Letters

Search Results

Close Previous Now showing: of Next

Previous Next Close

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus

August 29, 2010

FLASHPOINT: Egg recall illustrates value of local food producers

Anonymous ---- The Tribune Star Sun Aug 29, 2010, 05:00 AM EDT

This is a response to the egg recall on behalf of Terre Foods Cooperative Market:

If you’ve been watching the news, you are already aware of the national egg recall currently under way. While we are lucky that the list does not currently include any eggs shipped to Indiana, the scope is huge, and the recall list is expected to grow. When I saw the magnitude of the egg recall, I’ll admit I was completely boggled, and that was before the number rose to it’s now-current resting place of 500 million recalled eggs (as of Aug. 23, 2010).

Setting aside any environmental or ethical issues that one might have with our egg production system, I still must ask the question, how did we get here? How did we end up with a system where it is not only possible, but actually necessary, to recall half a billion eggs? Anything done on a scale of this size can and will go wrong sooner or later, and the implications of those problems become national issues and health disasters.

For the past two years, citizens of Terre Haute have been working on forming a local foods co-op. Terre Foods Cooperative Market will be a community-owned, full-service grocery store, open seven days a week, specializing in local and organic produce, eggs, dairy, meats, and bulk dry goods. Our membership, now totaling over 370, has a huge variety of reasons for supporting this store, from easy access to allergen-sensitive foods, to bulk buying, to strengthening our local economy. But if there is one reason that could not be made clearer than by the massive egg recall, it is that smaller-scale, localized food production systems are safer for us all.

We want a store where our eggs, meats, dairy, and produce come from nearby farms, with a more humane, cleaner, and healthier overall production system. Rather than only buying pasteurized eggs, which is in effect cleaning up the mess after it has happened, we want to purchase eggs from chickens that were raised properly in the first place.

I should be careful here, and make clear that eggs from small farms are not immune to salmonella or other contaminants. However, there are at least three salient differences between large-scale and small-scale contamination issues. First, when a small-scale producer finds a contamination problem (and all small-scale egg sellers are required to do the same testing that the large producers do), the recall numbers are in the tens or hundreds of eggs, not in the hundreds of millions of eggs. This means far fewer sicknesses will occur, and much smaller regions will be affected.

Second, while small-scale eggs can become contaminated, smaller operations are less prone to contamination due to the way the animals are kept. Smaller facilities are easier to keep clean, and the chickens themselves have more space to live in, which helps prevent the spread of disease. As nutritionist Marion Nestle said in a recent interview about large-scale industrial egg production methods: “It’s hard to explain unless you actually see one of these places. Try to imagine an enormous warehouse, as long as two or more city blocks, packed with hundreds of thousands of chickens. And that’s ‘free range.’ Otherwise they are caged six to nine in a cage. If one gets sick, they all get sick.”

Third, as a local producer, the farmer is more likely to recall eggs quickly and efficiently if contamination is suspected, rather than waiting until the cost of the damages exceed the cost of the recall. There are many reasons for this, but the most obvious one is that this farmer lives in the same community in which her eggs are being marketed. She may know many of her customers personally. And those customers know exactly what farm the eggs come from — can any of us say the same about supermarket eggs?

Local farmers know it is in their best interests, for the health of their community and for the health of their business, to keep things as clean and safe as possible. Massive, national-level egg producers have no such ties to communities, and keep their eyes firmly fixed on the bottom line. 

As soon as I arrived at the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, I saw no fewer than 10 people leaving with bags full of eggs, even in the midst of a national-level egg recall. We are being reintroduced to the idea that having a connection with the people who produce our food helps make our food safer. I confidently bought two dozen eggs myself, like I do every Saturday, as well as various meats and vegetables, and all without any fear of there being a recall on it. I know the farmers from whom I was purchasing, and I trust them. I’ve spoken with them; their children have played with my children.

We encourage others in the community to come to the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings at the corner of Ninth and Cherry from 8 a.m. until noon, and find out what it’s like to buy your food from the people who grow it. And when you discover what a wonderful experience it is to have this connection with your food, join the Terre Foods Cooperative Market and make this sort of experience available to everyone, every day of the week, every week of the year. 

— Robyn Morton, president

On behalf of the Terre Foods

Board of Directors

www.terrefoods.org

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Letters

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 14, 2012

  • Free us from 'Republicanism'

  • Eagles take pride in group’s work

  • Be careful what you strive for

   

  February 14, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 12, 2012

  • White’s opponent entitled to office

  • Positive moves for healthy foods

  • Thanks from the Super Bowl XLVI Host Committee

  • Doctor’s diet plan helps her arthritis

  • Great support for fundraiser

  • A few thoughts moving forward

  February 12, 2012  

• READER'S FORUM: Feb. 11, 2012

  • Controlling crows everyone’s job

  • Strong plan needed to fight Alzheimer’s

  February 11, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 10, 2012

  • How about a parade for war veterans?
  
  • Rubber reptiles will chase off crows
   

  February 10, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 9, 2012

  • Award proves art teacher’s special

  • Technicality hits cancer patient

  February 9, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 8, 2012

  • City engineer sets high standard

  • More than paper to protect rights

  February 8, 2012  

• Readers' Forum: Feb. 7, 2012

  • Kodak moment for America?

  • Let’s not bring back serfdom

  • IU-Purdue game a nice diversion

  February 7, 2012  

• READERS FORUM: Feb. 5, 2012

  • Why does Howey keep attacking Mourdock?

  • Thanks for the commitment

  • Accurate view of pipeline issue

  • Oil pipeline is a pipe dream

  • Not all workers belong to unions

  • Unions protect working people

  • Terre Haute Zoning issue unites neighbors

  February 5, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 4, 2012

  • Defending Bain, attacking Harrop, praising Romney

  • Break a CFL? No reason to panic

  • GOP’s timing not so super

  February 4, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 3, 2012

  • Keep pressure on the Pentagon

  • Supportive words for Jim Mann
   

  February 3, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 2, 2012

  • There are reasons unions are needed

  • Why so hard to get a tow here?

  February 2, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Feb. 1, 2012

  • Better options for Deming Park area

  • Tuskegee Airmen had local member

  February 1, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 31, 2012

  • Science from the heavens
  • Unions exist to aid the worker
   

  January 31, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 30, 2012

  • Right-to-work bill hurts state’s workers

  January 30, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 29, 2012

  • Obama wrong on recess appointments

  • Thanks for honoring ‘Soup’ at his passing

  • Mercury more danger than coal emission?

  • Beware employers who cut corners

  • All beliefs need to be respected

  • People’s decency becomes evident

  January 29, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 28, 2012

  • Don’t muzzle North’s ‘Woelf Pack’

  • The true legacy of coach Paterno

  • Bullet holes suggest dangerous gun use

  • Union coercion in right-to-work issue

  January 28, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 27, 2012

  • Labor bill would divide unions
  
  • GOP sure to retain Statehouse control
  
  • Internet lies about liberalism and more
  
  • National debt backs job growth numbers
  
   

  January 27, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 26, 2012

  • Right-to-work law wrong for workers

  • Put labor law on the ballot

  January 26, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 24, 2012

  • Super Bowl raises parking, gas prices
  
  • Obama should OK energy job issue
  
   

  January 24, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 23, 2012

  • Keystone pipeline is needed now

  • Great seasons for South Vigo sports

  January 23, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 22, 2012

  • Distorted view of mine’s practices

  • Planning is necessary to ensure free market

  • Bring back one-class tourney

  • Wonderful book for a great cause

  • Liberals no longer hold moral ground

  • Another great holiday tourney

  • A few things to think about

  January 22, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 21, 2012

  • Protect our kids from mercury

  • Older drivers have safety opportunity

  January 21, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 20, 2012

  • Workers should pay fair share
   

  January 20, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 19, 2012

  • Two sides to labor issue

  • Learn more about right-to-work law

  January 19, 2012  

• READERS’ FORUM: Jan. 18, 2012

  • Facts show labor bill is bad idea

  • Rural road needs more attention

  January 18, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 17, 2012

  • Embracing those liberal definitions
  
  • People responded to help after mishap
   

  January 17, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 15, 2012

  • Breaking unions and middle class

  • Union dues have favorable results

  • Labor law hasn’t hurt fed workers

  • Labor bill mean and destructive

  • Indiana’s friendly business confines

  • Ideal spot for new housing

  • Americans need some motivation

  January 15, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 14, 2011

  • Solutions lie in compromise

  January 14, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 13, 2012

  • Great stories to warm your heart
   

  January 13, 2012  

• READERS' FORUM: Jan. 12, 2012

  Interference? No.
  Opportunity? Yes

  January 12, 2012  

• More Letters Headlines

© 2012 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. · CNHI Classified Advertising Network · CNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2012. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope. Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
Privacy Policy | AP News Registry privacy policy
Terms and Conditions
Advertiser Index

Events by eviesays.com

News From Terre Haute, Indiana 222 S 7th St Terre Haute, IN 47807