If the circumstances that led to the massive egg recall this summer are a surprise or baffling to anyone, here's a quick glimpse of an explanation: one in four of government food scientists and inspectors have witnessed food industry interests force their agencies to withdraw or change policies that were supposed to protect consumers.
The one-in-four number is an estimate, based on a survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists of food safety employees at the FDA and USDA (the survey was sent to 8,000 employees; more than 1,700 responded).
At least 38 percent also felt that this kind of corporate interference jeopardized or actively harmed public health.
There are always secret deals and behind-closed-doors talks in politics, but it's scary when officials in charge of ensuring the safety of the entire country's food supply are so cognizant of the dangers, yet let industry run the show anyway.
Read more about the survey from the Union of Concerned Scientists, and if nothing else, at least take heart in the spike in farmer's market business since the egg recall. And maybe use this momentum to keep talking to people about why eating locally and sustainably, and to know where your food comes from, is important in the long-term, and not just in the aftermath a nationwide scare.
