What’s Hiding in Your Grocery Cart—and How to Choose Better & the Latest Podcast Episode

Hi Reader,

Why Recalls Are Spiking—and What You Can Do About It

Over the past year or two, if you're like me, you may have noticed a disturbing trend: more food recalls, more people getting sick, and more weird contaminants—wood, plastic, even metal—in our food.

You’re not imagining it.

In 2024 alone, foodborne illnesses sent nearly 500 people to the hospital—double the number from the year before. And while recalls remained steady in number, their severity and scale have increased dramatically.

So, what’s going on behind the scenes?

A Fragile, Overstretched Food System

Despite the sweeping Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed in 2011 to prevent contamination, enforcement has been slow, underfunded, and inconsistent—across multiple administrations.

Meanwhile, the food industry has only become more vulnerable:

Ultra-centralized processing means one facility error can affect millions of meals.
Just-in-time supply chains leave no buffer for breakdowns.
And mass production at breakneck speed often comes at the expense of quality control.

Add in labor shortages, international ingredient sourcing, and lax oversight, and you get a recipe for disaster.

Contamination in Surprising Places

Recent recalls have included:

Canned beef stew with shards of wood
Frozen dumplings with hard plastic
Cucumbers and tomatoes linked to Salmonella outbreaks
And even “natural” or organic foods found harboring Listeria or E. coli

It’s not just about junk food anymore. Even health-conscious consumers aren’t immune.

Why the FDA and USDA Are Struggling

Under both the Biden and Trump administrations, food safety enforcement has faced challenges:

Biden’s team pushed forward FSMA regulations but struggled with funding and inspection delays.
Trump’s administration prioritized deregulation—cutting budgets, delaying rules, and eliminating safety committees.

Today, inspections are rare, contamination often goes undetected until after people fall ill, and foreign materials slip through under weak surveillance.

So, What Can You Do?

While we can’t control every factory line, we can take steps to protect ourselves and our families:

✅Buy local or directly from small, trusted producers (like our farm stand!)
✅ Grow your own organic food
✅ Wash fresh produce thoroughly—even organic
✅ Avoid ultra-processed foods where contamination is harder to trace
✅ Stay up to date with recall alerts (FDA)
✅ Support policy that prioritizes preventive food safety—not just damage control

This Week's Podcast: If reading this newsletter article got you thinking about where your food really comes from and your desire to have more control, wait until you hear this.

In this week's episode of the Green Living Now Podcast, I talk with Marjorie Wildcraft--a former real estate mogul turned self-sufficiency expert--about how just six backyard chickens and a small home garden could radically change your food supply (and maybe even your health.)

We dive into the surprising math behind homegrown eggs, practical steps for getting started with chickens, and why backyard food production might be ne of the most empowering things you can do right now. You can watch a quick (under 90 seconds) preview clip here--and then catch the conversation below that.

Quick preview....

Full episode:

Stay green,

Amy