Government Accountability Project

It's becoming a real chore to be a food consumer in America. When outbreaks and recalls are daily news, it’s hard to ignore the source of the problems -- our nation’s giant food producers, and a lack of adequate government regulation. We are left to fend for ourselves in determining what should safely make it to our dinner plate. It's no wonder people are turning to local food retailers, sourceable farmers’ markets, or even becoming vegetarians to institute their own personal ban on industrial agriculture.

Wright County Egg owner Austin DeCoster testified at a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing on the egg recall yesterday. This was prefaced by a blockbuster New York Times article recapping DeCoster's infamous history with salmonella outbreaks – going back three decades. The point of the article is that a DeCoster-salmonella connection is nothing new. When a problem evolved in one of his facilities, DeCoster simply moved efforts elsewhere. With no federal oversight or guidance, each state had to take its own initiative to protect consumers, but their actions – like the FDA visiting DeCoster’s Iowa farms after the August recall – were reactive rather than proactive. In 1988, New York banned DeCoster from selling eggs in the state after three salmonella outbreaks tied to his operations occurred. Maryland quarantined his eggs in 1991. Food embargoes appear to be the only answer.

At the international level, countries are concerned about accepting U.S. food products. Some of these actions may be related to protectionism—but concerns over the safety of American food have been repeatedly raised. After this year’s egg recall, the Obama administration had to reassure Russian officials that their U.S. chicken imports were safe and unaffected by the outbreak, emphasizing that poultry meat and eggs are produced in separate facilities. These concerns came in the wake of Russia lifting a seven-month ban on U.S. poultry imports that had been in effect over concern about the use of chlorine in processing chicken meat. Coincidentally, as that ban ended, Russian officials announced a new ban on imports from two Smithfield pork plants due to finding excessive amounts of antibiotics. If it’s not one problem, it’s another. American livestock producers put antibiotics in their animals’ daily feed to speed up growth and prevent disease – often helped by large numbers of animals in small, crowded spaces. A NYT editorial highlights new recommendations to delay the use of antibiotics until cases of illness and emergency, but it’s doubtful that agribusiness will listen. It’s easier for them to care about profits over public health. Will it take every country to ban every sector of food to make a difference? The U.S. is working to end Japan’s strict laws barring meat from American cows over 20 months of age, in place since the 2003 mad cow disease scare. I’m glad Japan’s citizens are safe from our beef, but what about ourselves? Problems with food imports from other countries are often highlighted, but the existence of foreign food safety laws doesn’t seem to incite change at home. It’s up to us to show big agriculture that we don’t approve of how they do things.

The fact that DeCoster’s Iowa egg facility houses 80,000 hens in one building —and could hold up to 100,001 if it weren’t for “regulations” —is unsettling. Why are people surprised at the result? It’s time to get a clue. Americans are eating what other countries refuse to accept.

Consumers shouldn't have to feel guilty for eating out at a restaurant that doesn’t list the source of its food. But at this point, we have to recognize that changing the way we purchase food is one of the few immediate steps we can take. Perhaps then the DeCosters of the world will have nowhere else to turn to sell their tainted products.

Sarah Damian is Social and New Media Fellow for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower advocacy organization.