Food safety scares in the US

There has been a spate of food safety scares in the US recently. The latest concerns an elevated level of salmonella infections in eggs. Several different products have been affected in previous scares, including spinach. What do you have to do to spinach to make it dangerous enough to spark a governmental response?

Increasing amounts of the food that Americans consume is produced in huge factories by a shrinking number of large companies. As the number of companies producing food drops the impact of a problem with a producer gets bigger. The food security of large sections of the developed world is left at the mercy of the directors of a small number of companies. The recent financial crisis has shown that leaders of corporations are not to be trusted with the greater good. Food giants will be no different, and the impact on society could be just as devastating.

At a recent inspection of an egg producer (they are not farmers any more) piles of dead rats, manure and maggots were found a short distance from the egg production area.

In a world where so few people know how to produce any of their own food, what would be the impact of the shutdown of a significant portion of the current manufacturing machinery?

How do ordinary people protect themselves against this threat?

It is difficult to see how a person can protect themselves fully against this without being self sufficient and I am not advocating that for most people. However growing some of your own food. Cooking as much of your food as you can and finding out where it all comes from are three steps that can make a big difference to your well being, both now and in the case of a bigger scale problem in the future.