Along with growing our own food, one of the things us Sensible People do is buy as low on the food chain, corporately speaking, as we can. If you don't have a bodega, a family-owned grocery, a salvage/scratch'n'dent store that you patronize you still probably know of some in your area.

They need your help. They're not getting the word about this Castleberry canned-food recall and the situation is worse than we thought. Tonight's NYT:

Cans of recalled food are bursting, swollen with bacteria that cause botulism.

The bursting cans were among those being held by Castleberry's Food Co., which last week announced a massive recall that now includes more than 90 potentially contaminated products, including chili sauces and dog foods.

Spot checks by the Food and Drug Administration and state officials are turning up recalled products for sale in convenience stores, gas stations and family-run groceries.

The FDA has found recalled products for sale in roughly 250 of the more than 3,700 stores visited in nationwide checks, according to figures the agency provided to The Associated Press.

Castleberry itself is not all that big a company compared to Hormel or ConAgra. And the stuff they sell--the house brands, the off-label-- is the stuff of the poor, the unemployed, the student, the people least likely to be tuned in to the news. Read more…