In eighteen months we've had ecoli and salmonella in beef, peppers, pork, fish, onions and not to mention tainted pet food from China (tomatoes were aquitted). And now to add to that list peanut butter. Some 474 people have been made sick from it since October. I've had food poisoning twice in my life and I'll say it's no picnic. With the globalization of our food supply I'm amazed that we haven't seen even more cases. I only recall my parents speak of food poisoning being fairly common during the depression because people would can their own foods. Keep that in mind should you do the garden thing this spring and want to jar or can it for later use. Important to follow the directions about sterilization of the jars and proper blanching. It's also a good reason to buy local. Not only do you get to know where the produce was produced and of course the benefits of supporting local farmers and reducing transportation costs but it's a bit easier to track down the source of any food bourne illness.
A CDC report on the latest - peanut butter
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Many years ago when I was still under the residual spell of Mother Earth News, my wife and I ate a majority of our winter veggies from what I grew in the Garden. Freezing, canning, we did it all. Even won a few ribbons down to the Acton FAir for my Cauliflower. I know how to grow Cauliflower that's for sure. This Spring coming up will see an re-emergence of the "Acton-Up Farm". I began to re-claim the yard that had been dedicated to it. This year probably just one good long raised bed. Take it slow.
Your warnings about canning are well taken. Nothing we canned ever made us sick, but in College, a roomate came back from home with canned something, mixed it into his dish for the night and all of us got the nasties. As yousay, food posioning is no picnic. You just have to go with it and let your body do what it has to do.
If anything will slow down the globalization of all economies, it will be a rise in contaminated food supplies. People have to eat and will search out safe sources and do without if the incidents continue to grow in numbers.
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