I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

On January 9, 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced they will have to close 259 offices across the country.  Budget concerns overrule food safety concerns.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is trying to cut $150 million from the USDA budget. The closures will affect 46 states, and includes seven foreign offices.

“They wiped out the entire Midwest.”-Andrew Lorenz, deputy district manager for the Food Safety and Inspection Service in Minneapolis

Lorenz says the office closings in his area have effectively shut down federal food inspection in Minnesota, Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming!

Lorenz also said this could only mean USDA employees losing their jobs (on top of the 7,000 who were forced to take early retirement last year).

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed concern: “Our workload is at record highs, we have less money and fewer people and work to do and we tried to address how do you do that without interrupting service.”

However, USDA undersecretary for food safety, Elisabeth Hagen, contradicted her own boss’s statement: “There will be no reduction in inspection presence at slaughter and processing facilities and no risk for consumers. Not only do we have a statutory obligation to be in every facility, we have an unwavering commitment to food safety. We will still be on the job, in every facility, every day.”

Now how do you do that with thousands less employees?