Jan 8, 2010
Serious About Food Safety

One thing you hear in every food safety talk is that food safety is not something to be used to gain a competitive advantage. Well, guess what.

The sputtering economy has apparently affected the drive to instill “higher standards” in the produce industry about food safety, traceability and sustainability.

Well, actually, it’s derailed the drivers.

A year or so ago, it looked as if the big retailers – the ones with the power that comes from being top of the food chain in the aligned procurement process ¬– were going to tell growers exactly how things were going to be done. Not only would they dictate Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices, they were telling growers how to fit into their “sustainability” plans as well.

But when the economy soured, food buyers began to shop at discount stores like Aldi’s and Sav-A-Lot, and this put pressure on Walmart and other big retailers to find cheaper produce. Suddenly, they were going back to the spot market rather than buying from producers in their own aligned supply chain ¬ – the ones that they had cajoled to meet their standards.

Jim Prevor, the “perishable food pundit,” called it the “collapse of a paradigm.” These powerful retailers had set up conditions to buy produce cheaper, but if they pay premiums for their “higher standards,” they become less competitive.

“They really want the flexibility to buy anywhere,” he said.

Prevor was one of several speakers addressing food safety and sustainability topics at Washington State Horticultural Society’s Expo in early December.

While big retailers may be having doubts and second thoughts, it is evident that growers aren’t. Food safety and sustainability are on their minds. They are, however, pushing back against standards driven down from the top and are trying to develop practices that work for their individual industries. Fruit has never presented the level of food safety risk that vegetables do, and apple growers don’t want to be treated like growers of leafy greens.

In the final analysis, what is likely to happen is that government will probably enforce food safety rules, not the big retailers. And the question for growers is, will they be better off negotiating with the government than they were with the big retailers?

Probably so. The big retailers have demonstrated that they negotiate from narrow self-interest. It is not likely that the government, which is sensitive on environmental issues, will impose rules that lead to the extermination of wildlife and wetlands just to keep a few rabbits away from the carrots.

While putting farmers’ pictures in supermarkets to demonstrate how close they are to the producers is great public relations, it’s more form than substance. Our government in recent years seems to show a more genuine concern for the well-being of small and local producers and is encouraging a “know your farmer, know your food” mentality.

That has two sides. It seems to discourage buying from farmers unless you know them and have direct contact, which is certainly quaint and a bit paranoid. But the other side is something farmers have long wanted ¬ – consumers to be more knowledgeable about where their food comes from and how it gets there.

The pathway to safe, high quality food and a rational food system may be slowly emerging from the fog.




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