So it turns out that food safety is such a front-page, crazy serious issue, that it has seeped into prime time television scripts, where e. coli is being called murder. Throw in a feedlot shot, some talk of genetically modified seed “drift,” where wind blows patented seeds to a farmer’s field where those seeds are not being used, contaminating the field and giving the patent holder the right to sue. Also mentioned were veggie libel laws and issues around fraudulent organic and industrial organic. Indeed, through the medium of television, there are a lot of pressing issues being put in front of a wide swath of audience who may not have ever heard about “GMOs,” or ever seen a feedlot, but has surely had a relative get food poisoning. Sure, the science is a little weird, and the story is pure Hollywood — but check out what hundreds of thousands of Americans watched Monday on CSI Miami.

h/t Susan Coss and Bill Marler