Posted on 07/20/2005 4:41:45 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Attack on U.S. food supply 'easy,' senators warn
By Sophie Walker1 hour, 57 minutes ago
An attack on America's food supply using biological agents or disease is easy to do, would spread fast and have a devastating economic effect, a Senate committee heard on Wednesday, as it reviewed protection for U.S. agriculture.
"In the case of foot-and-mouth disease it takes little scientific training," Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record), a Kansas Republican and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, told the Agriculture Committee hearing.
"You put a handkerchief under a diseased animal in Afghanistan, put it in a zip-lock bag, put it in your suitcase, come to the United States and drop it in any one of our feed lots. And we're in a lot of trouble."
Other animal diseases such as Rift Valley fever in Africa, Nipah virus in Asia, and avian influenza are significant threats because of their contagious nature and the fact that they can cause death in humans, James Roth, director of the center for food security and public health at Iowa State University, testified before the hearing.
U.S. agricultural exports are seen at around $59 billion in 2005, making it the third-largest export sales year, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner said. The U.S. food system contributes $1.24 trillion, or more than 12 percent, to gross domestic product and employs 18 percent of the U.S. work force.
Food products flow quickly via interstate commerce, making the sector particularly vulnerable. "Diseases and pathogens do not acknowledge state or national borders. The threat to agriculture is very real," Conner said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Jeez thanks for offering the way to do it........
Senator Roberts now.
Wasn't that long ago that Sec. Thompson was wondering why the terrorists hadn't hit our food supply.
[With politicians like these, we don't need any more enemies.]
But wait, I read in the WSJ that open borders are good for the economy.
It doesn't take much skill or knowledge to contaminate food. Why, all an Islamist terrorist would need to do is use his left hand (or is it the right hand that is "unclean")to touch food on a salad bar.
Surprised he didn't mention exactly which farms in the US would offer the easiest access and would feature the most livestock.
"To do this, simply take I-84 into Idaho, drive about 200 miles east, then look for the 'Mountain Road exit.' Take that, drive to the T-bar ranch, and you're all set."
I think that we can address this problem by putting an electronic dog fence around the capitol & senate office buildings and the matching necklace around Teddy. That should make any attack on the US food supply by senators a little harder.
Far more danger to America are millions of perfect incubators for human pathogens.....illegal invader human pathogen hosts.
Infect any illegal alien invasion staging areas inside Mexico..
Once across the border they diffuse into every area of America..
This information is widely available on the internet. There are no secrets and foot-and-mouth disease is prevalent in more than 50 countries around the world so the virus readily available. It would be simple to go to a feedlot or a salebarn as a distribution point for release and the terrorists know it. There have been 100s of these articles available for public consumption since 911. The UK's FMD outbreak cost them about 30 billion and their country is only about the size of Missouri. We have 100 million cattle, 60 million hogs, and 7 million sheep and millions of deer and elk. It won't be pretty.
I'm glad to hear them talking this way. The American public should know about these things. We ARE threatened to our very core by Islamofascists, as well as being threatened by the Enemy Within (Socialists.) Look at all the diseases illegals bring to our country. TB and all sorts of other Third World diseases are back in America already. Yuck!
Terrorism is one of the best reasons I know of to move to a temperate climate and grow and/or raise your own food.
Learn to sew. Get over yourself and learn to hunt and butcher chickens, rabbits, deer, etc. Learn to lay a fire. Learn to bake bread. Learn to preserve foodstuffs for the winter months. Maybe chop some wood and carry some water once in a while. I promise it won't kill ya! ;)
(Oh, shut up already you Survivalist Nutjob, LOL!)
My children have been attacking my food supply for years. My 7 year old launches daily terrorist attacks on my Cap'n Crunch....
Temperate climate & Wisconsin. Isn't that an oxymoron...?
I can grow food from mid-March through late October outdoors, and I've had tomatoes as late as Christmas Day using my unheated greenhouse (and a lot of insulation!) You just need to learn the ropes.
I grow lettuce, chard, spinach, radishes...all sorts of salad greens on my enclosed back porch all winter long with grow lights, natural fertilizers and clear plastic tarps. I over-winter cherry-type tomatoes and pepper plants by my glass patio doors, too. Yeah, I'm a freak about it, but nothing beats fresh veggies all year 'round! Good for Body & Soul. :)
My brothers are awesome hunters and in exchange for using my wood-heated machine shed, they can hang deer there and butcher in comfort while drinkin' beer and watching The Green Bay Packers on TV. In exchange, I get a freezer full of venison each season, and we usually have some ground into burger and some made into sausage and brats, but I save the Tenderloins for special occasions. ;) My son and I hunt small game on our own; Canada geese, rabbits, duck, etc. DH is no longer interested in shooting things, as he was nearly shot by someone hunting illegally on our land a few years back; I don't blame him. Those Illinois hunters that come up here think they OWN the place. Grrrrr!
I know. It IS 2005. I should just be opening a can and microwaving dinner, but I've come a heckuva long way for a spoiled inner-city kid. There's no turning back now!
When the balloon goes up, Freepers know who to call. I'll feed y'all. ;)
I'm spoiled by the Northern California climate. There's always something growing here. The lakes never freeze over, and I go crabbing year round off the jetty out in Bodega Bay.
Mmmmm! I lived in San Diego in the 80's. Nothing better than soft-shell crabs caught for FREE on the beach. I've been to Cresent City. I like it up there. Nice craggy shoreline; more Maine-ish than CA.
See? You "get it." Plenty to eat if you just know where to look. :)
And frozen lakes are the BEST for fishing, IMHO. Yellow Perch or Northern Pike caught right through the ice, then flash frozen once they hit the icy air. Nothin' better!
Too much food-talk; I need some breakfast, LOL!
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