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I agree that boycotting is not enough and legislation is needed. Consider all the socio-economically disagvantaged families that have no choice but to shop local mini marts. There is no local or organic choice for them. There are no local or organic vendors within 100 miles of where they live, and there certainly aren’t any busses that can transport them to where the “good” foods are sold. These people are not spending all their money on toys from China, many of their children do not have any toys at all. Many of them do not have adequate clothing, shor shelter. Many of them work two plus jobs and still have to trade in their food stamps for cash to buy clothing, pay rent, etc. Then if their children are sickened by food borne illnesses, they are fired because their jobs offer no benefits. These people have no choice, much less any say in the matter. Those of us who have a choice should be grateful and work to ensure food is safe even for those who do not.

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My sister had HUS in 1990 linked to an E. coli outbreak in ground beef. She, too was hospitalized for about a month and finally received transfusions, plasma transplants, etc, to get her kidneys to start working again. That was a terrible experience for our whole family and we SHOULD be able to trust our government in keeping our food supply safe, I fear that I never will be able to fully trust our food industry again!

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I’m so sorry for what you went through, and I can empathize… When my daughter, Alexa, was 3 years old (in 2007 when I also had a 6 month old at home), she contracted E. Coli from an undetermined source, was hospitalized for 2 weeks and developed HUS as well… Luckily her hemoglobin peaked at 7.2 and never got any lower, so we just escaped having to get a transfusion, but she went through soooo much in the process… She is thankfully doing well today–almost 3 years later–but like your son, she needs to have her urine checked as well as her blood pressure annually. Experiencing something like this absolutely changes your life and brings about a new fear and helplessness that you’ve never experienced before. I know not everyone is as lucky to have a positive outcome as we are. I just wanted to say thank you for posting your story, and that I totally understand what you’ve been through. (((HUGS)))

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“…we delay action on this bill at the peril of the American people. We cannot wait for another outbreak before we act.” Rep. John Dingell

Thank you for speaking out, I agree with your reply to @Bender. Additionally, a boycott of a company whose product sickens or kills people is pointless as the damage is already done. Furthermore, how long will it take to single out that one bad actor; what about other producers of the same product who will be forced to pull their product and loose customers as a result?

I am glad I got to meet you and Matthew in DC last month, and wish your family the best!

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I was living in China at the time when it was determined that company executives at SanLu Corporation were putting melamine in infant formula to make it seem like it had a higher calorie content then it did. I remember being in the grocery store and seeing people lined up to buy the discounted infant formula just days before the story broke only to soon find out that several infants had died from kidney failure and many are still very sick. Needless to say I remember thinking that I couldn’t wait to get back to the US where we didn’t have to worry because I too thought the government was protecting us from such things. I’ve since watched Food Inc. and have of course learned the truth. I am so sorry for what your son went through and as a parent hope and pray that nothing like that ever comes our way. I try to buy locally and organically but sometimes it feels like a full time job to track stuff down. I’m constantly looking for ways to do better…and praying that a whole foods opens up near us soon! Thanks for the info!!

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We can pass bills untill the cows come home. Problem is the FDA doesn’t do their job now, how can you trust them to oversee this any better. I also believe it will limit small farms. Government already makes it nearly impossible for small businesses of any kind to survive. I think boycotting the industry is the best way to get their attention. People spend hundreds of dollars every year on expensive electronics for Their kids and junk from China that we do not need,but folks will not cough up the cash and buy from a local farmer or go out and find grass fed meat. They boo hoo that it is too expensive. The health of your children is far more important. If people keep feeding their children this garbage their quality of life is going to be greatly diminished. Our society is already plagued with cancer and diabetes. It will only get worse.

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I’m Matthew’s aunt and I saw what that poor child went through. At one point we didn’t know if he would survive. This is something that no family should have to go through. We do live in the United States of America and it is the 21 Century. There should be better legislation for our children who can’t speak for themselves.

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I am extremely sorry for the illness of your son. I watched my 14 month old daughter struggle for several months to rid her system of the salmonella that hospitalized her for over a week. That being said I have to disagree with the bill currently proposed. It has an “unintended” effect. It is one more step in limiting small farms ability to do business in this country. I fully believe that dairies need to be regulated, this bill just does it incorrectly. Instead of helping establish standards for unpasteurized milk, and grass fed beef, it allows further bullying and removal from the market. The government in this country has too much control over too many things. Our system was designed to be controlled by consumers. If anyone receives a dangerous product, boycott that company until new practices are established. If we don’t buy products that guarantee our safety, then the business owners will have to re-think their practices. If we start buying local, and knowing our producers, then they feel a personal responsibility to their consumers. Their decency leads them to produce a superior product, not just fooling us into thinking its superior, delivering it. If we buy local, and know our producers, and leave the government out of it, we will all be healthier anyway. The government is the one who has nearly forced us to consume corn syrup. Its not healthy, it does billions of dollars of damage to people, that in turn stress the health care in our country. Yet its unfair taxes on sugar and buyoffs by the corn processors (not growers). That have flooded the market with a poison worse than many others.

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linda Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 11:20 am

@Bender, I wholeheartedly agree with buying locally and knowing where your food comes from. A handful of people (including myself) are campaigning that very issue in my area. I have begun asking local restaurants where their food originates from and how it’s grown/raised. That being said, there are many goods that just aren’t available everywhere. For instance, we have a independent locally owned and operated organic/natural grocer, but the selection of organic meat and produce is still very limited. Also, the pollution is so prevalent in the area that local farmer are unable to obtain a certified organic status.

I do think the government should step in and demand honest labeling. It’s difficult to boycott certain ingredients (i.e. GMOs, HFCS and soy by-products, etc.) when they are often “hidden”. I do my best to educate myself on these mystery ingredients but there are still many that I’m unable to identify. We can’t even be sure what’s in our fresh produce and meat/poultry. It’s actually more about knowing what’s NOT in our food.

I’m all for boycotting companies and keeping the consumer in control. I just think that forcing the companies to disclose more about the “food” that they provide will allow consumers to know exactly what companies to boycott. As long as conglomerates such as Monsanto have so much control, that will never happen. If they had their way, we wouldn’t even be allowed to grow our own food.

It would be great to shop in one grocery store rather than the four, sometimes five stores that I currently visit.

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I also signed the petition and passed it along to many people. This is something that I have known or at least felt for quite some time. We need sticter regulations on the foods we put not only into our own bodies but also our childrens. They don’t get the choices that we do. They eat what is prepared for them. If they can’t trust the preparer for safe food, who can they trust?

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Thanks for this! I signed the petition. I have a child who is allergic to food additives (coloring, HFCS) and I think it’s shameful that the FDA allows companies to “manufacture” food, including the fresh meat/dairy/produce industries.

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