E Coli Outbreak
The E coli outbreak that has turned the stomachs of spinach-eaters and emptied the wallets of spinach-growers is bringing a huge amount of media attention to issues of US food safety. Thus far, the outbreak has killed one Wisconsin woman and sickened nearly 200 people in 26 states, shining light on the weaknesses and loopholes within our food system and calling into question the efficacy of food safety measures. 

This nationwide outbreak also exposes some serious problems with our food system:

1. This current outbreak points at the problem of feeding grain to livestock, which results in higher e. coli levels in their stomachs and higher levels in their manure, which is used for fertilizing crops and can leach into the water supply.

This problem can be solved with pasture-based livestock systems where cows eat grass (their natural preference) and fertilize the pasture with their manure which loses bacteria as it composts in the field.

2. The centralized nature of industrialized agriculture has allowed for a single contaminated batch of spinach to sicken and hospitalize consumers in every corner of the country. Since 70% of our spinach is produced in a single region (California’s Salinas Valley), food distribution facilitates outbreaks on a massive scale.

This centralized food system is not only a breeding ground and distributor of naturally-occuring bacteria like E coli, but also makes us incredibly vulnerable to "agroterrorism" - or the intentional contamination of our food supply. Even US government officials will tell you that it is exceedingly easy to sicken and possibly kill people all across the US by simply and inexpensively contaminating a single batch of milk or ground beef.

The answer to this problem lies in buying local food – if people buy food from small farmers that make meat, dairy and produce in small batches for local distribution, then nation-wide outbreaks of food-borne illness become impossible. If a small, localized outbreak does occur, it is much easier to track and contain than one caused by a large national brand.

3. The federal government does not have a single agency governing the food supply – instead we have 15. This problem, and the fact that the FDA is under-staffed and capable only of reacting to these outbreaks rather than preventing them, puts our food supply in a very vulnerable position to outbreaks and agroterrorism.

If federal agencies can not be trusted with the task of maintaining high standards in food production, then it is up to the consumer to do so herself. We all have the power to ask farmers about their production methods and choose food from farms with high quality foods.

The answer to these problems is clear: buy local, sustainably-produced foods from a farmer you trust.

Read more:
New York Times
Chicago Tribune
Food and Drug Administration website