Why all this fuss about “The Odyssey?” I went from Troy to Ithaca a few years back and it only took me three hours. Would have been two hours if I’d taken the interstate.
Robert del Valle
Ferndale
Salmonella, cyclospora, what’s next?
This latest egg recall is another reminder that Americans are once again paying the price for an increasingly vulnerable food system. In recent months, we’ve seen avian flu devastate flocks across 12 states, the return of the New World screwworm and now a salmonella outbreak. Each imposes a cost on consumers, farmers and taxpayers.
Responding to these crises is essential. But we can’t keep treating every new outbreak like a one-off emergency. As pressures on our agricultural systems continue to grow, America also needs to invest in reducing the risks making these costly responses necessary in the first place.
Diversifying how we produce protein ‒ including plant-based and cultivated meat ‒ will help achieve this by strengthening food security, creating new opportunities for farmers and reducing the economic impacts of future shocks.
The strongest, most secure food system isn’t the one that excels at responding to crises. It’s the one built to prevent and withstand them.
Pepin A. Tuma
Great Falls, Virginia
‘Punishing’ Canada for the fires is unrealistic
One might question John James’ intelligence or logic. The fires in Canada were due to lightning strikes. Even if they were due to a careless individual how can you charge Canada for a person’s mistake? Taking it one step further, using his misguided logic, maybe we should punish the administrations of the various western states where we have frequent forest fires, the smoke of which comes eastward and pollutes our air. James’ inability to reason is a good indicator for not electing him to be governor.
Marshall Cossman
Grand Blanc
Another one of Trump’s great plans
President Donald Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on imported generic drugs once again demonstrates his lack of knowledge and common sense. U.S. consumers, importers, and distributors will pay these tariffs, not the overseas countries that manufacture the drugs. He claims that the plan will encourage the growth of U.S. generic drug manufacturing. This is highly unlikely to benefit the U.S. consumer, unless a cap were to be placed on the price the U.S. manufacturers could charge the U.S. consumer.
These changes are not due to take place until Aug. 1, 2028, when Trump will no longer be in office. A president imposing tariffs without approval of Congress is illegal, anyway. Two years is not enough time for U.S. generic drug manufacturing plants to supply the U.S. need for generic drugs, and this would likely lead to shortages.
How is this a good plan? It isn’t. It is short-sighted and badly thought out.
Fran Potasnik
Saline
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: I’m questioning John James’ Canadian wildfire logic | Letters
Reporting by Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
