Did you read that the US Dept. of Agriculture now says it’s okay for American chicken farming operations to kill the birds here in the US, then ship them to China for processing, and then bring them back to the US to sell in local grocery stores?
Truly amazing. Hard to fathom that this makes sense even economically. I guess that the cost of labor in China is so much lower than in the US that it will create bigger profit for big agribusiness despite the shipping cost and delay in getting the product to market.
Beyond that, however, is certainly the question of food safety. Transit time from slaughterhouse to grocery store shelves? More than a few days, I’d think. And I don’t like to seem like a xenophobe, but Chinese food processors don’t have the best record. Tainted infant formula and dog food come to mind?
And guess what? That package of international chicken at Walmart won’t have to be labeled with where it came from.
Here’s more about it: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/usda-allow-china-process-chickens-ship-back-u-214500281.html
More than ever, it’s a good idea to buy your chicken from a local store that gets it’s poultry from local farmers.
What do you think?