From today's news trawl

Two items from the news today:

First, Walmart's decision to offer low-cost generic drugs in its pharmacy. I still don't like Walmart. I think it has damaged the American economy. What I find here is that 1) people are having to choose between food and drugs (which don't really work well in the undernourished) and 2) if drugs can be sold at $4/30-day supply for a profit, the fact that they are currently selling for $10-30/30-day supply is a travesty. The lesson in my opinions on this case: rational thinking by corporations is not always good thinking for the public.


Second, a commentary on the spinach contamination raised some interesting issues. Yes, cattle on feed are likely our biggest source of 0157:H7. Yes, hay feeding before slaughter is a good idea (currently in use, if I'm not mistaken). No, no, no we can't blame cattle farms for the entire problem! If these produce farms are using untreated manure for fertilizer, they are the problem. Even if the source of the manure was living as if in the wild (making, of course, collection a problem), there would be pathogens in the manure. I think this is similar to the solution to global warming of removing those horrible methane-producing cows; we want to blame the other, and, with the consolidation of the American livestock industry, cattle farmers make a pretty small other most people don't know personally. Frankly, people, you want safe food, stop eating anything that hasn't been boiled. You want fresh produce, there will be some risk involved.