cantaloupe_frontera.jpgAppalling seems to be the right word.

I was hopefully reading Joan Murphy’s article in Produce News Daily, “Dates set for industry meetings on new cantaloupe guidance document,” until I read the last line of the article:

The meetings are open to growers, buyers, auditors, academic experts, as well as regulators from state agencies, the Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They are not open [to] the public.

I mean, why the hell would the public be invited – especially the victims?  Really, why even bother with the 146 sickened and the 36, yes, not 30 or 32, who died?  What might the families impacted by the deadliest foodborne illness outbreak in the United States in the last 100 years have to say?  I wonder how inconvenient it would be to look consumers in the eye.

The people attending the meetings – especially public servants – should demand that the families be present and offered an opportunity to speak about just how important the jobs of the “growers, buyers, auditors, academic experts, as well as regulators from state agencies, the Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture” truly are.

The meetings will be held on:

  • March 29-30, Phoenix
  • April 26-27, Western Growers Association headquarters in Irvine, CA
  • May 30-31, Southeast region
  • June 20-21, Denver

 Call me.  I will give you the phone numbers of people very interested in what you are talking about.