The Problem with Industrial Vegetables
Dairy cattle grazing, as it should be.
In Sunday’s New York Times magazine, author Michael Pollan (The Botany of Desire, and most recently, The Omnivore’s Dilemma), discusses the issues surrounding the recent tainted spinach epidemic, which sickened 200 and killed at least three people.
E. coli 0157 lives in the intestines of specifically, grain-fed cattle, and it is believed to have evolved in cattle raised in feedlots. It was unheard of before the 1980s. The strain doesn’t have much of a shelf life in the gut of a grassfed animal, which is another reason we should be opting for primarily pasture-raised beef.
What does this have to do with spinach you ask? The strain of E. coli in the tainted spinach has been linked to a beef cattle ranch in the Salinas Valley near spinach fields, which were leased to farmers.
One key problem is that the majority of all foods bought and sold in this country is industrially produced — including produce, protein, and cereals — and comes from a handful of companies.
For instance, Dean Foods (they also own Horizon Dairy), processes nearly 40% of the milk in this country. Just four companies slaughter 80% of the country’s beef. And two companies process 75% of the country’s salad greens. As such, the food supply is the nation’s Achilles heel, where an act of nature and human negligence could cause an epidemic that makes hundreds ill. Or worse, where terrorists could potentially infect tens of thousands of Americans with a deadly strain of a bacteria such as E. coli, tuberculosis, or botulism.
What is Pollan’s solution? Local food, of course. Local food could also contain deadly bacteria, but considering the scale and the practices of individual farmers, the risk is lower. Also, should there be an outbreak, it would be more easily sourced and contained.
However, there’s another potential problem for farmers on the horizon. The fallout from the E. coli epidemic could bring about legislation that restricts animals from being on farms with vegetable crops. This is common practice on small farms (mine included) where animals provide not only their meat or dairy, but the fertilizer for the crops. And this would drive more small farms out of business so that more people are reliant on the industrial food complex.
Here’s an excerpt to Pollan’s article and a link for further reading:
I agree that we are vulnerable with our food supply. I lived overseas, in a developing nation, and most people there grew most or all of their own food locally. They raised a few goats, a pig, and poultry. But here, in the suburbs of New Jersey, the zoning laws say, in effect, that we could have a boa constrictor in our house, but not ONE hen in our backyard! No farm animals allowed! So, as a society we are making our urban and suburban populations (1) dependent on industrial/largescale farming [to feed such large numbers of people], (2) ignorant and unskilled in production and harvest of any natural foods, and (3) largely unaware of current agricultural practices and weaknesses, and (4) consuming inferior food, rather than producing superior food. If we all would grow SOMETHING, plant a few fruit trees, raise 4-5 hens, have a family goat, I don’t think our quality of life would deteriorate, or our suburbs turn into stinky, unsafe places. Rather, I believe that small-plot “farming” in and near the suburbs is the only way to ensure our food supply is safer and better than it currently is. And, yes, we ARE vulnerable to terrorism in this arena. Please continue to get the word out. Thanks for farming.
Comment by Mrs. Beth Barsoum — June 3, 2008 @ 12:15 PM