We are such a litigation-averse society now that all it takes to destroy a $1.28billion industry is a little isolated Salmonella scare. 145 people nation-wide have gotten sick, no deaths, from eating contaminated tomatoes. Read about the hysteria.....MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's tomato industry is in "complete collapse" and growers in California and Mexico are having trouble selling their crops as U.S. regulators hunt the source of a salmonella outbreak linked to certain tomato varieties, growers said on Tuesday.
In Florida, the No. 1 U.S. tomato producer, $40 million worth of tomatoes will rot unless the U.S. Food and Drug Administration quickly traces the source of the outbreak and clears the state's produce, an industry official said.
U.S. growers produced $1.28 billion worth of tomatoes last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The entire nation is without access to tomatoes and the North American tomato industry is in shambles because a handful of people got sick. Am I the only one who finds this preposterous? We have devolved into a nation of sniveling, pathetic, risk-averse whiners who're terrified of our own shadows. We cower in the face of challenge and speed-dial a lawyer if the slightest wrong befalls us. Our dumbed-down children have sanitized hands and helmeted heads, but they can't play on monkey bars, slides, or see-saws for fear of injury followed by law suits. What right do we have to expect a no-fault life? Can you imagine the chuckle the pilgrims would have if they knew what a nation of weak, phobia-ridden, pansies their descendants have become?
Pat, over at BelchSpeak.com, a blog kind of like this one, blames organically farmed produce, just like the spinach scare of 2006. Wouldn't it be funny, and by funny I mean ironic, if smelly hippies who reject modern farming technology and insist on organic farming as being more healthy, are to blame for this too?
3 comments:
Pat's article is hilarious, but I have to admit I don't like chemicals. I use them, but I hate the thought of my kids being exposed to so many. I seldom buy anything organic though - too expensive.
Can't they just wash the tomoatoes?
Eating at most fast food places or cheap restaurants is a crap shoot anyway.
How many people will have a hissy about the tomatoes but touch the same serving utensils that hundreds of others did in a buffet line - then sit to eat, often with their fingers, withour washing their hands. I'd rather deal with cow poop.
Agreed freedom. It always amazes me the things people get upset about, and then the things they allow without a second thought.
Buffet's are a no-no for me too. The first time I saw a snotty-nosed kid wipe his face, grab a roll, then put it back in the pile....I almost barfed. I couldn't eat another bite. And they have those cough shields you have to look through but invariably somebody pokes their head underneath to get a better look at the food, which they cough on, and then don't eat.
Buffet's are disgusting!
You want to limit your family's exposure to pesticides of course, but simple washing does that. And acute exposure to e-coli from organic produce is more freightening than chronic exposure to acceptable amounts of pesticides. I'd rather worry about pesiticide accumulation in my liver than worry about finding critters in my fresh fruit and vegetables.
Hey, thanks to linking to my article!
Pesticides, chemicals in fertilizer, genetic modified foods, and even radiation have all been proven by scientists in lab coats to be completely safe for human consumption.
But there is a disturbing movement of junk scientists that want to perpetuate the myth that modern technology and methods are somehow bad for us. Yet we have thousands of dead generations that preceded us, many of which died from food poisoning, who labored long and hard to get us the best foods.
Now moonbats want us to throw it all away.
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