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Food Safety; ALL Our Farms are food factories

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    Food Safety; ALL Our Farms are food factories

    Charlie,

    I note the following DTN article:

    "SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The discovery of deadly E. coli bacteria in cow manure near a Salinas Valley spinach field underscores the difficulty of policing an area where vegetable farms, ranches and burgeoning subdivisions all compete for space, experts said Friday.

    Test results linked a strain of the bacteria found on an unidentified cattle ranch to the outbreak that has killed three people and sickened nearly 200. Thursday's announcement marks the first time in nine food poisoning episodes emanating from the valley in the last decade in which food detectives have been able to trace the bacteria to a specific farm.

    But it's still unclear how the pathogen traveled from the dung to the plants. And while the industry is optimistic the finding can help prevent future outbreaks, many experts cautioned that problems will continue to arise in a region where the hills harbor cattle, salad greens grow year-round and wild animals have access to fields.

    "All the potential sources and modes of contamination that were in play before continue to be in play," said Matt Byrne, executive vice president of the California Cattlemen's Association.

    It's too soon to say whether the latest finding means beef and produce farms can't coexist in the Salinas Valley, Byrne said. Without knowing how bacteria from the contaminated feces made it to spinach patches, it will be hard to develop precise measures for preventing future problems.

    Ranchers were taking steps to keep livestock droppings from infecting produce long before the recent outbreak, Byrne said. These include designating watering holes for cattle so they don't drink from creeks that flow through farms and creating "buffer zones" that keep the animals away from water that could later be used to irrigate crops."

    How many of us consider our "commodities" to be food that is directly put in our neighbours mouth!

    WOW... those DEER and GEASE can be a big problem!

    I was at the Environmental Farm Plan annual meeting... these issues came up!

    DO all plants and animals have the right to exist... as many enviromentalists insist?

    How do we coexist with nature... and have a 100% safe food production system?

    #2
    Tom

    Me thinks cows in the spinach field is both "natural" and "organic"! Can't get any better than that!

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