Answer to a PW Reader

I just found this comment on my blog about the pet food recall:

I found this post so interesting since I live in the United States and, besides a short mention a couple weeks ago about some contaminated dog food, I hadn't heard anything about this. I asked my husband last night (who reads many newspapers throroughly) and he was vaguely familiar with the issues. He thinks it has to do with pigs getting into the contaminated food and then people getting sick from eating the pork. Is that right?

If it is, I thought it interesting that there isn't a big deal being made out of it. Last year we had to go months without spinach. I couldn't help but wonder if this was the meat lobbies in government keeping this story quiet. Just a thought we had.

Regardless, you have motivated me to research this problem further so thanks for that!

Dana

and wanted to comment on it further. Dana, although I know that there have now been both pigs and chickens quarantined, I was talking about the original pet food recall which came from pet food manufacturer's using imported ingredients from China that were linked with the deaths and illnesses of what now appears to be thousands of dogs and cats.

The pigs and chickens have also received food that may be contaminated, although I understand that since they themselves have not gotten sick, there is a feeling that the meat from the animals would be safe to eat. I don't know how I feel about that myself.

Today I read that the recall has been expanded to another 20 pet foods and to a gluten product that was from a different source than the one implicated in the recall up to now. Also, for my European readers, I believe there are now two foods sold in Europe that are affected as well.

This is about so much more than contaminated pet food. It's about corporate greed, globalization without thought to the consequences, economics and a general societal problem of the average person being far removed from the source of his/her food.

I'm not saying that eating local food will protect us from every outbreak of disease or case of food poisoning. I'm sure some of my neighbors are using pesticides on their gardens that I'd probably rather not think about. But at least, when the food comes from a nearby source, it is easier to trace and problems can be discovered quickly.

I know everyone is not in a position to change the way they feed themselves, their families and their pets. I'm glad that I have been able to do this, but I will keep closer watch on ingredients than I already did and I will try to be aware of where our food comes from.

Ciao for now.

Randy

Feeding our pets and ourselves

I'm astonished at this whole pet food affair. And, yet, I don't know why I should be.

At first, I admit, it seemed like one of those things that happens occasionally; after all, there have been adulterated food scandals before. But the scope of this thing as it unfolds is purely mind boggling. I can't imagine what the news coverage in the States must be like at this point.

Are people freaking out totally? Not just those with pets, but about themselves and their families? I'm wondering if there will be far reaching lifestyle changes because of it? Will people stop buying as many prepared foods and go back to homecooking, using fresh, locally produced, organic ingredients wherever possible? Or will it be the usual six day wonder, with everyone upset as long as it's in the headlines, then going back to their old ways?

I know that here at Possum Central I have made changes for the pets that I had thought of doing for years, but didn't because Maggie was so fussy about what she would eat. Luckily, having Shmoo here has pushed her to eat what she's given because if she doesn't he will!

I was on the fence about feeding raw (BARF in dog people terms: Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods) because it seemed so scary. But suddenly, it is far less scary than the alternative of feeding possibly deadly commercially prepared foods.

And now, you can't even be sure that reliable, responsible companies's foods are safe; the recent recalls of foods from companies who discovered -- to their horror, I'm sure -- that the manufacturer of THEIR products was adding ingredients without their knowledge means that we can't possible know what is safe or what isn't.

The first day of giving raw chicken bones was the worst; I kept following the dogs around to see if they were going to choke or get perforated intestines. But all of my friends who have been feeding this way were right; it's a raging success.

First of all, the dogs love it. They are seriously eager for each meal, which is a joy to see. I never thought that my Diva Maggie would chow down on a raw chicken with such abandon! Second, it is far less complicated than I thought it would be. It takes a bit more time with the shopping and getting things ready for the freezer; it is perhaps slightly more expensive. But I'm not even sure about that, because I was buying special food that had to be shipped here, so it was pretty expensive doing that. Third, my neighbors are stopping me in the street to say how amazing the dogs look! The glow with health. Maggie no longer has dandruff, she doesn't itch all the time, their teeth are pure white and they are bursting with energy.

For me, I am no longer worried every time I read a new report of another food being recalled.

Now, for the humans, it's another story. I have been feeding us as healthily as I know how for a long time. Certainly, since living here in the Possum Kingdom I've been lucky to be able to get lots of local produce and even the meats that I buy are almost all from regional farms. Of course, whether any of it has eaten imported Chinese feed, I don't know. But I haven't heard about it here, so my guess is that the answer is no.

I do plan on looking in our pantry for any foods I have that might be imported from China. Those, I will throw out. What I've been reading about the way the Chinese process their foodstuffs terrifies me. The manufacturers don't seem to think there's anything wrong with putting plastic and pool chemicals in food that will eventually get into the human food supply. I can't understand this. Profit isn't a bad thing, but it is a HORRIBLE thing when it takes precedence over the health and lives of others.

Perhaps this is a wake-up call for the West. Should we have so much that we use imported from one country? Especially one that has shown a distinct lack of concern for the value of life, both human and animal.

Ciao for now.

Randy