🚀 go-pugleaf

 mh@spam-supressor.pdasolutions.com (Mark Hartman) writes:

>(Michael Higby) wrote:

>>It has been reported that the strawberries were grown in Mexico and processed 
>>in San Diego.  It is illegal to use food products from outside the US in 
>>school lunches.

>I was under the impression that such laws had been superseded by virtue of
>NAFTA.  Is that not the case?

According to reports on MSNBC, this appears not to be the case.  The school 
lunch program is required by law to use products only from American growers.  
I am not sure, but NAFTA may not automatically apply to goods bought by  
governmental agencies.

>>The officials of the company that manufactured and/or sold those materials to 
>>the government should be investigated and prosecuted.  

>No question.

So far, the president of the company - Andrews and Williamson - has resigned.  
The company is going to pay for the cost of the treatment of children.  The 
Dept. of Ag. has said there will be a criminal investigation, and the company 
can also be sued civily.

>>Federal and school 
>>district officials who are responsible should be removed from office, and 
>>prosecuted where appropriate.  I wouldn't mind if the entire LA Board of 
>>Education were recalled, as this yet another item on the list that shows that 
>>this Board of Education is completely lacking in leadership and not interested 
>>in the welfare of children.  They are ruining the concept of the free, public 
>>school.

>Are you sure they knew what was happening?  They could have been told that
>the strawberries were in fact a USA product.  This is not, IMO, something
>that normally requires investigation to confirm.

They may not have known at the moment, but lackadaisacal management leads to 
this.  And possible payoffs.  In any case, it has been confirmed by the Feds 
and the company that the strawberries came from Mexico.  Also, that some of 
the product was sold to the general public as well.

>>There should be zero tolerance for this kind of event.  In the most wealthy, 
>>most scientifically advanced country in the world, children should not get 
>>diseases from contaminated school lunches.  This is the result of greed, 
>>incompetence, or both.

>Agreed; but I fail to see where the officials of the school district are
>automatically culpable.

If this was the only incident, fine.  But there have been a number of food 
contamination cases in our city schools in past years.  None of a scale as 
grand as this, but there have been.  Besides that though - our children are 
not learning, our schools are falling apart physically, much needed programs 
that would keep kids off the streets are cut back.  And every school board 
member uses that job only as a stepping stone to higher office - folks like 
Jackie Goldberg, Diane Watson, Bobbi Fiedler, et al.

They have ruined our public schools.  They are culpable.  Reform is needed.  
We should vote out all incumbent school board members.
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