The truth is non-partisan

Apparently some media have directed blame for the E coli infection that caused the death of one person and the illness of 166 others on growing practices by organic farmers. (I haven't seen the stories.) However, some tainted spinach of the non-organic variety has been found in Utah
and New Mexico. It was processed for Dole at the San Juan Bautista plant of Natural Selection Foods. Organic and locally grown spinach are considered safe.

A report in the Salt Lake City Tribune puts the blame for food-borne outbreaks on corporate agribusiness practices, which use fertilizer from force-fed livestock.

According to infectious disease specialist Professor Lee Riley at the University of California-Berkeley, these kinds of problems are only seen in developed countries.

"We don't see this disease in India, Africa, China. We only see it in highly technologically advanced countries, and the reason is because of this highly centralized food-processing system," Riley told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Livestock that are force-fed grain in confinement have up to 300 times more pathogenic bacteria in their guts as compared to grass-fed cattle," according to researchers from Cornell University. Other studies have found similar results.

California, which is the No. 1 dairy state, uses factory-farm manure in growing much of its produce. This manure enters the food chain when it runs off into channels designed to irrigate vegetables or when it blows onto nearby produce fields.

See John E. Peck. (09/25/2006) Tainted spinach another sign of sick food, farm system. The Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_4394305

// posted by John Fisher @ 10:45 PM