Posted on 09/27/2008 9:48:56 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
China milk scandal hits home
Chinese had shrugged off previous problems as Western hysteria, but tainted milk has many wondering what else poses a risk. Even professed patriots seek out products not made in China.
By Barbara Demick
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 27, 2008
BEIJING — Even after regulators assured the public that all contaminated baby formula was off the shelves, B.X. Wei wasn't going to feed his 2-month-old son anything that came out of a can. Especially not one made in China.
But his wife didn't have enough breast milk for the baby.
Then the 30-year-old businessman from Jiangsu province remembered that during his childhood, women would nurse each other's babies if one ran out of milk. So he decided to try a new twist on the old tradition: On Monday, he put an ad on the Internet soliciting a wet nurse.
"I don't know if any milk powder is safe," Wei said.
China's latest food scandal has created a surge of interest in wet nurses. Wei has been interviewing candidates who are asking for as much as $1,500 a month -- about 10 times the average price of a nanny.
Parents who can't afford such luxuries are in a quandary. As stores here and elsewhere in the world remove such products as yogurt and candies amid the scandal over contaminated milk, Chinese consumers are left wondering what else might be poisoning their children.
The discovery that melamine, a toxic industrial compound, had been added to Chinese milk has set off a panic extending through Asia, Europe and parts of Africa. (No tainted products have been discovered to date in the U.S.)
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
“but how despicable of a cretin do you have to be to willingly sell poison in your own country?”
These are not despicable cretins, they are normal Chinese businessmen just trying to maximize profits. This is NOT unusual.
Life is cheap, who cares? They got theirs.
I dunno Ronin, maybe Japan can afford to keep it’s cutesy-poo rural farmers as human theme-park exhibits in a Colonial Williamsburg writ large but it’s total dreaming to think a mountainous, densely-populated urban nation can actually feed itself with all home-grown foodstuffs.
I wouldn’t know how to research that, however.
Will be expanding our garden spot for next year and get back to canning.
Will definitely be canning the better cuts of venison or as we locals call it, 'deer meat', this year instead of freezing it.
Only things I have been canning lately are jams and jellies for family Christmas baskets.
The condition of our food supply is really scary knowing that we import so many items that go into that supply from China.
We have already given up buying fish, shrimp etc. Not afraid of clams as long as they are farm clams from the East Coast.
I guess we must view all food we purchase as suspect now. Checking all labels prior to any purchases.
Grow your own, bump.
Which is why we now grow our own.
>>>Which is why we now grow our own [garlic].
Garlic is an allium and can grow with vegetables or flowers.
CHINA'S AFRICA: Thousands of Chinese farmers bring their skills to Africa, writes Clifford Coonan in Baoding, Hebei Province
LIU JIANJUN, one of China's most prominent private sector ambassadors in the ever-closer relationship between this country and Africa, is wearing a brightly coloured African tunic, the tall hat of a tribal leader, a string of red beads around his neck and carrying a stick with a secret knife in the handle.
Beside the middle-aged Chinese man sits a portrait of chairman Mao Zedong.
"The African people yell 'Mao Zedong is alright' and they are very warm-hearted when I'm there. They all know how to dance, and I am deeply touched by their generosity," said Liu.
[snip]
I think at least the whole garlic has to be marked with the country of origin.
I just noticed for the first time the other day that the beef at our local store was marked with the country of origin. It said:
1. United States
2. Canada
3. Mexico
On the same steak. I can understand two countries, but three? What the hell?
Goats can provide plenty of milk for a family and to sell a little on the side.
We’ve been drinking goat mil for years and love it.
Could be those threes sources but not sure about which country any particular cut would be from.
Ask them.
Wegman’s is announcing that country of origin labeling is coming soon, and I plan to announce to them that I will not be buying any goods from China if they stock it; just to let them know they’ll be wasting their money as far as I’m concerned.
It was obviously born in Canada, escaped and finally captured in Mexico. I imagine it was a bit chewy.
Years ago we had milk goats. Nubians, Saanens, Toggenburgs and Alpines. Of course back then we had many more mouths to consume the milk plus we sold it to horse breeders when a mare had a problem feeding a foal. Goat milk is much easier to digest than cows milk. Only problem is the need of a shelter for the buck that is quite a distance from the milk does so his ‘odor’ does not get into the milk via the air.
Goat milk is much easier on the body in general. It doesn’t cause the mucous problems that cow’s milk does.
My son would get an ear infection guaranteed every time he had cow milk in the winter when he had a cold. As long as we did the goat milk, he was OK.
It’s more expensive, but the health benefits far outweigh the cost, not to mention that we weren’t paying for doctor visits and antibiotics.
Cal thanks for the ping.
Dustbunny is right, canning is a good idea and the goats are the final and most important part of the plan.
They will give you milk and chese and compost for the garden.
Makes me wish that I was young again and could have goats.
Last Mott’s jug I looked at stated it was made from Chinese apples.
I purchase a lot of organic foods. Not because I am convinced that organics are better, per se, but because they generally have better labeling. The organic juice we drink is from Washington State or local apples, depending on the time of year.
“1. Why in God’s name would a dairying nation like ours import Chinese milk?
2. Why would anyone buy milk not produced in their local area?”
I don’t, but I do buy things like chocolate candy bars, or instant pudding mix, or canned cream soups, that sort of thing. And, until this scandal started coming out, it did not occur to me to ask Nestle’s or Campbell’s which country they had gotten their ingredients from.
It isn’t fresh milk that’s causing the most concern, its the powdered milk used as an ingredient in other products.
You are so right. And it is a crying shame that so many Americans don't know how to hunt, can, or cook, much less know to pay attention to where the food came from.
We have already given up buying fish, shrimp etc. Not afraid of clams as long as they are farm clams from the East Coast.
You can find American caught shrimp at Wal*Mart in red bags. I can't recall the brand, but they are about a dollar more per pound and are in the frozen seafood case.
Other options include local farmers markets. The ones here list where their produce is from.
If a person doesn't have access to land, they can buy "farm shares", a share of the production from a farm or dairy. See Local Harvest *pops* or your local extension office for more details.
If a person doesn't hunt, they could take a hunter safety class and learn.
Canning classes have been offered at the local extension office in every state I've ever lived in.
LOL! Unfortunately it seems anymore getting a good cut is hit or miss.
>>>...and the goats are the final and most important part of the plan.
I have a agri auction/web forum/site. When my older son was young, he continuously got croup. To be short with the point, the goat breeders on my forum insisted that I switched him from cow to goats milk. There is a bacteria in goats milk that isn’t in cows that helps.
I did that. The croup went away and never returned.
My younger son started with the croup this year. I did the same to him. His croup cleared up. So I keep both in the house (cow/goats milk).
I’ve no idea if it is just coincidence; but it is a harmless solution to keep in mind.
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