Beef up the budget for the FDA to make food safer

In response to your Dec. 11 editorial, "US food agency needs more bulk": While the US currently has one of the safest food supplies in the world, it is clear that more needs to be done to protect consumers. We strongly believe prevention is the foundation to improving the safety of our food supply, but it will take a cooperative partnership between the food industry and the US government.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association and the food industry are working to strengthen, modernize, and improve the systems that oversee imported and domestic food.

Congress and the Bush administration must appropriate more money to the Food and Drug Administration so it can fulfill its mandate to keep the food supply safe.

In response to the Dec. 11 article "Hunger problem challenges the US": There are many of us in America who go to work every day and work hard, yet we have to make tough decisions regarding food and our other obligations.

What we buy is often determined by how much is left over. I can feed my family on $50 a week, but it is not going to be very healthy.

We are the richest country in the world, yet people are starving.

Know this, America, if we are judged by the way we treat those in need, we may be found wanting.

Fight terrorism with antipoverty aid

In response to the Dec. 18 article, "Republicans score key wins on spending": Our presidential candidates and members of Congress should look to the reduction of terrorism through antipoverty measures, which are far less expensive than military options are.

According to the Borgen Project, only $19 billion of foreign aid would be enough to eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally.

This year's US military budget was about $439 billion.

Do producers drive the economy?

Regarding the Dec. 17 Opinion piece, "A myth about consumer spending": This piece says that supply, not demand, drives our economy.

If that were true, there would never be an economic downturn since business could always price their product to create a profit, and consumers would have no choice.

While such situations do occur at times, they don't reflect the reality of the economy.

Every value-added step exists because the payee expects a buyer at a higher price at the next step. No final buyer, read consumer, no economic growth.

Individual employees working for intermediate-step companies may survive for a while, but not for long.

Justice needed against 'honor killings'

In response to the Nov. 20 article, "As order slides, Palestinian women face honor killings": It's time to haul the men who commit "honor killings" into international court and give them the justice they so richly deserve!

Why isn't the international community speaking up?

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