Food Safety Modernization Act
Food Chain Radio Michael Olson
Urban Farming Agriculturalist
Food Safety Modernization Act
What kind of food do we want the future to serve for dinner?
Guest: Kristin Carlson & Anna Ringelman, Senior Environmental Studies Students, University of California, Santa Cruz
The great Yogi Berra once said, “When you get to the fork in the road, take it!” As we look into the future of our food, perhaps it is time to “take it!”.
One fork on the road to the future of our food appears to be headed down the road of industrialization, consolidation, and centralization. Along this road farmers grow into corporations governed by a government of the governed. (Thus we have the Monsanto Corporation’s Michael Taylor implementing the nation’s “Food Safety Modernization Act.) Generally speaking, the processed foods produced by industry are uniform, predicable, and safe– at least most of the time.
Food Chain Radio host Michael Olson: Feeding the future with industrial or local food?
The other fork on the road to the future of our food appears to be headed down the road of local, fresh, and decentralization. Along this road farmers use space-intensive production technologies to produce food that is fresh, unique, and interesting. Generally speaking, local farmers lack the economies of scale sufficient to participate in the government of the governed, and so must rely on their community for both governance and support.
There we have what appears to be the fork in the road to the future of our food. And so we ask…
