Food Safety Is a Policy Choice

As a farmer, I’m proud to be a part of feeding America and providing key materials for our economy.

Taking care of our food from farm to table requires attention to detail, good systems, people who know what they’re doing, and people able to catch problems before they snowball.

That’s why the food recalls we’ve seen this year should concern all of us.

And what gets me about these failures: They are 100% preventable. The result of bad policy out of Washington. Period.

We’ve seen so many recalls it’s been hard to keep up: lettuce, jalapeños, eggs, and frozen berries — just to name a few. One recent outbreak linked to contaminated lettuce led to thousands of Americans getting sick, including 154 documented cases in Louisiana.

We can’t keep going on like this.

I’ll say it again: Food safety is a policy choice.

Congress makes decisions about how much we invest in inspectors, testing labs, and the technology needed to trace contaminated food.

And Congress is making some bad choices.

Washington cut the federal workforce responsible for protecting the food supply. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service lost roughly 9% of its workforce, while complaints about meat, poultry, and egg safety increased by nearly 40%.

At the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), staffing reductions weakened the agency’s ability to inspect imported food and respond to outbreaks. FDA’s workforce was down substantially in 2026, while foreign inspections declined.

Also, the FDA developed a system that would require better records so investigators could identify where contaminated food came from and get it off the shelves faster.

Congress shelved the rule until 2028 while the recalls continue.

We need enough inspectors to inspect, scientists to complete the tests, public health workers to investigate outbreaks, along with the technology to trace a contaminated product before it travels through half the country.

Farmers, processors, grocers, and restaurants that do things right deserve a food safety system that protects them, while protecting the public.

When the government does its job well, most of us never notice.

We simply go to the grocery store, buy dinner, and sit down at the kitchen table without having to wonder whether the food we bought is safe.

That’s what the government should ensure is happening.

I know that’s what the people of Louisiana expect. And that’s what the farmer from Tensas will deliver in the United States Senate.

Opportunity in Unity, for One Louisiana.

Jamie Davis