Survey Shows Alarming Amount Of Political Influence Over Food Safety

By AJ Swartwood - Talk Radio News Service

A new survey conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) shows that political interference in scientific work of the food and drug industries is high. The survey, which consisted of 44 multiple-choice questions and two essays, was sent to about 8,000 employees of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Drug Administration (USDA). 

According to the report, “The reported levels of political and corporate interference both at the USDA and FDA are troublingly high.”

Of 1,710 respondents, 238 (23 percent) reported that they had received requests from agency decision makers to “inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or conclusions in an agency scientific document.”

The topic of food safety has returned to the public spotlight once again after the recall last month of shell eggs due to Salmonella contamination. Roughly 76 million Americans suffer annually from foodborne illnesses each year, a statistic that has caused many to push for tighter regulation and more progress in the food technology and safety industry. The UCS is among certain groups that are urging the federal government to reform the industry.

“We are at a moment where the administration can act decisively by creating a Scientific Integrity Plan,” said Francesca Grifo, director of the Scientific Integrity Program at UCS. 

Though some small improvements have been made sine the last UCS survey was conducted in 2006, the UCS is calling on the government to play a greater role. Specifically, the group would like Congress to pass bipartisan food safety legislation that would enact many of the needed reforms highlighted by the recent survey.

USDA Annouces $1.2 Billion Plan To Bring Broadband To Rural Areas

By Rob Sanna-Talk Radio News Service

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced 126 new Recovery Act projects aimed at providing broadband internet and media jobs in rural areas across the United States. The USDA plans to spend $1.2 billion of stimulus funds and they anticipate the projects to spur private investments of over $117 million in these rural areas.

“This investment in broadband is already putting Americans back to work,” Vilsack said in a phone conference with reporters, “We anticipate the investments we’ve announced to date will create somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 immediate and direct jobs.”

Added Vilsack, “The jobs that are being created today involve broadband service providers hiring works to lay down fiber, before and during construction works will be needed for engineering and design, and during construction and after completion there will be workers managing these installations repair lines and interacting with customers.”

In addition to bringing jobs to rural areas, the USDA also predicts the investments will boost small business’ ability to compete in the global market and expand education opportunities for children and college students.

Sherrod Puts Ball In Obama's Court

Former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee Shirley Sherrod, forced to resign this week after a video was leaked to the press that appeared to show her making racially biased remarks, told ABC’s Good Morning America today that she is not sure whether she has the full support of President Barack Obama.

“I can’t say that the President is fully behind me,” Sherrod told anchor George Stephanopoulos. “I would hope that he is…I would love to talk to him,” she added.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters yesterday that he acted alone in making the decision to fire Sherrod. However, she told Stephanopoulos this morning that this was not the case.

“The first call I received said, ‘We’re putting you on administrative leave’….The next call was, ‘Shirley, we’re going to have to ask you to resign.’ And then, ‘The White House wants you to resign.’”

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued a formal apology to Sherrod, and new reports suggested that the President was putting pressure on Vilsack to offer Sherrod her job back, which he did.

Vilsack On Sherrod Scandal: "I Accept Full Responsibility"

United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack publicly apologized to ousted USDA official Shirley Sherrod on Tuesday, expressing “deep regret,” and accepting “full responsibility,” for firing her based on comments she made at a recent NAACP event that were subsequently broadcast out of context on mulitple televison networks.

Vilsack said he had talked with Mrs. Sherrod, offered her a new job and discussed with her ways to “move forward.” Vilsack said that Sherrod indicated that she wanted time to think about it. Vilsack claimed that the White House had no part in ousting Sherrod, saying it was “my decision and mine alone.”

Vilsack said “it was a decision that I regret having made in haste.” In light of the history of civil rights claims against the USDA, Vilsack said his goal when he took over the department was “to close that chapter of history.” Vilsack said he has “learned a lot of lessons from this experience.”

By Philip Bunnell



Breitbart Says He Feels Sorry For Sherrod

According to the watchdog organization Media Matters, Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who posted the video clip that got USDA official Shirley Sherrod fired, says he feels sorry for her.  Breitbart said Tuesday that he “felt sympathy for her plight,” but stopped short of accepting responsibility for the episode, saying that the clip got “misconstrued.”

By Philip Bunnell