Email Blog Chef’s Table
By: Michael Formichella
His spirit lives on
For those of you that have been following this blog, I want to say thank you. I truly love this job! Last year (12/22/09) I wrote a blog about our Ham Angel. It saddens me to say that this gentleman passed away shortly afterward. If you remember, even from his bed in the hospital he wanted to make sure that his yearly donation of hams to my wife’s food pantry would get to the area families in need. His humility still profoundly affects me.
My motivation for recalling this blog to you is two-fold. First, with life moving at light speed I find sometimes I take things and people for granted; reflecting on this story makes me realize how fragile life is and how truly fortunate my family and I are to live in this great country. It reminds us to be thankful for our families, friends, jobs and health. The second is to share that this gentleman’s quest to make other local families’ lives happier, by the simple act of giving food, will continue through the generosity of others that have chosen to continue his tradition in providing hams for the pantry in his honor and name.
My thoughts for you today are simple: be thankful for what you do have. If you have the means to help someone, do it. At any given time or moment you might be in their shoes, if that hasn’t happened already. It seems we always reflect more on the holidays about certain things, but wouldn’t it be nice if they carried throughout the year? After all, pantries also need food in the summer!
I’d like to dedicate this blog to the Ham Angel and all of those who champion his spirit of giving. I wish you all health, happiness and peace. I leave you now with one of my favorite Irish poems:
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sunshine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children’s children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
Happy Holidays to all.
December 10, 2010
Food (Safety) Fight
By: Richard Raymond
Fines and fees are fine by me
We read on Meatingplace that a bipartisan government commission has proposed that the U.S. meat industry should be charged a user fee to reduce the deficit.
We have also read on Meatingplace that meat and poultry industry user fees and fines are in the proposed 2011 USDA budget and saw there the response of J Patrick Boyle, AMI’s CEO and President: “user fees for meat and poultry inspection have been consistently and properly rejected by the U. S. Congress.”
So why do I scratch this itch by bringing up the subject again, anticipating the expected reblogs that will take careful aim at my sanity and intelligence? It is not because I have masochistic traits; it is because I want to have everyone take a look at the subject from a different angle.
Yes, we pay taxes for federal inspection of plants. And we also pay taxes for basic police protection, and for inspectors of nursing homes, hospitals, day cares, etc.
We also pay a license fee for driving a car, operating a health care facility, or cutting hair. We even have license fees for tattoo artists and nail technicians.
But a proposal that a facility producing the food we eat should also have a license to do so is “consistently and properly rejected”. I guess the tattoo artists needed AMI to lobby for them against a license fee.
If we speed or appear to have an unsanitary health care facility or day care, we will be fined and, if the actions are repeated, we may have our license suspended.
If a plant requires a Food Safety Assessment because it is operating with unsanitary conditions, should the tax payer pay the extra cost, or should the plant? If a plant requires extra testing for pathogens because it failed a Salmonella Set or had an outbreak of foodborne illness traced back to it, should it pay, through a fine, the extra costs, or should you and I?
If a plant is banned from exporting beef to an Asian country because it shipped livers instead of tongues, hotel rack of veal or another banned bone-in product, why should the mandatory FSIS investigation into the cause of the mistake, and the planned corrective actions to prevent further errors, be at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer? I say the offending plant should pay the extra cost of recovering their market share lost through their mistakes, not you and me.
These fees and fines have been proposed for years, good economic times and bad, Republicans and Democrats. The total that might be collected is around $10 million to $12 million, compared to the $1 billion FSIS budget. Not a deficit buster by any means.
If you get caught speeding by the officer whose salary comes from our tax dollars, you pay a fine to cover the extra costs. If you produce an unsafe product, detected by the inspector whose salary is provided by the tax payers, you should pay a fine to cover the extra costs.
If you speed often enough, you lose your license. If you produce enough contaminated product, you lose your license.
OK. Let loose with the anticipated barrage telling me I am insane.
