Generally, I don't like to blog about the same subject multiple times, but bear with me on this one. As discussed in a previous blog post, there have been a series of food recalls recently, including a massive recall of eggs, as well as a smaller recall of deli meats. Before we get back to the egg recall, we've got a new recall on our hands - one that sickened a few folks from right here in Maine.

You can read the full details here, but the bottom line is that BJ's Wholesale locations in 4 New England states, including NH, ME, and MA, received potentially tainted ground beef prodcued by Cargill, a truly awful company whose products should be avoided if at all possible.

If it's worth saying once, it's worth saying a thousand times: ground beef produced & distributed by large agribusinesses is extremely dangerous. Feel free to check out the full New York Times article on the dangers associated with ground beef, but here's all you might need to know:

"...the (tainted) hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps...The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas, and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia..."

If you are serving Uruguayan slaughterhouse trimmings and mash-like product that's been treated with ammonia at your Labor Day cookout, please feel free to not invite me.

While we're thankful that the folks from Maine who got sickened did not require hospitalization, remember that you're playing Russian Roulette every time you eat a mass-produced burger. If you going to eat or serve ground beef, please consider (1) purchasing it at one of the many outstanding Farmers Markets that the Green Alliance supports, and (2) dining at restaurants, such as those listed in my previous blog post, that offer local food. Ground beef from cows that grass-fed, rather than corn-fed, is highly recommended, as beef from corn-fed cows is more likely to contain e.coli bacteria.

And as for the recent egg recall, it's worth noting that the owners of the facilities that produced the eggs have a long history of health violations and disregard for worker safety.  In fact. the details include: live and dead flies and maggots "too numerous to count", and chicken manure piled 4-8 feet high. It almost goes without saying that these factory farms are locked in tiny, filthy cages, which exponentially increase the danger of salmonella contamination.

It's very easy to find local eggs in our area. And remember to ask your favorite dining establishment where their eggs - and a lot of other foods - are coming from. Vote with your wallet, becuase the purse is mightier than the sword!