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The risks are very real. The US pork industry is substantial in scale, and because of a combination of geographic isolation and legal measures like this, has ma
by jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
The risks are very real. The US pork industry is substantial in scale, and because of a combination of geographic isolation and legal measures like this, has managed to keep several nasty pathogens out.
Remember when Bill Gates was going around about 2 decades ago, warning everyone of the risk of a global pandemic? The specific scenario/simulation his foundation used as an example was a mutation of swine flu emerging in rural Brazil then making the leap to the global food system via the US.
I get its frustrating not to be able to take stuff home. I gained a dozen pounds of water bloat I ate so much charcuterie in Tuscany. But the bottom line of these laws is that the health of the industry as a whole matters more than us individuals enjoying what's ultimately a luxury not necessity.
Aside: I'd say Italy is a mixed bag in terms of food handling. I toured a cattle ranch and it was pretty grim. Lifelong intensive confinement seemed to be the norm. But what I would say I loved about Italy is the importance food is given in ordinary life. Sure, I'm not overly romanticizing things, people of people just order some dominos in Italy too, but I think it's fair to say there's a higher priority paid to proper food vs the US.
- Ichthypresbyter 4y ago>Sure, I'm not overly romanticizing things, people of people just order some dominos in Italy too I don't think very many do, given that the Italian Domino's franchise recently went bankrupt [0] having managed to open 29 of its planned 880 restaurants. Of course, plenty of Italians eat fast food (McDonald's is reasonably successful there), just not imported American versions of Italian food. [0]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/10/dominos-retreats-from-italy-having-failed-to-conquer-the-home-of-the-pizza https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/10/dominos-retrea...
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y agoYeah, you're right now that I think about it. I have a long standing personal joke about how no matter where you go in the world, you'll see Domino's delivery scooters there most likely, except in the US. I dunno why I find that so amusing but I do.
- autoexec 4y ago> The US pork industry is substantial in scale, an inhumane in operation. A lot of the vulnerability to disease outbreaks animals suffering under industrial farming have is the result of the horrifying conditions they live in. I wont claim that if we treated animals better the need to regulate what enters the country wouldn't exist, but it would make outbreaks less disastrous.
- nonamenoslogan 4y agoI hate to break it to you, but if you want to feed 8B people, industrial agriculture is the only way.
- autoexec 4y agoI think it's possible to have large scale industrial agriculture while still not being needless cruel to the animals you raise. It just requires people at those corporations to give up a little bit of their profits instead of giving up their humanity