SlowpokeBlog

The "National Uniformity for Food Act" discussed in this cartoon actually passed the House a few weeks ago; yet I only read about it recently. Perhaps I wasn't following the news closely enough at the time -- but I think it's a safe bet to say this story was largely ignored by the press. And that upsets me. To me, the most pressing political issues we face are those that affect human life on a grand scale. The much-discussed reshuffling of members of the Bush administration is of virtually zero import. And while the war in Iraq is obviously important, affecting the lives of millions and resulting in the deaths of probably hundreds of thousands, I don't think it merits a billion times the coverage we devote to the poisoning of the food we eat, water we drink, and air we breathe. Perhaps we should stop referring to these matters as "environmental issues" and categorize them as "mass industrial homicide." An example sentence: "Where does your candidate stand on mass industrial homicide?"

I know I am sure to offend some people I like by saying this, but I can't stand it when lefties jokingly refer to themselves as "tree huggers." You may think you're being tongue-in-cheek, but you're reproducing an asinine right-wing frame about what environmentalism means. It is not about hugging the fucking trees.

But I digress. So Big Food has been pushing for the end of state regulation of food labeling in favor of a uniform federal standard. Sounds reasonable in the abstract, right? The problem is, the FDA sucks. States have long led the way in informing the public about the dangers of things like drinking during pregnancy. Read about the whole debate in this Consumers Union writeup here.

The third panel of the cartoon, about airbrushing bananas, is an indirect reference to the House banning states from labeling meat that has been treated with carbon monoxide to keep it artificially fresh-looking. The treatment causes beef to retain its blood-red color even after it has spoiled.

The bill still must clear the Senate, where it may face stiffer resistance, though I wouldn't necessarily bet on it.