On the heels of yesterday's news about the likely source of the E. coli outbreak--manure lagoons from massive dairy and cattle operations (see previous post)--Tumbledown learned today that "real" farmers (the "janitors in confinement barns") are about to increase their presence in the "industry" again, as Smithfield Foods buys Premium Standard Farms. (NYTimes editorial, September 23, 2006, "The Ultimate Efficiency") Independent farmers, already squeezed, are about to have even fewer places to market their hogs. It may seem a small thing that pigs are no longer slaughtered and butchered close to home, where both the farmer and butcher are resident members of the community who will eat the pork. And it may seem that the threats to food safety from producer consolidation (single source) and massive warehousing of animals can be managed and regulated. But regulations to "protect our health" make it extremely difficult for the small farmer or butcher to stay in business, and in effect the regulations that now exist simply "protect the wealth" of the large corporations. Every effort should be made to encourage local production (raising and packaging) of food. Regulation should be simplified and compliance made easy for local producers. We had monopolies once, to very grave effect. Why would we want to travel that road again?
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