USDA plan to shut 259 offices wins praise for cost-cutting but raises food safet

[ruger17hmr]

USDA plan to shut 259 offices wins praise for cost-cutting but raises food safety concerns


Way to Go! Truly amazing way to cut the budget!!!!!


USDA plan to shut 259 offices wins praise for cost-cutting but raises food safety concerns - The Washington Post

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

What can i say, i like my cow MAD!

 

[eldirector]

Hey, maybe I can by Amish milk without getting arrested now!

 

[mrjarrell]

I'd be willing to bet that those offices could be closed and a lot more added to the total without endangering food safety. Lots of satellite offices out there that have been around for decades that don't do 1/10th of what they did 30 years ago. I remember them closing one down in the small town I lived in many years ago in KY. All the office really did was buy black walnuts in the fall from the folks in the town and surrounding farms. They didn't do anything else the rest of the year. Guess their 3 or 4 employees just retired or started doing something useful somewhere else. Only thing people might have missed was that $10/bushel for their walnuts. Lots of .gov offices could be closed without us missing them. Shoot most people don't even know their there anyway.

 

[RockofStrength]

“They wiped out the entire Midwest,” said Lorenz, whose office handles all federal inspections of meat, poultry and egg products in Minnesota, Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming.

And good riddance

 

[drillsgt]

...Lots of .gov offices could be closed without us missing them. Shoot most people don't even know their there anyway.

I'm sure this is right. I had to go to DC quite often for a project I was working on and had to visit many departments. I was just amazed at building after building, floor after floor, and cubicle after cubicle and i'm wondering what do all these people do that is really that important beyond justifying their existence.

 

[BBill]

Next-the EPA they need to go also

 

[CindyE]

I'd be willing to bet that those offices could be closed and a lot more added to the total without endangering food safety. Lots of satellite offices out there that have been around for decades that don't do 1/10th of what they did 30 years ago. I remember them closing one down in the small town I lived in many years ago in KY. All the office really did was buy black walnuts in the fall from the folks in the town and surrounding farms. They didn't do anything else the rest of the year. Guess their 3 or 4 employees just retired or started doing something useful somewhere else. Only thing people might have missed was that $10/bushel for their walnuts. Lots of .gov offices could be closed without us missing them. Shoot most people don't even know their there anyway.

Sorry, but I had to laugh at the way this reads! Shoot most people. Not making fun of you, just had to share the humor!

 

[nicajack]

They really only need one little office with a rubber stamp for anything ADM/Monsanto wants to do....

 

[ATOMonkey]

If the USDA/FDA were doing what it was intended to do, there would be no mad cow, lysteria, e-coli, etc outbreaks.

It's a fallacy to believe that a government agency can prevent disease. That just isn't going to happen.

The procedures, equipment, and personel in place at food processing plants is what makes food safe.

You make good food, because you can't sell rotten food. If you do try to sell rotten food, it won't take long for people to figure it out and put you out of business.

Good riddance to bad government.

 

[eldirector]

Shoot most people don't even know their there anyway.

Sorry, but I had to laugh at the way this reads! Shoot most people. Not making fun of you, just had to share the humor!

Punctuation! The difference between life and death.

You are correct, though. I doubt these offices will be missed at all. Policies will still be set, and enforced, by the rest of the organization.

 

[PAMom]

This is interesting to me. My local food inspector (at state level) told me that in the wake of all these major food-borne illness outbreaks they were being pushed to do more inspections. Inspections of the local businesses and mom-and-pop operations that is, and coupled with less inspections for the big outfits. What! She was totally disgusted as she pointed out where these illnesses began.

I have always believed, the locals will weed out the bad eggs, literally.
Seriously, I am not opposed to insuring a safe food supply. I have no problem with undergoing reasonable inspections and having reasonable saftey measures. I know for my part, I could not afford to alienate my local customers. That is the beauty of the local food markets - a fresher supply for the consumer and accountability on the part of the vendor.

However, the last few years we have seen regulation upon regulation. Here in PA, many are discontinuing direct to consumer sales due to the burdens of additional restrictions. How does that contribute to food saftey really? The bottom line is about integrity - that the practices I keep are consistent day in and day out, not just when the inspector is here.

OK, rant off.

 

[rambone]

Shut down the USDA.

 

[joslar15]

Shut down the USDA.

Why stop there? There are plenty of other alphabet agencies ready for pruning, or elimination.