PRESIDENTIAL PARADIGMS
Our Food is Safer Than Ever
B b Stallman, P id
Bob S ll
President, A
American F
i
Farm B
Bureau F d
Federation
i
Summertime is almost
upon us. For most
Americans, the warmer
weather brings picnics in
the park, BBQs and grilling
out with family and friends.
It also brings the increased
chance for foodborne
illness to occur if safe
food preparation and handling is not given full
attention.
other consumers to have a safe, abundant and
affordable food supply. And they also have
an important economic interest because the
demand for their products is determined by
consumer confidence.
Shouting From the Rooftop
Many people don’t realize that there are five
federal agencies that administer at least 30 laws
related to food safety. Through this intense
federal oversight, the level of food safety
testing has also dramatically increased. And,
just as important, consumer education on food
safety is on the uptick.
Because food safety is such an important
issue to farmers, we’ve worked hard to ensure
that the food that reaches your table is safe.
Thanks to voluntary farmer-led initiatives, strict
government monitoring and consumer food
Even though contamination of food can
safety education, foodborne illness has dropped occur at any stage in food production, a high
drastically in the last 100 years.
level of foodborne illness is caused by foods
improperly prepared or mishandled at home or
Not Just Lip Service
in restaurants. To counter this, Farm Bureaus
across the country are educating consumers to
According to a recent Centers for Disease
enhance their food safety knowledge. And it’s
Control and Prevention report, our food is safer working!
than ever. The number of foodborne disease
outbreaks in 2009-2010 declined 32 percent
According to Dr. Richard Raymond,
compared with the preceding five years. Some
former undersecretary for food safety at the
of the credit for this can be attributed to the
Agriculture Department, the CDC report is
Food Safety Modernization Act, which was
cause for celebration. “You should be able to
signed into law in 2011. This law aims to
stand on top of the building and say ‘hey look,
cooperatively improve food safety by building
(the agriculture) industry is doing a great job,
on existing systems already in place in the
consumers are doing a great job of listening
private sector.
to the safe handling and proper cooking
messages…and restaurants an