I don't care about the sale. What Smithfield makes, so does Hormel. However, I'm not buying any food products imported from China (okay, sometimes in the Asian market there is no choice, but otherwise) and it doesn't matter if they carry an American name

It means nothing to me either. i buy a lot of pork products like hams, sausage, etc. but they are all butchered and made within 50 miles from our house.

Nope, doesn't matter to me either. I either raise pigs or get one locally and make my own sausage and bacon. I don't really care much for ham, so I seldom eat that at all.

Like John, I'm not buying food products imported from China, but there are enough other choices that it has not been a problem for me.

Annie

You can have all the rules you want, but without enough inspectors, what good will that do? With our economy in such terrible shape, big cities going bankrupt, I don't think there will be money to hire more inspectors.

According to that article linked, only 15% of food are imported, and yet, there are 3000 deaths each year from bad food. It seems to me that it is not imported food we have to worry about killing people.

dcarch

It does t state whether 100% or 0% of the food deaths are from that 15% of our food that's imported, so I don't see how any inferences can be made from that article at all. I would also believe that long-term affects of "bad food" are of a lot more concern than a mere 3000 quick deaths a year. That's not to make light of 3000 deaths; I've currently got a 12 year old in my prayers whose liver shut down supposedly due to some crazy strain of E. coli that at last word the CDC has yet to trace back to its source.

"It does t state whether 100% or 0% of the food deaths are from that 15% of our food that's imported, so I don't see how any inferences can be made from that article at all. ----"

You could be correct. 15% of the imported food may not be responsible for any of the 3,000 food deaths. :-)

The fact is, the article specifically named only three deaths related to Italian cheese. Any other deaths related to imports you for sure will hear all over the news. Who and what caused the other 2,997 deaths? Import food or domestic food?

Have you look into USDA's food recalls of non-imported foods that you never hear on the news?

I am not saying we produce filthy food, I am saying let's always keep an open mind.

dcarch

I don't buy imported foods, at least to the best of my knowledge. I also do not buy any mass produced foods, from Smithfield or any other company. I certainly do not buy ANY mixes or prefab box foods.

This country is just as deplorable in their food practices as any other. I have talked with many a farmer who left the USDA way of farm life because much filth is allowed while the inspector is sitting there. Bad things are alowed in feeds, the farm conditions are filthy, and people think eggs are fine because they are run through disinfectant water full of feces. The cracked ones sitting in that filth are sold to go in cake mixes. Do you really think workers at a factory farm care? They don't. They don't care if a child dies due to contamination.

Read some of Joel Salatin's books. They are an eye opener, and due to his wonderful sense of humor, a delight to read. We vsited his farm in Virginia last fall. What a wonderful place!

A well run cattle or chicken farm, where the animlas are allowed to be happy animals and are rotated on fresh pasture daily, DOES NOT SMELL. At all. The meat and milk taste fresh and sweet.The cheese is not the rubber stuff the stores sell. Better yet, make your own cheese from local fresh milk. It's a fun past time.

So if the masses want cheap food, buy it, and eat it, I don't care. It only exists because they don't care enough about themselves and support it with their dollar.

Make a nice meal for family and guests out of pure basic ingredients, and a roast or hamburgers from a local organic farmer. If you're a vegetarian, make a nice lasagna from cheeses you made youself and sauce you cooked from scratch and simmered all day. It's some effort but make enough for the freezer and you have easy meals for other days. Serve them a cake actually made from scratch and not a grocery store or box. They will rave about your meal, probably over eat a little, and ask to come back soon for a visit.

Smithfield? Yuck!