Get Your Mojo Working

Posted on July 16, 2007
by Maureen Keene

At its core this blog is about where the responsibility for safety lies.  It lies with the federal government and the agencies designed to protect us from dangers we are not individually equipped to protect ourselves from.  It lies with companies who provide goods — they must be held to a high standard and do the right thing for their customers.   And finally it lies with the consumer – yes, you and me.  We have to take individual responsibility for the  choices we make – the foods we feed ourselves and our families, the products we buy, and how active and informed we are as citizens and consumers. 

Become an active and informed consumer (and drag your family and friends out of the darkness with you while you’re at it).  Know what you’re buying, where it was made, and what laws and standards it should conform to.  Read labels carefully. And if it isn’t labeled, as in the case of individual ingredients in processed foods, demand to know or refuse to buy it. 

We take it for granted that our government is looking out for our best interests through various agencies like the FDA, USDA, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and others.  And they are — but not to the extent that they should be.  Budgets and manpower in these agencies have been shrinking while our economy grows and the global supply chain expands.  If our representatives in government, who rely on campaign contributions to stay in office, don’t hear from us about what we expect from them and what we think is important, how exactly do we expect them to represent our interests and balance them against those of the corporations and lobbies who are keeping them in office? 

As for the corporations themselves, if we buy goods from them regardless of their actions, if there is no consumer revolt against reckless imports, then we only have ourselves to blame when the next incident strikes closer to home. 

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