“One of Brits’ Biggest Brexit Fears Is That They’ll Have to—Oof—Eat American Food
Our food safety standards allow for “chlorinated chicken, rat hairs, and maggots.” That isn’t sitting well in the UK.
In these trying political times, most of us can agree on one thing: We’d rather not have maggots in our food. So while Britons have many concerns about the possible effects of Brexit, from potential drug shortages, to economic fallout, to the specter of renewed violence in Northern Island, countless reports have zeroed in on one apparently nightmarish prospect. “US-UK Brexit Trade Deal Could Mean ‘Rat Hairs And Maggots’ In Food,” read one headline. “UK must accept chlorinated chicken after Brexit, US says,” fretted another. It seems that among Britain’s biggest Brexit fears is the idea of eating American food—the same food we poor saps stateside consume every single day.
Around a third of Britain’s food is currently imported from the EU, and the nation’s looming departure from the body could lead to a post-Brexit trade deal between the U.S. and the UK. But our cowboy approach to food regulation is very different from standards within the EU. Just take the now-infamous “chlorinated chickens.”….
And the food standards that Britain currently uses seem to be working—or working better than ours, at least. Americans get food poisoning at ten times the rate of people in the UK. Nearly 400 in the U.S. die from salmonella poisoning each year, while not a single person in England or Wales (together, home to nearly 90 percent of the UK’s population) died from the bacteria between 2005 and 2015.”
And while it seems unrelated, the cause of both of these things are the same.
“A Connecticut congresswoman has called for an investigation into why millions of dollars earmarked to help American farmers weather Donald Trump’s trade war with China are going to a U.S. subsidiary of a massive Brazilian meatpacking operation slammed for corruption.
Majority shareholders of the Brazilian company JBS S.A. have admitted to bribing government officials in their own country for years. They’re currently being investigated for possible corruption in America by U.S. officials, according to media reports….
DeLauro’s call for a probe comes as the latest analysis of payouts of a planned total of $28 billion to aid farmers amid the trade war reveals — again — that at least half of the money is being disbursed to the largest, wealthiest operations, instead of to smaller farms fighting to survive. Trump, however, has indicated that smaller farms will be “big beneficiaries” of the aid program.
The top 10% of operations — the “largest, most profitable industrial-scale farms in the country” – got half of the $14.5 billion in aid paid out from Aug. 19 through October, according to an analysis of data by the Environmental Working Group. The findings were nearly identical for the $8.4 billion paid out from January 2018 through April 2019.
Higher rates per acre this year are also being paid overwhelmingly to Southern farms, an area of the country that heavily supported Trump in the 2016 election, even though farmers there have been harmed less than in other regions, according to a report this month by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. The report estimates payments to JBS at $90 million.”
— make all health insurers nonprofit,
— make all insurance plans offer the same benefits,
— or the other way around;
— phase in government covering premiums over 10 years, so employees can gradually reconstruct contracts with their employers to compensate for lost benefit remuneration;
How to relieve college loan burden sensibly to most peoples’ taste: government pays off your loan and issues you a new loan for the same amount — to be paid off at some share of income (or whatever scheme; examples in Europe) over 25 years — after which balance forgiven. Anybody objects to subsidizing better off, just say all grammar school, high school ed covered by state; college you have to pay for most or all of.
Bonus: make credit scores forget old college loan defaults, once gov covers?
Another piece of evidence https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/11/25/20973151/givedirectly-basic-income-kenya-study-stimulus – simple, transparent, easy to administer redistribution does lots of good. Money flows up, it doesn’ t trickle down. To make the tree grow, water the roots.
Another big effect of Brexit.
“One of Brits’ Biggest Brexit Fears Is That They’ll Have to—Oof—Eat American Food
Our food safety standards allow for “chlorinated chicken, rat hairs, and maggots.” That isn’t sitting well in the UK.
In these trying political times, most of us can agree on one thing: We’d rather not have maggots in our food. So while Britons have many concerns about the possible effects of Brexit, from potential drug shortages, to economic fallout, to the specter of renewed violence in Northern Island, countless reports have zeroed in on one apparently nightmarish prospect. “US-UK Brexit Trade Deal Could Mean ‘Rat Hairs And Maggots’ In Food,” read one headline. “UK must accept chlorinated chicken after Brexit, US says,” fretted another. It seems that among Britain’s biggest Brexit fears is the idea of eating American food—the same food we poor saps stateside consume every single day.
Around a third of Britain’s food is currently imported from the EU, and the nation’s looming departure from the body could lead to a post-Brexit trade deal between the U.S. and the UK. But our cowboy approach to food regulation is very different from standards within the EU. Just take the now-infamous “chlorinated chickens.”….
And the food standards that Britain currently uses seem to be working—or working better than ours, at least. Americans get food poisoning at ten times the rate of people in the UK. Nearly 400 in the U.S. die from salmonella poisoning each year, while not a single person in England or Wales (together, home to nearly 90 percent of the UK’s population) died from the bacteria between 2005 and 2015.”
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a29851866/brexit-vote-american-food-imports-british-protest/
And while it seems unrelated, the cause of both of these things are the same.
“A Connecticut congresswoman has called for an investigation into why millions of dollars earmarked to help American farmers weather Donald Trump’s trade war with China are going to a U.S. subsidiary of a massive Brazilian meatpacking operation slammed for corruption.
Majority shareholders of the Brazilian company JBS S.A. have admitted to bribing government officials in their own country for years. They’re currently being investigated for possible corruption in America by U.S. officials, according to media reports….
DeLauro’s call for a probe comes as the latest analysis of payouts of a planned total of $28 billion to aid farmers amid the trade war reveals — again — that at least half of the money is being disbursed to the largest, wealthiest operations, instead of to smaller farms fighting to survive. Trump, however, has indicated that smaller farms will be “big beneficiaries” of the aid program.
The top 10% of operations — the “largest, most profitable industrial-scale farms in the country” – got half of the $14.5 billion in aid paid out from Aug. 19 through October, according to an analysis of data by the Environmental Working Group. The findings were nearly identical for the $8.4 billion paid out from January 2018 through April 2019.
Higher rates per acre this year are also being paid overwhelmingly to Southern farms, an area of the country that heavily supported Trump in the 2016 election, even though farmers there have been harmed less than in other regions, according to a report this month by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. The report estimates payments to JBS at $90 million.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rosa-delauro-farm-trade-aid-investigation-jbs-usa_n_5ddb49dde4b00149f71ef5e3
Three steps to Medicare for all:
— make all health insurers nonprofit,
— make all insurance plans offer the same benefits,
— or the other way around;
— phase in government covering premiums over 10 years, so employees can gradually reconstruct contracts with their employers to compensate for lost benefit remuneration;
— phase in 50-75% (hopefully) labor union density,
— coupled with sector wide contracts,
— to see to it that gradually dropping benefit remuneration is actually compensated for.
(hint) https://onlabor.org/why-not-hold-union-representation-elections-on-a-regular-schedule/
* * * * * *
How to relieve college loan burden sensibly to most peoples’ taste: government pays off your loan and issues you a new loan for the same amount — to be paid off at some share of income (or whatever scheme; examples in Europe) over 25 years — after which balance forgiven. Anybody objects to subsidizing better off, just say all grammar school, high school ed covered by state; college you have to pay for most or all of.
Bonus: make credit scores forget old college loan defaults, once gov covers?