Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

FRONT PAGE: "Ill From Food? Investigations Vary by State," by Gardiner Harris, New York Times, 20 April 2009.

Everybody wants tighter regulation schemes given the globalization of the food and beverage industries, but no great effort or vision yet on harmonizing the existing patchwork of systems state by state:

Right now, uncovering which foods have been contaminated is left to a patchwork of more than 3,000 [!!!!!!] federal, state and local health departments that are, for the most part, poorly financed, poorly trained and disconnected, officials said.

Today, the average food item travels, in aggregate, 1500 miles from farm to dinner table. With climate change, I see that mileage increasing dramatically on a global basis, meaning food will replace energy as the most expansive and vulnerable global commodity network in the 21st century.

And we are clearly not ready for that future.