Tomatoes.....This shouldn't be that hard.

As we continue to get alarmist reporting from the various media about the Salmonella infected tomatoes something is truly lacking.....

We get reports about what "States" have been cleared, but we continue to hear virtually NOTHING about imported tomatoes from Mexico.....I "finally" found mention today in one article, about 6 paragraphs down that Mexican imported tomatoes have "not been ruled out" as the culprit.....

Why the abnormal "sensitivity" and political correctness about this? I don't understand that when we are talking about OUR citizen's health!

Tomatoes, like most of our produce, have little stickers on them that tell you where they were grown, or at least who the company is that's selling them to the grocer. They are identifiable by lot number, and it's not that hard to figure out where each lot came from. The distributor has records and those can then be used to back trace to the grower. IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE!!!

You can't tell me that all 167 people who have an illness that can be attributed to these tomatoes only bought ONE frigging tomato and that the stickers are gone so they have no way to back trace them.....That's absurd, and patently under-estimates the intelligence (or over-estimates the stupidity and gullibility....your choice) of the people of this country.

The FDA seems to be working much harder to protect political sensitivities of some at the expense of a quick and thorough investigation to protect the people that it is charged to protect.

If indeed Mexican tomatoes are responsible I think we need to re-examine our trade rules with that nation to make sure that what we import from there is in compliance with the same standards that manufacturers and commercial growers in this country are held to.

And while we're at it.....HEY CHINA! PAY ATTENTION! YOU'RE NEXT! So keep the lead out of the toys and dental porcelain and anything else you send over here.....Oh and keep the poisoned pet food over there as well.....Some of us like our dogs and cats.....

I don't want a Ford built in Mexico, I'll never be convinced it's as good as a Ford made here. I know that "Stanley" hammers made in Mexico aren't even in the same universe as a "Vaughn" hammer made right here at home.....and like many people who buy and use hand tools I'll spend the extra money on quality when I know I'll only need to buy it ONCE, instead of buying a cheap one and replacing it every couple of years.....

I'm all for free trade as long as it's a level playing field, but when price compromises safety and/or durability I draw the line.

I know that most consumers in the U.S. are price shoppers and consider too many of their purchases to be "disposable" instead of durable. That IS a problem, but when I go to Office Max and I can't find a hole punch NOT made in China regardless of price, something is wrong......Same thing when I go to the grocery store and need a kitchen gadget.....all made in China regardless of price.....It's truly sad.....

About the only thing that I saw at the grocers that was not made in China was a wok.....Which I found really funny in an ironic sort of way.....but perhaps they think that we just like hole punches, kitchen gadgets, and any number of other "disposable" things.....but not Asian food.....

Of all the things that the Chinese make for the consumer market in the U.S. one would think that the one item they could make flawlessly would be a wok.....I would think that they probably make a few of those each year for domestic sale in China......Wouldn't you?

Good day!