Feeling Impotent

Below is a link to an update on the milk crisis in China, from the Associated Press.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iCL58EMBN1tqq6xujZlsaITAFpCQD939SMQ00

The story says that Bright Dairy in Shanghai is among the liquid milk providers found with melamine. People in Shanghai learned this today, about mid-morning. I dumped out two cartos of milk. Milk from Bright Dairy is the most trusted local brand in Shanghai. We drink it because our pediatrician recommended it. We and our girls have been drinking it for 1 year - exactly, as today is our anniversary of arrival.

None of us feels sick. So far, each of us pees with no pain.

But if we knew this earlier today, then the stores who stock this milk knew about this at least as soon. A walk to the grocery store this evening showed shelves stocked with milk from each dairy under investigation. The government has apparently not called for a complete recall of these products... and apparently people are still buying, because the dairy case was not fully loaded.

There are so many levels of mistrust in this situation, its mind blowing. People made a choice to insert a well-known poisonous chemical into milk. In China, milk is most commonly given to infants and young children. The melamine was originally discovered before the Olympics, and people made a choice to keep the story under wraps for at least 6 weeks. People are still making a choice to keep these products on their shelves, and allow people to consume what is hazardous material. Four babies have died. Over 6,000 children are sick. One-hundred fifty-eight newborns currently suffer from acute kidney failure as a result of these people's choices.

I feel entirely impotent. I can come up with nothing I could do to have any impact on this crisis, which goes appallingly un-crisis-ed by the Chinese government. I can't even get someone to fix my washing machine. How could I affect change on such a large and known problem?

An imported milk shortage is expected in Shanghai, so although we have ordered milk from a local dairy who has been certified organic by teams from the United States, we expect to eat a lot of imported yogurt, cheese and ice-cream for the next while. And I've donned my worrier hat. I'll admit, the hat doesn't fit me very well. I hate to wear it. But I've now grudgingly put it on, and wonder how much I ought to trust anything I receive here. Already, I don't buy or accept toys unless I am confident of their original source. Already, I wash our produce in bleach. Already, I drink only bottled water. And now, I must import all of my dairy products? What else? Should I import all of my meat as well? If so many industries can not be safely regulated, I suppose I probaby ought to.