State Grange Studies E. Coli Debate At Organic Farming Conferences

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PACIFIC GROVE, CALIFORNIA, January 25, 2008 --- For the first time, the California State Grange sent representation to the annual California Certified Organic Farming (CCOF) and Ecological Farming Association (EFA) conferences, held last week at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove.

At both conferences, farming interests focused on the fallout resulting from the E. coli outbreak in the Fall of 2006, when several people became ill after eating contaminated spinach.

A year and a half later, the debate as to the source of the contamination continues.  The final report dated March 2007 from the Federal Food and Drug administration (FDA) could not pinpoint the cause:  “The investigation… [was] unable to definitely determine how the contamination originated.”

The inability to identify the source of the contamination has sparked panic and controversy, producing a scatter-gun approach at preventing future outbreaks. Shock waves of voluntary guidelines, imposed regulations and proposed legislation have profoundly impacted the way organic and conventional farmers grow and deliver their products. The plain truth is, given the virility of the bacteria, future outbreaks of E. coli are inevitable.

Lines have been drawn between organic farmers, conventional farmers, environmentalists, buyers and marketers all doing their fair-share of finger pointing and offering a variety of best-guess solutions.

To date, the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement developed by the Western Growers Association is a set of guidelines voluntarily accepted by most farmers. But smaller and organic farms are quick to point out that the “one-shoe-fits-all” agreement does not work for them.

Consumers remain largely oblivious to the debate and the dangers, and ignorant of preventative measures that will ensure food safety in their homes.

In the case of the 2006 outbreak, 13 bags of spinach were contaminated with E. coli.  Only two reported illness are required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to declare an outbreak.

EPA Analyst Karen Heisler cautioned the EFA Conference that “bagged refrigerated vegetables have a shelf life of 17 days.”

“Allow them to warm up in your car or on your kitchen counter,” she continued, “and you’ve got a laboratory breeding ground for E. coli.”  E. coli can reproduce at an alarming exponential rate of 3 billion new cells per hour.

Organic farmers contend that E. coli establishes itself in leafy greens bagged in plastic for market, as was the case in 2006.  This form of production is not common with organic farming where unprocessed whole vegetables are delivered from field to market.

Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farms in Guinda believes that cattle are the most likely source of contamination.  Farmers have been forced to accept standards and field audits imposed on them by major food buyers who believe that E. coli is being spread by wild animals, such as deer and boar. 

Resisting pressure to build high fencing around his acres of crops, Bob Martin of Rio Farms took blood samples from 24 deer harvested during the 2007 hunting season in Monterey County.  Not one of the samples proved positive for E. coli.  Taking his findings to the EPA, he was told he would need samples from 3,000 deer for his study to be considered legitimate.

“Every deer in America is suspect,” quips Bob, “and they are guilty until proven innocent.”

Small farmer Clarence Smith approached a microphone to suggest, “Maybe we’ve got to learn to live with some risks, because nature imposes some risks.”

Environmentalist and small organic farms anticipate a bleak future.  They foresee Federal regulations that will require more use of pesticides, mandatory set-backs from potential natural pathogen producing areas and the economic burden needed to comply.

Does the California State Grange have a role in this debate?  If our motto, Helping farmers.  Protecting consumers, is any indication, perhaps we do.

“The California State Grange is committed to helping farmers and educating consumers on issues of food safety.  We’re looking for ways to help in this debate,” commented President Randy Lewis.