Katherine Paul and Ronnie Cummins — Secret Trade Agreements Threaten to Undo Our Last Shreds of Food Safety

If you think the U.S. government is doing a sub-par job of keeping your food safe, brace yourself. You could soon be eating imported seafood, beef or chicken products that don’t meet even basic U.S. food safety standards. Under two new trade agreements, currently in negotiation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could be powerless to shut down imports of unsafe food or food ingredients. And if it tries, multinational corporations will be able to sue the U.S. government for the loss of anticipated future profits.

More frightening? Negotiations for both agreements are taking place behind closed doors, with input allowed almost exclusively from the corporations and industry trade groups that stand to benefit the most. And the Obama Administration intends to push the agreements through Congress without so much as giving lawmakers access to draft texts, much less the opportunity for debate.

AlterNet
Secret Trade Agreements Threaten to Undo Our Last Shreds of Food Safety
Katherine Paul, Ronnie Cummins

More neoliberalism at work.

The good news is that this is expanding the alternative food supply — the co-op movement and local suppliers. The Iowa City Co-op (founded 1971) is expanding their facilities, already included two stores, and it has over a hundred local suppliers. More people are growing their own produce, too. There is now a strong movement supporting backyard chickens, too, and it looks favorable for it to happen.