LETTUCE AND EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA

                  According to the official narrative, not a single case of cyclosporiasis has occurred in domestically-produced lettuce.  The safest is local, but even large producers farming in the U.S. have not had a problem.

                  Know why?  Because this lettuce bug comes from HUMAN excrement.  Not cow manure, deer manure, wild rabbit manure--you get the picture.  It comes from HUMAN poop.

                  Now think about it a bit.  ALL cases have come from imported lettuce, the lion's share from Mexico. As iconic radio commentator Paul Harvey used to say, "it's not one world."  I remember well hearing a Virginia senator saying the problem with food-borne pathogens in chickens was foreign workers who didn't wash their hands after going to the bathroom.  That is a big problem in the poultry processing industry.

                  I'm trying to have a civilized conversation here, but I need us all to take a deep breath and think about purchasing ready-to-eat food from places where human manure on hands does not demand washing. Let that dance around in your head for a bit. 

                  Despite what you may see or hear, this lettuce pathogen outbreak is not due to DOGE, lack of regulations, lack of effective oversight, or any of a number of big government fixes.  It is a direct result of a cheap food policy and a domestic welfare state. 

                  The cheap food policy means these mega-farms won't pay a decent enough wage to attract American workers.  The result is off-shoring.  The reason 95 percent of all food-borne illnesses are in leafy greens is because that is a product with no kill step.  It's not frozen or cooked; rather its whole life is spent in cool, dark, damp conditions.  Those are exactly the platform to launch bacterial growth.  No kill step. 

                  The domestic welfare state keeps American workers from gainful employment.  If we had no welfare, no unemployment benefits and the like, people would either need to work, starve, or convince a philanthropist to offer charity.  Most of us wanting to be helpful vet those in need; unlike the bureaucracy, which rewards graft and fraud.   Starvation is a fairly significant incentive to work.  

                  American companies--even big ones--growing domestically have a cultural ethic completely different than what's in the third world.  That said, most Americans are pathetically immuno-compromised because we're too sterile.  That means things that foreigners--in this case, for the most part Mexicans--encounter and counteract, become virulent in Americans' lethargic immune systems.  Yes, it's time to get dirty, folks.

                  The point is this story has numerous threads, like most stories.  It's not a simple government oversight fix.  It's not even a simple corporate private business fix.  It's a hydra with multiple threads weaving together a rope of dysfunction.  I'm seeing too many people--even friends--screaming for more regulations and blaming DOGE for gutting federal oversight agencies.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if it were that easy?  Such screams indicate profound simplistic thinking and faith in bureaucracy.  I don't like either.

                  Americans should never--that's a strong never--buy leafy greens grown in foreign soil.  Period and amen.  We should buy only domestically-raised lettuce, preferably locally grown and ideally grown in our own backyards.  Lettuce is perhaps the easiest food item to grow in a small space even in an urban setting.  This whole story does not indicate a lapse in oversight; it indicates a profound abdication of personal participation and accountability in our food system. 

                  Let's quit finger pointing and realize we're the problem.  As a culture, we won't return to functionality until we come to terms with the culprit:  us. 

                  Do you grow lettuce?