Answering Your Food Safety Questions
January 06, 2010 | By Senator Kirsten Gillibrand | The Motherhood | Link to article
I received some great questions from the Motherhood community in response to my post about my agenda to improve food safety in this country. As promised, here are my responses:
Q: How can we encourage people to buy more local food, and use more domestic food and less imported? Wouldn't that help on a variety of levels? " by juliepippert
A: Yes, Julie, this is not just a food safety issue, but it is a nutrition and health issue as well, and there is quite a bit we can do. I'm a strong advocate for programs that develop fresh, local food and recently secured the commitment of the USDA to create a task force to promote and develop sustainable local and regional food systems. Also, in New York City specifically, I've worked with local leaders to support programs that will provide technical assistance, training, and equipment for the procurement of local foods in our schools. I'm also pushing to make sure that the Child Nutrition Reauthorization continues this work in supporting procurement of local food. It's important to note also that buying local food helps combat urban sprawl by keeping families on their farms, and helps to ensure that food travels fewer miles from farm to table. The more local and fresh the food, the more nutritious the food, which is particularly important for children during their early development.
Q: Senator Gillibrand, your efforts to protect our children are so appreciated. From asthma awareness to this initiative for safer food. I hope that as you continue you will look to local individuals and agencies to work to spread the message and create change. I have tried reaching out to your office regarding the work we have done in the North Country to increase asthma awareness (Ease Your Wheeze campaign - Trampoline Design), but have not been able to get through. We are committed to the local economy as well as to the safety of our residents, if we can assist in delivering your message please let us know. As a mom of three daughters, I am desperate to do whatever I can to keep them safe and educate those who are a part of their care taking and educating. Again, thank you for so tirelessly putting yourself out there and in trying so assiduously to really talk to the people. " by AmandaMagee
A: Amanda, thank you for your advocacy. My son Theo has asthma, so I know firsthand that it is probably one of the most frightening health ailments a child can have -- for a parent, and for the child. As you probably know, I've proposed a comprehensive plan to combat asthma from making inhalers available to low-income children to increasing the training of certified asthma educators and investing in new research and data collection on the condition. Your help will be invaluable in this effort, please contact my legislative assistant at shari_swaaley@gillibrand.senate.gov. I'll tell her to expect your email. I am very interested in your work in the North Country and would be grateful for more information. Please send it directly to me through Shari’s email.
Q: Thank you so much for sharing this incredibly important information, Senator Gillibrand! I had no idea SO MUCH of our food is imported. Good for Costco, by the way. I'd love to know more about companies who are doing their own testing or other precautions - so we can support them with our business. Thank you so much for being here - we are honored! by Cooper
A: You're welcome, Cooper. Thanks for having me here. Yes, food testing is one area where the private sector is doing more than the government requires. As a result, the food you get at a fast food chain or at Costco has been subject to more testing than the food on our children's plates at school. That must change. Our children deserve a testing program at least as good as the fast food chains.
Here's more information from a recent USA Today article:
"Jack in the Box, Burger King, McDonald's and Costco, for instance, check their ground beef for pathogens and contaminants much more frequently, testing as many as 10 samples or more during a typical production day. In comparison, only one sample is tested each day for the ground beef the USDA buys for schools.
"The fast food chains set tougher limits for certain bacteria in their hamburger. Ground beef for school lunches can contain up to 10 times the level of some 'indicator bacteria' — organisms that, at high levels, suggest the presence of dangerous pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7."
Q: Mom from Western New York here, Senator Gillibrand! My husbands family owned a dairy farm for three generations. just this past spring they had to sell their herd because financially they couldn't make it in the milk business. This saddened me on a personal level, of course, but also gave me pause- We no longer know where most of our food comes from. I try shopping at farmers markets and from local growers in the community but more and more of them go under every year it seems. Does it not make sense that contamination has worsened as our food is grown further and further away? What can be done so local farmers can keep on providing food for their neighbors? by Virginia
A: This is why it's so important that our dairy farmers remain in business and that the government does everything it can to make sure the prices they get for their product can sustain them. We do not want to outsource our milk for the exact reason you describe. It is not only an economic issue for thousands of small business owners in New York and throughout the country, but it is a national security issue. I am working on redesigning the pricing system for milk so that cost of production is always reflected in the price received for the milk produced. I hope to have my proposal included in the next Farm Bill.
As I wrote above, I'm a strong supporter of incentives for expanding access to locally grown food. I also am in favor of grants for urban community gardens and incentives to expand farmers markets. You're absolutely right that the more locally we eat, the healthier and safer our food and our local communities will be.
Q: Virginia - I hear you. My parents own a farm. It's a ticking time bomb as to when they will go under too. They can't compete with box store prices most of the time (because you know they don't pay people next to nothing to do the work). Sadly, many restrictions that are being proposed will only tax them more. It sucks on so many levels. Yeah, I want safe food, but I also think we have to implement policies that aren't going to kill the small farmers who aren't profiting enough to afford the extra costs and can't charge any more on their product because then no one will buy it. It's a double edged sword. That said when you shop from us, you see the farm, you can see what we are doing and how we are caring for the plants, etc, etc. And I think that is a good thing for both parties. **** Food safety is important, but we need to have realistic plans that don't put too much strain on small farmers. And we need to make sure we aren't fixing the problem by causing another one. I will say radiation comes up all the time in relation to food safety, and it scares me. A lot. I think it might solve one problem, but I fear for what it will cause in the future. by Brandie
A: I will fight to ensure that any food safety legislation does not come at the expense of family farmers. Family farms form the backbone of our rural communities and help us retain our unique American cultural heritage. I am an original cosponsor of a bill, S. 2758, that will provide small family farmers with technical and financial assistance so that they can more easily implement any new food safety policies.
I will also be a strong advocate for food safety technologies that are effective and safe for the consumer. I share your concerns about radiation as a potential “kill step” and will fight for rigorous and thorough evaluation of any proposed methods to make sure they do not create unintended consequences.
Thanks so much for the questions, everyone. These issues are very important to me and I promise to continue to fight for them in the Senate. I write about food safety on Twitter (http://twitter.com/SenGillibrand) and on Facebook (http://facebook.com/kirstengillibrand) and look forward to continuing the conversation there.
