^tortlanit (Observer Pacific NW College
Special Edition
Page 6
June 18, 2014
New Prices
S
Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
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Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
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Minimum Service CHG.
$45.00
A s m a ll d is ta n c e /tr a v e l c h a rg e
m a y b e a p p lie d
CARPET CLEANING
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more $30.00 Each Area
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(Includes: I sm all H allw ay)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services): $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
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Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly.
$40.00Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
(Requiring ExtensivePte-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
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Free to Eat Whatever You Want
There are reasons
that food is safer in
Europe
by
J ill R ichardson
My neighbor just left to
spend the entire summer in
Europe.
H e’s the guy with a highly restrictive diet
I recently wrote about, with countless food
intolerances that his “nutritionist” detected
using dubious testing methods. I haven’t
had the heart to tell him she’s a total quack.
I think on some level, he wanted to hear that
he couldn’t eat half the foods on the planet.
But I also feel for him. H e’s going on the
trip of a lifetime to a place with incredible
food. What if he w on’t eat it?
The day before he left, I asked him what
he’ll do on the trip. He told me he plans to
eat everything. He and his “nutritionist”
agreed that food is better over there. Safer.
More pure.
And you know what? In general, he’s
right. Europe is much stricter than our
country about what kinds of chemicals get
into the food chain.
Europeans don’t find many — if any —
artificial dyes in their food. They can also
rest assured that their cows aren’t shot up
with artificial growth hormones. The EU
also banned the use of an arsenic-laden
drug in chickens long before the United
States finally followed suit. More recently,
the EU enacted a moratorium on the pesti­
cides responsible for massive bee die-offs.
Europe’s not perfect, but it’s several
steps ahead of us when it comes to food
standards.
The next day 1 drove my friend to the
airport. I generally avoid talking politics
with him because he’s got the views of your
average tea partier and I, to say the least,
don’t. We get along so long as we keep our
conversations to sharing the bounty of our
fruit trees or the hilarious antics of my three
cats.
As we drove, I started thinking about my
experiences in Europe, and suddenly I felt
concern for him.
“Have you been to Europe before?” I
asked.
“No, this is my first time!” he replied,
with the excitement of a new traveler.
“You might not want to mention your
political views over there. They are pretty
liberal,” I suggested. With that, he launched
into a long diatribe that included statements
like “The EU is a nightmare.”
By the tim e we reached the airport, 1
was glad to see him go. G et him going on
politics and it w on’t be five m inutes be­
fore he says som ething I find highly of­
fensive.
As I drove hom e, I could not help
thinking: You hate regulation, but how do
you think it happened that the EU w ound
up w ith safer food than ours? ”
T hat w asn’t a coincidence o f the free
m arket, with each individual farm er and
corporation opting to eschew horm ones,
pesticides, and additives on their own.
R egulation did that. Now y o u ’re o ff to
benefit from it all sum m er, and appreci­
ate it too.
To be sure, not all regulations are con­
structive. The world is chock full of clum ­
sily written rules, outdated laws, and point­
less red tape.
Regulations only help if they’re well-
written and enforced. It’s one thing for the
government to keep arsenic out of our food.
It would be something else entirely if they
banned all cookies because somebody might
get diabetes from them someday.
Europe seems to walk that line in a more
sensible way than we do, at least where
food and safety are concerned. Maybe it’s
time for us to learn a thing or two from our
friends across the pond.
OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson
is the author o f Recipe fo r America: Why
Our Food System Is Broken and What
We Can Do to Fix It.