Food Fraud
Food Chain Radio Show #1203
Michael Olson, Author & Urban Farming Agriculturalist
Fighting Food Fraud
Guest: Kim Richman, Richman Law Group
We begin with Michael Olson’s Second Law of the Food Chain: The farther we go from the source of our food, the less control we have over what’s in our food.
Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – Fighting Food Fraud
Let’s say, by way of example, we buy some tomatoes from our next door neighbors the McCoys, whom we know to be good people and very capable farmers. Being so close to the McCoys gives us the ability to look into their eyes and see what’s in their tomatoes. Being so close gives us a lot of control!
But what if we buy some “organic” peas that were farmed in China. We have no idea who farmed the peas, and the farmer who did farm the peas has no idea of who we are, and therefore has very little incentive to grow our peas with a great deal of care. By being so far from the source of those peas, we have very little control over what’s in those peas.
Recently we read about the largest food fraud in the history of America’s organic agriculture, and the suicide of its lead perpetrator, Randy Constant, who sold up to 7 percent of the nation’s organic corn and 8% of its organic soybeans to animal feedlots. It turns out that Constant’s organic corn and soybeans were not organic at all, and therefore neither were the organic meats for which we paid all that extra money.
And now we hear that the Panera Bread chain, which claims that “100% of its food is 100% clean!” may actually be selling dirty food. A report published by GMO Free USA titled, “Eating Out: A Date with Glyphosate,” claims that of the 15 restaurant chains tested, the highest levels of the weed-killer glyphosate were found in the food samples purchased at Panera Bread.
Having spent so much money buying organic food, and food touted as being clean and natural, we simply must ask:
Leave a comment below: How can we force those who sell food to sell the food they promise?
Nationally syndicated Food Chain Radio airs live Saturday mornings 9-10AM Pacific.
