Landing the Big One

Landing the Big One

Friday, April 21, 2006

The vulnerable food supply?

Reported here, a speech warning about our food supply vulnerabilities:
Most people don’t think of how vulnerable the agriculture community and agriculture is to terrorism,” Kassenborg said.

The U.S. agriculture system is an attractive target for terrorism because livestock and crops can be infected with various diseases that can either harm animals alone or crops alone or both animals and people, Kassenborg said.

With any method, the U.S. economy is damaged, Kassenborg said. Kassenborg said in response to an audience question that if she planned a terrorist act on the U.S. agriculture community, she’d “buy a (hog) farm, infect the hogs with foot and mouth disease and ship the animals to market.”

If she had the resources, “I’d look at the milk supply,” Kassenborg said. "It’s something used by virtually all ages.”

Certain diseases do well in milk, Kassenborg said.

Kassenborg said state and federal officials are working to reduce vulnerability in agriculture.
Of course, it would be improper in our PC world to notice if, say, some men from the Middle East acquired a hog farm...

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