What Is Shiga Toxin Phage – And Why It Can Be Lethal

Tom Willey
T & D Willey Farms

None of us can remain unconcerned about the tragic food safety drama unfolding in Germany over the last several weeks. Much remains to be learned regarding the origin of another seemingly novel pathogen, its stunning virulence and lethality, and the unusual demographic skew of its victims (healthy young women, 20-50 yrs. old).

Though this O104:H4 E. coli demon that has sickened over 3,000 Europeans, hospitalized one quarter of those and killed near 40, it has not been found on any produce. Overwhelming epidemiological evidence leads to a north German organic sprout operation, five employees of which were themselves infected with the pathogen.

It’s important to recognize that sprout production is not farming.

Germinating seed in sterile growth chambers for consumption as fresh foods is more akin to operating a laboratory. Such seeds, sprouting not into the microbially diverse and competitive environment that is soil, are rather prone to proliferating any microbe with which they may be contaminated. Read Full Article »

Posted in Opinion/Editorial

The Washington Post
By Jane Black

Barry Estabrook’s ‘Tomatoland,’ an indictment of modern agriculture

Lucas Mariano Domingo came to the United States from Guatemala hoping to find a job that would pay him enough to send money home. But he was soon broke and homeless. And so it must have seemed like a lucky break when Cesar Navarrete, leader of a Florida tomato-picking crew, offered him false papers, room, board and a job that, if he did well, could earn him $200 a week.

It quickly became clear, however, that this was a false opportunity. Domingo was lodged with three other men in the back of a box truck with no running water or toilet. Food was scarce. Navarrete charged extortionate fees for just about everything. After a hot day in the fields, Domingo was docked $5 to stand naked in the back yard and wash himself with cold water from a garden hose. He was paid irregularly and in small, arbitrary amounts. Worse, Navarrete warned that Domingo or any other laborer who attempted to leave would be severely beaten. It took Domingo nearly three years to escape — and even longer before members of the Navarrete family were charged with what Douglas Molloy, the chief assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Myers, Fla., described as “slavery, plain and simple.” Read Full Article »

Posted in Opinion/Editorial

Welcome to the era of neocolonial agriculture

Mother Jones
By Tom Philpott

Posted in Opinion/Editorial

The New York Times

The point of factory farming is cheap meat, made possible by confining large numbers of animals in small spaces. Perhaps the greatest hidden cost is its potential effect on human health.

Small doses of antibiotics — too small to kill bacteria — are fed to factory farm animals as part of their regular diet to promote growth and offset the risks of overcrowding. What factory farms are really raising is antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which means that several classes of antibiotics no longer work the way they should in humans. We pay for cheap meat by sacrificing some of the most important drugs ever developed.

Last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council, joined by other advocacy groups, sued the Food and Drug Administration to compel it to end the nontherapeutic use of penicillin and tetracycline in farm animals. Read Full Article »

Posted in Opinion/Editorial

Morris Plains gardener does what others say is “impossible.”

Morris-Plains Patch, New Jersey
By Liz Alterman

When Bob Hill set out to grow bananas in the backyard of his Morris Plains home, fellow gardeners thought he was, well, bananas. Having discovered his green thumb as a kindergartner when he was able to grow a “decent” pumpkin from a seed, the 50-year old has successfully grown his own flowers and vegetables ever since and was looking for a challenge.

“I’ve been told by many prominent people, including a professional botanist specializing in bananas in Hawaii, that it was unlikely to be able to get a banana to flower in this climate and likely couldn’t be done,” said Hill.

The patient gardener gave himself four years to accomplish what others told him was “impossible.” Read Full Article »

Posted in Opinion/Editorial