Team USA bringing own food to China

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3256375

Some highlights of the article:

Wary of food quality in China following recent incidents of tainted products and reports of the heavy use of drugs and insecticides in food production, the USOC is planning to transport tons of meats and other foods to a training camp at Beijing Normal University.

"I feel it's a pity that they [Americans] decided to take their own food," Kang Yi, the head of the Food Division for the Beijing organizing committee, said Thursday. She added the U.S. had not officially notified her department of the plan.

The U.S. delegation will number more than 600, and many will eat their daily meals at the training camp, rather than the Athletes Village. The Village will house about 17,000 athletes and officials during the Aug. 8-24 Games and will be capable of serving 6,000 meals simultaneously.

The New York Times reported earlier that the U.S. will ship 25,000 pounds of lean meat to China.

"We have made lots of preparations to ensure that they [athletes] can get together at the Olympic Games," Kang added, speaking at a news conference Thursday on food safety. "If the American delegation is not at that gathering, it's a pity."

The safety of food in China has become a major issue for the Olympics, where athletes will face extensive drug testing. Security officials are aware that a positive drug test triggered by contaminated food could ruin an athlete's career and generate a public-relations disaster for China, which is intent on showing itself as a modern, sophisticated country.

Finally, the US - even if it's just our Olympic committee - is willing to stand up and, in a very public way, proclaim, 'WE DON'T TRUST YOU, CHINA'. How can we trust anything our own companies in China, or the Chinese themselves, produce, after all the recent stories about lead paint potentially poisoning children, among other horrific products coming from China?

This nation does NOT need food or anything else from China, which has years to go before it catches up to safety standards expected of producers in the USj. Unfortunately, in our decaying society, economics and the bottom line rule all. As such, we're going to keep doing business with China and take the diplomatic course, no matter how poisoned their goods are, instead of saying, "no thanks".