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op-ed on the spinach incident from Center for Food Safety
Hi (indybay editor) -
attached is an op-ed on the spinach incident from our Legal Director Joe Mendelson, perhaps it will be useful. Certainly supporting local farmers makes sense; such an outbreak could only occur in an industrial system, which broadcasts food across a large population with disregard for the potential for an untraceable food safety problem. Also, a couple of facts:
>Some cases in the recent e-coli outbreak have been traced, by interviews with consumers who fell ill, to a California company, Natural Selections Foods(NSF), that packages both non-organic and organic spinach.
>NSF has stated that they have examined the bar codes from the packages reported to have caused e-coli poisoning, and all of them are from non-organic spinach.
>There have reportedly been cases linked to a Dole non-organic spinach packaged by NSF; there have not to date been any cases linked to any organic spinach.
>One possible source of the contamination is irrigation water or wash water contaminted with e-coli. If either of these turns out to be the source, the contamination had nothing to do with organic production practices, but is the result of industrial agriculture's impact on the environment.
hope this is useful.
peace,
charles
charles margulis
center for food safety
oakland, ca
attached is an op-ed on the spinach incident from our Legal Director Joe Mendelson, perhaps it will be useful. Certainly supporting local farmers makes sense; such an outbreak could only occur in an industrial system, which broadcasts food across a large population with disregard for the potential for an untraceable food safety problem. Also, a couple of facts:
>Some cases in the recent e-coli outbreak have been traced, by interviews with consumers who fell ill, to a California company, Natural Selections Foods(NSF), that packages both non-organic and organic spinach.
>NSF has stated that they have examined the bar codes from the packages reported to have caused e-coli poisoning, and all of them are from non-organic spinach.
>There have reportedly been cases linked to a Dole non-organic spinach packaged by NSF; there have not to date been any cases linked to any organic spinach.
>One possible source of the contamination is irrigation water or wash water contaminted with e-coli. If either of these turns out to be the source, the contamination had nothing to do with organic production practices, but is the result of industrial agriculture's impact on the environment.
hope this is useful.
peace,
charles
charles margulis
center for food safety
oakland, ca
1Popeye Still Eats Organic
As the number of seriously ill victims of the spinach e.coli food poisoning mounts, public health officials and food safety experts are seeking to determine the source of the problem. Unfortunately, the problem is not new. The FDA itself asserts that an outbreak of e.coli 0157 in lettuce as recently as October 2003 caused two deaths in California. Initial reports by the FDA have trace the potential point source of the new contamination to at least one handler of greens, Natural Selection Foods, that grows and processes organic salad greens and spinach. The company also processes non-organic spinach. As this troubling chapter in food contamination unfolds so to has the attempt of a few vested interests to spin the incident to their advantage. Jumping in to exploit the situation are public relation advocates paid to attack the organic food industry. In an article entitled “What Would Popeye Do” one such organization quickly trumpeted that the recent events will undercut “claims of superiority” for organic food.
The supporters of this anti-organic spin reads like a who’s who in the industrial agriculture business. Their profits depend on the continued promotion of practices such as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, genetically engineered seeds and production hormones. Certified organic agriculture, which is the most dynamic sector in farming today, shuns industrial agribusiness’ potentially toxic and harmful inputs. As more and more consumers’ go organic this fast expanding sector presents a serious threat to conventional interests ability to shape the future of American agriculture. As a result, the spinach event has become an appealing opportunity to trash a new rival business sector.
Unfortunately for the flacks, and fortunately for consumers and the future, the attempts to undermine organic has no factual basis. The company linked to the spinach outbreak revealed that all the packages of spinach turned over to health officials from infected patients were from non-organic spinach. Contrary to indicting organic, it now seems that the conventional production of spinach is more likely the source of this tragedy. The results of the PR attack on organic are thus reminiscent of several years ago when a national news show was forced to retract claims concerning e.coli contamination in organic greens because its reporter had used false and misleading information.
In fact the whole idea that organic agriculture is somehow more susceptible to contamination simply does not hold up. There is no scientific basis whatever for this claim. Moreover, a 2004 study in the Journal of Food Protection concluded their was no statistical difference between contamination in vegetables grown in conventional and organic system. But there are other big differences between organic and industrial dominated agriculture and recent scientific research is making organic look better and better by comparison. Peer reviewed studies have shown that organic fruits and vegetables can be higher in cancer fighting anti-oxidants and are less likely to carry dangerous pesticide residues. Organic production decreases our consumption of potentially toxic food as it prohibits the use of antibiotics and hormones to fatten and plump up chickens and livestock, prevents the application of sewage sludge on farm lands, and, unlike conventional agriculture, mandates strict standards for the use and application of manure as a fertilizer. Even with this approach of limiting industrial-style inputs organic yields are found to be comparable. Recent studies even find that organically managed soils sequester more carbon than conventional managed soils and represent a future step in our effort to combat global warming.
Clearly, the immediate focus must be to ensure that anyone exposed to the contaminated spinach gets proper medical attention and that all spinach growing and processing, conventional and organic alike, be conducted in a manner that prevents future e.coli contamination episodes. But we must not let any attempted spin around this tragic event keep us from embracing the continuing expansion of organic production. Organic means healthier soils, farms and consumers and represents an extraordinary success story in modern American agriculture. What a shame it would be if we let a few mavins of misinformation exploit this food borne illness event to derail organic’s future and its numerous potential benefits to us all.
Joseph Mendelson is legal director for the Center for Food Safety a national non-profit organization consumer and environmental organization http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
As the number of seriously ill victims of the spinach e.coli food poisoning mounts, public health officials and food safety experts are seeking to determine the source of the problem. Unfortunately, the problem is not new. The FDA itself asserts that an outbreak of e.coli 0157 in lettuce as recently as October 2003 caused two deaths in California. Initial reports by the FDA have trace the potential point source of the new contamination to at least one handler of greens, Natural Selection Foods, that grows and processes organic salad greens and spinach. The company also processes non-organic spinach. As this troubling chapter in food contamination unfolds so to has the attempt of a few vested interests to spin the incident to their advantage. Jumping in to exploit the situation are public relation advocates paid to attack the organic food industry. In an article entitled “What Would Popeye Do” one such organization quickly trumpeted that the recent events will undercut “claims of superiority” for organic food.
The supporters of this anti-organic spin reads like a who’s who in the industrial agriculture business. Their profits depend on the continued promotion of practices such as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, genetically engineered seeds and production hormones. Certified organic agriculture, which is the most dynamic sector in farming today, shuns industrial agribusiness’ potentially toxic and harmful inputs. As more and more consumers’ go organic this fast expanding sector presents a serious threat to conventional interests ability to shape the future of American agriculture. As a result, the spinach event has become an appealing opportunity to trash a new rival business sector.
Unfortunately for the flacks, and fortunately for consumers and the future, the attempts to undermine organic has no factual basis. The company linked to the spinach outbreak revealed that all the packages of spinach turned over to health officials from infected patients were from non-organic spinach. Contrary to indicting organic, it now seems that the conventional production of spinach is more likely the source of this tragedy. The results of the PR attack on organic are thus reminiscent of several years ago when a national news show was forced to retract claims concerning e.coli contamination in organic greens because its reporter had used false and misleading information.
In fact the whole idea that organic agriculture is somehow more susceptible to contamination simply does not hold up. There is no scientific basis whatever for this claim. Moreover, a 2004 study in the Journal of Food Protection concluded their was no statistical difference between contamination in vegetables grown in conventional and organic system. But there are other big differences between organic and industrial dominated agriculture and recent scientific research is making organic look better and better by comparison. Peer reviewed studies have shown that organic fruits and vegetables can be higher in cancer fighting anti-oxidants and are less likely to carry dangerous pesticide residues. Organic production decreases our consumption of potentially toxic food as it prohibits the use of antibiotics and hormones to fatten and plump up chickens and livestock, prevents the application of sewage sludge on farm lands, and, unlike conventional agriculture, mandates strict standards for the use and application of manure as a fertilizer. Even with this approach of limiting industrial-style inputs organic yields are found to be comparable. Recent studies even find that organically managed soils sequester more carbon than conventional managed soils and represent a future step in our effort to combat global warming.
Clearly, the immediate focus must be to ensure that anyone exposed to the contaminated spinach gets proper medical attention and that all spinach growing and processing, conventional and organic alike, be conducted in a manner that prevents future e.coli contamination episodes. But we must not let any attempted spin around this tragic event keep us from embracing the continuing expansion of organic production. Organic means healthier soils, farms and consumers and represents an extraordinary success story in modern American agriculture. What a shame it would be if we let a few mavins of misinformation exploit this food borne illness event to derail organic’s future and its numerous potential benefits to us all.
Joseph Mendelson is legal director for the Center for Food Safety a national non-profit organization consumer and environmental organization http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
For more information:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/
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NSF grows organic spinach, using MANURE which containts E coli.
Some of their spinach, which is grown using organic methods, is sold as conventional. E coli comes from manure, and organic practices use manure heavily in crops like spinach which are grown close to the ground.
This is not rocket science. When you grow vegetables in shit, there is a higher chance that they will contain E coli.
Mendelson, NSF and others are trying to make this appear as if it is not an organic problem. But it is.
Some of their spinach, which is grown using organic methods, is sold as conventional. E coli comes from manure, and organic practices use manure heavily in crops like spinach which are grown close to the ground.
This is not rocket science. When you grow vegetables in shit, there is a higher chance that they will contain E coli.
Mendelson, NSF and others are trying to make this appear as if it is not an organic problem. But it is.
Before dismissing the Center for Food Safety's article as a "load of manure", we need to review some basic evidence already provided;
The E. coli contaminated bagged spinach from NSF were identified as non-organic. The CFS mentions that organic certification standards for manure fertilizer applications are stricter than non-organic standards. The fact remains that the organic bagged spinach, with stricter manure application standards, was NOT contaminated with E. coli strain 051:H1, though the conventional bagged spinach was..
"Organic production decreases our consumption of potentially toxic food as it prohibits the use of antibiotics and hormones to fatten and plump up chickens and livestock, prevents the application of sewage sludge on farm lands, and, unlike conventional agriculture, mandates strict standards for the use and application of manure as a fertilizer."
Non-organic farms also add treated human sewage sludge to their fields, while organic farms do not. There are great many health risks from adding human sewage sludge to food crops, including further transmissions of harmful E. coli strains..
"Regulations governing the use and disposal of sewage sludge have been criticized by both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Research Council, as well as numerous medical professionals, engineers, and activists. CFS seeks to end the use of sewage sludge as an agricultural fertilizer--first through an immediate moratorium on its application to croplands."
more on CFS site;
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/sewage_slu.cfm
In fact, when it comes to manure applications on certified organic farms the National Organic Program Standards (NOPS) regulations have gotten stricter than in previous years..
"Researchers must pay particular attention to sections of the rule that are undergoing further clarification within the NOP. One key example is the standard for manure and compost. The NOPS restrict the application of animal manure to a greater degree than any prior existing organic standard. Raw manure requires an interval of 120 days between application and crop harvest, where the edible portion of the crops destined for human consumption are in contact with soil, and 90 days for crops whose edible portion does not have direct contact with the soil surface or soil particles (24). To meet organic standards and harvest within this interval, animal manure must be composted by the process specified in the NOPS (24). The process includes an initial Carbon:Nitrogen ratio of between 25:1 and 40:1, and temperatures between 131°F and 170°F for three days in the case of in-vessel or static aerated pile system or for 15 days in the case of windrow composting system, during which period the materials must be turned a minimum of five times (7 CFR Part 205.203 (c)(2)). Crops that do not meet these specifications cannot be labeled as organic even if they are grown with compost practices accepted before the NOPS by organic certifiers."
read on @;
http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/organic/
Since conventional (non-organic) farms can use both petrochemical fertilizer and manure with less regulations than organic farms, there is greater probable risk (recently proven by NSF's spinach contamination) of harmful E. coli outbreaks in conventional food crops..
What remains an issue is average costs of organic food tends to be higher than conventional, thus restricting lower income people from purchasing and consuming the healthier, more nutricious and safer organic food products. This difference in price is partially a result of the stricter standards met by organic growers, though the taxpayer subsidizing of conventional industrial farms (& petrochemical fertilizer/ sewage sludge corporate handouts) enables industrial conventional farms to provide lower prices. Think of Wal-mart's sweatshop manufactured clothing prices being lower than fair trade certified clothing, same theory applies to food production..
This from Pesticide Action Network;
"Farm policies are squeezing small U.S. family farms out of business and fail to support non-traditional practices such as organic farming. Even though organic farming is one of the most promising and fastest growing agricultural sectors, federal subsidies continue to promote industrialized agriculture that places profit before sustainability and relies on pesticides and unproven genetically modified organisms.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) most recent agricultural census shows a drop in the total number of U.S. farms while gross output remains stable, suggesting that production is consolidating in a smaller group of large farms. For example, in the past five years, the number of farms producing rice has fallen by more than 16%, as more than 1,500 farms have closed. Gross national rice production, meanwhile, has increased by 14%.
USDA funding practices place a greater percentage of subsidies with a smaller percentage of farms. In 1995, the largest farms received $3.98 billion, or 55% of all federal farm payments. In 2002, their portion increased to $7.8 billion, or 65% of all federal payments. Almost 30% of agricultural subsidies go to the top 2% of farms and over four-fifths of subsidies are awarded to the 30% largest farms in the nation."
read on @;
http://www.panna.org/resources/gpc/gpc_200412.14.3.20.dv.html
The E. coli contaminated bagged spinach from NSF were identified as non-organic. The CFS mentions that organic certification standards for manure fertilizer applications are stricter than non-organic standards. The fact remains that the organic bagged spinach, with stricter manure application standards, was NOT contaminated with E. coli strain 051:H1, though the conventional bagged spinach was..
"Organic production decreases our consumption of potentially toxic food as it prohibits the use of antibiotics and hormones to fatten and plump up chickens and livestock, prevents the application of sewage sludge on farm lands, and, unlike conventional agriculture, mandates strict standards for the use and application of manure as a fertilizer."
Non-organic farms also add treated human sewage sludge to their fields, while organic farms do not. There are great many health risks from adding human sewage sludge to food crops, including further transmissions of harmful E. coli strains..
"Regulations governing the use and disposal of sewage sludge have been criticized by both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Research Council, as well as numerous medical professionals, engineers, and activists. CFS seeks to end the use of sewage sludge as an agricultural fertilizer--first through an immediate moratorium on its application to croplands."
more on CFS site;
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/sewage_slu.cfm
In fact, when it comes to manure applications on certified organic farms the National Organic Program Standards (NOPS) regulations have gotten stricter than in previous years..
"Researchers must pay particular attention to sections of the rule that are undergoing further clarification within the NOP. One key example is the standard for manure and compost. The NOPS restrict the application of animal manure to a greater degree than any prior existing organic standard. Raw manure requires an interval of 120 days between application and crop harvest, where the edible portion of the crops destined for human consumption are in contact with soil, and 90 days for crops whose edible portion does not have direct contact with the soil surface or soil particles (24). To meet organic standards and harvest within this interval, animal manure must be composted by the process specified in the NOPS (24). The process includes an initial Carbon:Nitrogen ratio of between 25:1 and 40:1, and temperatures between 131°F and 170°F for three days in the case of in-vessel or static aerated pile system or for 15 days in the case of windrow composting system, during which period the materials must be turned a minimum of five times (7 CFR Part 205.203 (c)(2)). Crops that do not meet these specifications cannot be labeled as organic even if they are grown with compost practices accepted before the NOPS by organic certifiers."
read on @;
http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/organic/
Since conventional (non-organic) farms can use both petrochemical fertilizer and manure with less regulations than organic farms, there is greater probable risk (recently proven by NSF's spinach contamination) of harmful E. coli outbreaks in conventional food crops..
What remains an issue is average costs of organic food tends to be higher than conventional, thus restricting lower income people from purchasing and consuming the healthier, more nutricious and safer organic food products. This difference in price is partially a result of the stricter standards met by organic growers, though the taxpayer subsidizing of conventional industrial farms (& petrochemical fertilizer/ sewage sludge corporate handouts) enables industrial conventional farms to provide lower prices. Think of Wal-mart's sweatshop manufactured clothing prices being lower than fair trade certified clothing, same theory applies to food production..
This from Pesticide Action Network;
"Farm policies are squeezing small U.S. family farms out of business and fail to support non-traditional practices such as organic farming. Even though organic farming is one of the most promising and fastest growing agricultural sectors, federal subsidies continue to promote industrialized agriculture that places profit before sustainability and relies on pesticides and unproven genetically modified organisms.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) most recent agricultural census shows a drop in the total number of U.S. farms while gross output remains stable, suggesting that production is consolidating in a smaller group of large farms. For example, in the past five years, the number of farms producing rice has fallen by more than 16%, as more than 1,500 farms have closed. Gross national rice production, meanwhile, has increased by 14%.
USDA funding practices place a greater percentage of subsidies with a smaller percentage of farms. In 1995, the largest farms received $3.98 billion, or 55% of all federal farm payments. In 2002, their portion increased to $7.8 billion, or 65% of all federal payments. Almost 30% of agricultural subsidies go to the top 2% of farms and over four-fifths of subsidies are awarded to the 30% largest farms in the nation."
read on @;
http://www.panna.org/resources/gpc/gpc_200412.14.3.20.dv.html
Error in above comment reads;
"...was NOT contaminated with E. coli strain 051:H1, though the conventional bagged spinach was.."
should read;
"...E. coli strain 0157:H7, though the conventional bagged spinach was.."
E. coli 0157:h7 is a harmful strain of the E.coli bacteria, usually linked to factory farmed cattle/poultry/pork/etc...
"On factory farms, animals are packed inside small spaces, injected with growth hormones, and fed other chemicals that upset the natural balance in their bodies -- all of which create a welcoming environment for E. coli and many diseases that can be passed on to humans.
On the large-scale commercial produce farm, sewage sludge is sprayed excessively on the fields. Sewage sludge can contain human waste, industrial chemical waste, heavy metals, and any number of highly toxic and persistent chemicals
The best way to reduce your exposure to E. coli is to avoid commercial grade food entirely. The standards for commercial grade food (as opposed to organic foods) were written by and for industry and not for health. Many of the regulations are aimed specifically at running small family farms out of business by forcing them to purchase high-priced processing equipment, most of which is not proven to increase safety."
read on @;
http://www.mindfully.org/Food/E-coli-0157H7-Bacteria.htm
Another factor is whether the source of the manure fertilizer is feedlot cattle or pastured cattle. The feedlot cattle are usually given greater amounts of hormones and fed grain diet, thus having more acidic intestines and more E. coli strains than pastured, grass-fed cattle. Here again, organic standards would use pastured cattle fertilizer, while non-organic farms would use unhealthy feedlot cattle manure..
"Please read the following news report on research done in 1998 at Cornell
University which found that cattle fed a grain-based diet, typical of a
feed lot operation, harbored E. coli 0157:H7 while cattle fed a forage
based diet, typical of pastured organic cows, did not. This appears to
be correlated with the pH of the intestinal tract, which is highly acid
with a grain-based diet and favors this particular strain of bacteria
because of that. Perhaps this should still be called 'hamburger disease'
as it was before Dennis Avery tried to rename it, or more accurately 'feedlot
disease'. This should also be pertinent information in considering the
recent outbreak of E coli 0157:H7 in Ontario. Most E. coli strains are
harmless, simply finding E coli on organic lettuce does not necessarily
pose any threat to human health at all. It is this particularly virulant
strain that researchers should be investigating, looking upstream from
the immediate source of infection and trying to determine how it can be
eliminated from the food supply. Pasturing cattle seems to be a good
place to start."
read on @;
http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/ecolimyths.cfm
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