Sludge Watch ==> Spring- Will public want spinach irrigated with sewage effluent?

[Maureen Reilly]

Salinas
Californian.com
http://thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070224/OPINION01/702240343/1014/OPINION



OUR VIEW
Spring's around the corner - is food safety?


As spring nears, growers in the Salinas Valley prepare to plant. Some of 
them don't know yet exactly what to put into the ground. They're trying to 
gauge what the consumer demand will be for spinach, lettuce and other leafy 
greens. Sales are still down, they say, as a result of the deadly E. coli 
outbreak found in spinach last September.

One thing is certain: The success of this year's leafy-green harvest hinges 
on what the produce industry can show it has done to raise food-safety 
standards. And in the battle over who ultimately will govern food safety, 
state Sen. Dean Florez wants to make sure it's the rooster - not the fox - 
who is guarding the hen house.



Unimpressed with the produce industry's response so far to the breakdowns in 
food safety, Florez was ready to turn the whole thing over to government 
regulation. But now, facing veto of three bills he's introduced, the 
Democrat from Shafter seeks a compromise, perhaps a mix of industry and 
government oversight for the state's leafy-green produce industry.

Florez initially didn't trust the industry to police itself. The marketing 
agreement it came up with didn't go far enough, in his opinion. The 
agreement requires growers to test water and soil more often than they do 
now and follow stricter safety guidelines. Produce processors are limited to 
doing business with growers who pass state inspections. A tracking system 
will trace greens from field to market. A seal of quality will identify 
participating processors and their products. The agreement may be in effect 
by April 1 and is monitored by the 13-member Leafy Green Advisory Board - 
with Salinas-area growers on it - which held its first meeting Friday.

Florez said the marketing agreement lacks teeth, and said not all processors 
are participating. His Senate Bills 200, 201 and 202 address food safety as 
a public health issue and carry stiff criminal and civil penalties for 
food-safety violators.

Both proposals have merit, but somewhere between industry self-regulation 
and government overregulation lies the answer to better food-safety 
standards.

Next week, Florez will dissect the marketing agreement at a hearing of the 
Select Committee on Food-Borne Illness. It is there where we'd like a 
compromise forged.

Meanwhile, there is room for optimism, despite the worldwide media attention 
given to the E.coli spinach contamination last fall which killed three 
people and injured more than 200 in 26 states, followed by the food 
poisonings at Taco Bell that made dozens of people ill.

The industry, state and federal agencies and the public are all fixated on 
the issue.

New standards hold huge implications for the Salinas Valley. We can't afford 
anymore outbreaks of E. coli. It's a disaster for those who get sick and for 
everyone with a stake in agriculture - growers, farm workers, salad packers, 
truckers and consumers who want greens in their diets.

Improving food safety requires a unified front, from Florez to the Leafy 
Green board. More regulation may not be popular but it may be necessary. If 
the Salinas Valley expects the rest of the nation to keep buying its spinach 
and other greens, it must be part of the solution.