Go ahead, pat yourself on the back. Your “ounce of prevention” is paying off, and Ben Franklin would be proud.
The world knows a good thing when it sees one, and it sees our industry as a shining example of food-safety success. This fact was made crystal clear while recently chatting with a young lady visiting the U.S. from overseas.
IPE, the U.S. Poultry &Egg Association’s premiere international forum, recently expanded to include programs sponsored by the America Feed Industry Association, brings countless people from all over the globe seeking the quality they know they’ll find here in U.S. agriculture.
The young lady I talked with grabbed my attention by telling me one of her young friends back home, expecting her first child, had a special request. She tearfully insisted her traveling friend to bring back some powdered milk from the U.S. for her baby. You see, to this young mom in a developing country, it’s all about food safety for her little tyke. In our culture, if you can’t find a trusted brand you simply go look in the next store. This girl believed her most trustworthy alternative was 13 time zones away. She looked to us, meaning U.S.
Go ahead. Pat yourself on the back again.
When foreigners look from a distance they can see it more clearly than many people right here at home. Never mind the tiny but noisy crowd that gets the T.V. camera’s attention, or the uninformed blogs insanely rumoring that chicken breast is full of artificial hormones. I’m blessed with a job that lets me travel, and I come across this story everywhere I go. International consumers relish American quality in all sorts of products, and most especially in American food products. Quality-conscious U.S. agriculture gains trust and earns respect for our country every day.
Food safety is a top priority worldwide, and our food safety is envied.