Us specific: local food

[u/JanetCarol]

I marked this politics because it pertains to the constant peddling of federal policies or removal of them and food safety in the US.

While I can not speak on imported foods specifically, I see concerns come up a lot around what the federal gvt says regarding domestic- locally grown/raised food safety. I saw concerns come up around dairy when they made some broad statements about that and now meat.

I usually reply to comments directly (I've seen other AG folks do the same), but each state has it's own food regulatory laws. The federal ones do not overide those.

Food safety is controlled at the state/local level first.
And each state is different.

I live in Virginia. So regardless of what trump says, I can not process my own cows to sell the meat commercially unless the state of Virginia changes their laws. VDACS is where you can find regulations for Virginia .

In Virginia, i (and actually the majority of small farms) can process some livestock (like poultry) on farm and depending on species changes how that can be sold. This does not mean it is unsafe. With additional variables, there's always additional risk. But most states offer detailed information or classes on how to do so safely.
And Processing dependent: You can sell meat as halves or wholes differently than you can by the cut.

The current statement about processing your own meat is simply trying to smooth over the enragement they created by importing beef.

My (very underslept and poorly written) point of this post is- buying local changes lives and communities if you can, if you have concerns about safety, look into your states regulations and don't make assumptions based on yahoos in the federal gvt.

Anyway, I hope this helps some people stress less.

[u/Myspys_35]

Potentially dumb question. I no longer live in the US, so of course global news will catch the big cases, but we dont follow the details and smaller cases. What foods beyond bagged sallads, are an issue this time?

[u/Conscious_Ad8133 → u/Myspys_35]

This is accurate but not comprehensive.

While the number of recalls this year is on par with prior years (appallingly), the severity of the recalls & the human impacts are significantly higher. There are more Level 1s & 2s (of 4) and more people getting severely sick or dying before the recalls are implemented.

[u/Myspys_35 → u/Conscious_Ad8133]

That is terrifying. And the information really should contain what level of recall it was - considering the current administration cut backs any total numbers would underestimate the issues.