Packaging and handling by the organic distributor was not the cause of this outbreak of E. coli.

Natural Selection Foods, the distributor for packaged salads greens (with over twenty brands, including Earthbound Farm, the Farmer’s Market, and, O Organic) was not at fault in any way.

The culprits appear to be beef and dairy cattle that are fed grain on industrial farms. E. coli is usually killed by stomach acid of cows and humans. However, a particularly virulent strain of this bacterium, E. coli O157:H7, is not killed by stomach acids. and therefore can cause abdominal pains, diarrhea, fevers and, occasionally even fatal kidney failure.

This E. coli strain is not found in intestines of cattle when they are fed of grass and hay, which are their normal diet. However, when cattle are fed grain, which is the most common feed used in industrial farms, their stomachs become more acid and create an environment where the O157 strain of E. coli likes to grow. Their manure becomes infected with this virulent strain and can seep into the soil and make its way through streams and underground water to nearby farms and can infect their produce.

“In 2003, The Journal of Dairy Science noted that up to 80 percent of dairy cattle carry O157. (Fortunately, food safety measures prevent contaminated fecal matter from getting into most of our food most of the time.) Happily, the journal also provided a remedy based on a simple experiment. When cows were switched from a grain diet to hay for only five days, O157 declined 1,000-fold.”

You and I are paying farmers 75 percent of the costs (throught US Dept. of Agriculture grants) to prevent the spread of these bacteria throiugh various measures that contain their manure from leaking into the environment. However, as the author of this article points out, this is addressing the symptom but not the cause of the problem - which is the feeding of cattle on grain.

Source: Nina Planck, Leafy green sewage, New York Times, September 21, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/opinion/21planck.html?_r=2&ex=1159070400&en=4531a2aa062cea79&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

IJHC - WHR Observations

This is an excellent bit of journalism, clearly and succinctly presenting the facts.

I highly recommend Paul Hawken's book, The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability (New York: HarperCollins 1993) for a discussion of this and related issues of understanding and addressing our ecological problems. Hawken points out that in the name of efficiency and profit-making, Western society is taking dangerous steps that not only ignore environmental impacts but pass the costs along to the public - creating unearned profits for themselves at the expense of the taxpayers.

I welcome your suggestions for further readings and resources for dealing with environmental problems, which will be posted on this site with your contact details if chosen for inclusion in this blog.