Commie beef growing hippy e coli haters

A couple of articles on the value of eating locally have come my way in the last week or so - illustrating the health (i.e. avoiding e coli), economic, and nutritional benefits to knowing where your food comes from....For instance from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Today, it is called "value-added" meat, but it is really just a return to the old-fashioned way of raising cattle - the way cattle was raised before industrialized farming began more than 50 years ago.

And from the New York Times:

Today, according to the F.D.A., 35 percent of the fresh fruits and vegetables sold in this country are imported, and the figure grows every year. There are no regulations governing the countries or the plants from which produce is imported. Only 1 percent of the imported produce is inspected, the agency said, and only a small part of that is actually checked for bacterial contamination.

But who'd think that paying the extra few cents that it costs to buy local beef or vegetables is worth knowing that your food is 1) safely processed and 2) not laced with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, etc. etc. ad nauseaum, and that your money is going to a farmer or rancher who lives in your state or at least your country instead of transnational corporate stockholders. Buncha communist hippies, that's who.

It's a terrible idea, internalizing the externalities.