, viewed on Firefox browser.

The Question is simple: What’s wrong with this picture:

Now, no fair peeking. It’s not a trick question, it really isn’t—honest.

So, the answer is found below the fold….

That’s right, it’s in the business section. If you read the Health section, because you were, well, interested in issues concerning health, you wouldn’t find the story there. This exemplifies exactly what’s wrong with the media today, in their reporting on health issues. They don’t see how connected our economic decisions are linked to health-care. Probably a quarter of the so-called ‘business’ stories are really health-care stories, or at least have major health impacts.

So, if you care about public health issues like quality health-care, food safety, lack of vaccines or strategies for dealing with emerging diseases, start reading the business pages. You won’t find many answers there, but you just might stumble across enough information to ask a question or two.