Safety at the Speed of Life- Blog 2
Yesterday, I began a blog series on the need to ensure the safety of imported products as global commerce expands the volume of imported products Americans enjoy.
This opening of world markets has brought enormous benefits to consumers: lower prices, greater variety, and more choice. Nowhere is this more evident than in the produce industry.
I met a produce manager named Dan in Detroit. I can remember his name because he told me he was “Dan the produce man.” He has been in the grocery business for three decades.
I asked him what has been the most significant change he has seen. He immediately responded with four words, “It’s what consumers want.”
It used to be a big deal each year when fresh peaches arrived. They would put up signs and place ads in the local paper. Not anymore.
Now he sells peaches almost every month of the year. During the winter, plums, nectarines, and grapes pour into this country from Latin America. We eat big, bright red strawberries in January without a second thought.
Americans walk into almost any produce department in the country and purchase what used to be seasonal items, at a reasonable price, any time of the year. It is the speed of life — our lives, our demands on an ever-growing global market.
It’s anything, anywhere, anytime.
My point is that as long as Americans want to enjoy fresh produce from around the world, buy needed medicines, wear low-cost clothing, drive foreign-made cars, use electronic products designed and built off our shores, purchase affordable furniture, and otherwise participate in the bounties of a global economy, our import system will become increasingly complex.
This is the value of global trade. The challenges we face are the result of a global market beginning to mature. Last year, the United States imported more than $2 trillion worth of products, an amount that exceeds the entire gross domestic product of France. This is approximately $6,500 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.
These products were brought into the United States by more than 800,000 importers, through over 300 ports-of-entry. All projections indicate that this volume will continue to skyrocket over the coming years.
Just as the volume of trade has changed, so must the strategies to regulate safety. Simply scaling up our current inspection strategy will not work. This is not a problem unique to the United States. It is a fundamental challenge for all nations. We need to develop new tools and strategies equal to the new challenges we face. In my next post, I will share what we have done over the past year to assess and improve our strategy to ensure import safety.
Posted on July 22, 2008 in Import Safety
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Excellent points all.
Fresh fruit, veggies and flowers pour into NYC from any of 8 Central/South American Countries and Mexico. DDT is sold and used overseas, The Asian Longhorned Beetle has invaded, Asian Tiger Mosquito "jumped the Pacific" because of increased tanker speed from the Pacific Rim Countries to our Eastern Shore, lead in toothpaste, et. al.
Any rightminded efforts to monitor this trade will by it's nature restrict it, at least the worst of it.
Produce by it's nature is difficult to track from country of origin to US, yet, it would seem that this is an essential part of guarding our food supply. Seems as if now Salmonella has gone from sweet tomatos to hot peppers. E. Coli from spanich to...?
Would the US consumer be genuinely shortchanged if ALL the different fruits were not available? Probably they would cope.
Keep up the good work.
All the best,
Posted by: Will Birge, D.O. | July 22, 2008 at 02:13 PMWill