Elmo’s Way Reflects Value Of Government Regulation

A couple of weeks ago I buried 95-year-old Elmo Samuel, who for more than three decades worked as an inspector at the Campbell’s Soup plant in Paris, Texas. He was a government employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was an inspector, overseeing the cleanliness of the Campbell’s plant to make sure it met government regulations and produced a safe product.

Elmo’s son-in-law, Jim Kirby, says the Campbell’s plant was so clean you could eat off the floor. If a machine didn’t meet Elmo’s strict standards, he tagged it, and it was turned off until it was thoroughly clean. The plant was diligent because they knew at any time Elmo could and would shut them down.

Once when a truckload of chickens did not meet regulatory standards, Elmo sent the whole truck away, and the plant had to stop operations until a clean, healthy shipment of chickens replaced them.

Elmo was meticulous. He made sure everyone wore a hairnet, and he ensured every ounce of soup was heated to an appropriate temperature before being canned. As far as anyone in the family can remember, there never was an instanceof salmonella or other food contamination from soup produced in that plant during Elmo’s service.

Jim says Campbell’s had their own inspectors, but it was Elmo they feared.

They knew he would shut them down if they weren’t thoroughly clean and safe, and he kept them to the highest standards.

That’s government doing good. Upholding regulations to ensure the safety and health of American workers and consumers.

I thought about Elmo when I heard a recent report about another inspection system - another failed self-regulatory system. This time it’s the fi lm industry.

You’ve seen those “No Animals Were Harmed” credits at the end of movies and television shows? They carry the endorsement of the American Humane Association - not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United States.

According to a recent investigation published inThe Hollywood Reporter, the American Humane Association has consistently underreported, covered up and failed to investigate instances of animal injuries and deaths during movie and television production.

The article is based on interviews with employees of the AHA who are convinced the organization cannot be reformed from within.

They cite lax attitudes about animal safety and a cozy relationship with the film industry, creating an atmosphere of negligence toward the animals and a whitewashing forfilmmakers. Veteran L.A.

prosecutor Bob Ferber, who founded and supervised the city’s Animal Protection Unit says, “It’s fascinating and ironic. From being the protectors of animals, (the association) has become complicit in animal cruelty.

This is worse than doing nothing. This is like a cop not just ignoring a crime but helping cover it up.”

Part of the problem is the association’s Film and TV Unit’s budget is mostly financed by trade groups associated with the actors’ union and movie and TV producers.

Another part of theproblem is, as a private nonprofit corporation, the association is not subject to public disclosure laws, and their work, or lack of work, can remain secret. The association is accountable only to Hollywood.

Industry self-regulation is rarely a good idea. The recent Great Recession was largely caused by fi nanciers making risky, opaque deals in an atmosphere of relaxed regulation and anemic oversight in the spirit of “getting government off our backs.” Instead, we got the shirts robbed off our backs.

We don’t need cozy deals like the movieindustry’s arrangement with the American Humane Association. We need more public servants like Elmo Samuel, empowered with the authority of the federal government to ensure the common good.

It is an important function of government to uphold our corporate values of safety, accountability, honesty and just dealing.

Thanks to enforcers like Elmo Samuel, we can enjoy a safe food supply.

One of the terrible risks we endured during the recent government shutdown imposed on us by the U.S. House of Representatives was the furloughing of 60 percent of the Food and Drug Administration’s inspectors.

Many government regulations and regulators are good. They work on behalf of the public and our safety. They are accountable and subject to public disclosure laws.

They help prevent private industry from being led into temptation to cut corners for the sake of profi t or convenience. Government inspectors help keep us safe.

The next time you enjoy a bowl of soup, think about Elmo and his successors, and be thankful.

LOWELL GRISHAM IS AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST WHO LIVES IN FAYETTEVILLE.

Opinion, Pages 11 on 12/08/2013

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