Safe food?

While shopping at our local, small town grocery store the other day, I walked past the meat department and spotted at huge sign with bold letters stating, "WE CARRY NO MEAT INVOLVED IN THE RECALL."

I breathed a little sigh of relief since I frequently buy meat from our local store, but at the same time, I was completely saddened that this is what the state of our food has come to.

It used to be that people had to be worried about contracting an illness from poor handling of food in their own kitchens. We all have been paranoid about washing properly after preparing poultry, and making sure our mayo stays cold at picnics. But now, we have to fear an even bigger problem and that is the safety of our food supply seems to be more and more in question. And it's not just meat. I remember a few years ago that people were getting sick from Malt-o-Meal brand dry cereal. Dry cereal? Then there's the whole spinach fiasco of not so long ago. It seemed like forever before it was back on grocery store shelves and even then, I think people were hesitant to buy it.

It's enough to make me want to move to the country, grab a big floppy hat and some overalls, and start growing my own food. For as far as we have come as a society, we should have reliable safety measures and inspection processes in place so that the welfare of the American people isn't put in jeopardy for eating a bowl of cereal.