The FDA has been under a lot of scrutiny throughout this blog and by many health experts for their haphazard food regulation methods; but if one looks closely, he or she will find that it does contribute helpfully to the health of individuals throughout the United States. Now, this is not to say that the FDA is a perfect institution by any means, for it does have errors. One of which errors is the effects is has on farmers along with consumers. Because of this, the FDA is a controversial organization, contributing to many beneficial, but also detrimental consequences for society.
The FDA recently implemented new regulations in the Food Safety Modernization Act in early 2011, the first big legislation concerning the FDA since 1938. This is a very good thing for consumers, but to farmers, it isn't. Many large farming companies have to change their food production methods, leading to losses. And many small farmers are now required to abandon methods which they had grown accustomed to using for a long time, leading to bankruptcy in occasional circumstances. This is the case for farmers who air cure meats and produce artisan cheeses. Also, because of lack of funding, farmers and companies have to pay the government for its services, which could also lead to more losses and bankruptcy.
Some farmers also exist who have found government organizations', like the US department of Agriculture, regulations to be too overbearing, believing that natural methods are better for the consumer and the environment. For instance, because of the unnatural farming methods developed through increasing regulation, various chemicals have landed in the environment and in our mouths. Also, E. coli, Listeria, and salmonella have become ever more present. Many of these chemicals and diseases stem from unnatural treatment of animals, thus the argument has been made that we should just raise the animals cleanly and naturally. Not to mention, many of the farmers that refuse to adhere to unnatural farming rules have difficulty selling their products to markets and local companies because paperwork and the overall process is too demanding for these companies and farmers to engage. According to Joel Salatin, a small, natural farmer, many of these issues can be combated through finding a local farmer and through looking for packages WITHOUT governmental approval in order to assure its naturalness, a very different action from what we have previously discussed.
Despite the heat given to the FDA throughout this blog, one can find some positive effects of the FDA's regulation upon the food industry. For instance, in the past decade the amount of food-borne illnesses has dropped drastically and the rates of a myriad of diseases due to food have lowered greatly. The FDA can be attributed as a contributor to these drops in illness. The FDA has also become slightly more productive when investigating, but many things still slide by it. An instance that shows the FDA's proper investigatory skills is when there was a large outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Saintpaul in the US. It was traced back to Mexico, with no sign of it originating in the United States. For investigations like this and others, one could easily support giving money to the FDA to make the nation be healthier and feel safer.
The FDA is and continues to be a large corporation controlling food in our country, drawing many different opinions from the public. But, overall, one can find that the FDA and other government food regulation organizations like the USDA have many ranging results: from being helpful to hurtful, to bringing about necessary and unnecessary change, and to under regulating and over regulating food at different times.
Sources:
Salatin, Joel. "Sterile Poop." Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World. New York: Center Street, 2011. 278-292. Print.
"Abstract & Commentary: The FDA and Food Safety Regulation." Infectious Disease Alert 1 June 2011.Student Resources in Context. Web. 2 May 2015.
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