"SAN FRANCISCO — One of the deepest fears sweeping a shattered nation following the Sept. 11 attacks was that terrorists might poison the country's food."
"Hoping to ease people's anxieties about what they were eating, President George W. Bush vowed to draw a protective shield around the food supply and defend it from farm to fork.
An Associated Press analysis of the programs found that the government has spent at least $3.4 billion on food counter-terrorism in the last decade, but key programs have been bogged down in a huge, multi-headed bureaucracy. And with no single agency in charge, officials acknowledge it's impossible to measure whether orchards or feedlots are actually any safer.
On Tuesday, a Senate subcommittee held a hearing to examine a congressional watchdog's new report revealing federal setbacks in protecting cattle and crops since Sept. 11. Just days after the 10th anniversary of the attacks, lawmakers demanded answers about potential food-related threats and reports that the government may have wasted money on languishing agriculture anti-terror programs."
Garance Burke reports for the Associated Press September 13, 2011.
SEE ALSO:
Witness List, Testimony, and Video (Senate Homeland Security Committee)
"Actions Needed to Improve Response to Potential Terrorist Attacks and Natural
Disasters Affecting Food and Agriculture" (GAO Report GAO-11-652 of Aug. 2011)
"Challenges for the Food and Agriculture Sector in Responding to Potential Terrorist Attacks and Natural Disasters" (GAO Testimony Report GAO 11-946T of September 13, 2011)
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