E. Coli in Bagged Spinach

[solveig]

Hi all,
I'm a produce grower who markets entirely locally, directly to consumers, and I thought this would be a good time to put in a plug for buying locally. The folks at your local Farmers' Market, CSA, or roadside stand likely have fresh greens, and their production is separate from the mainstream food system. Most growers will be happy to answer questions about their growing and washing methods.

Could be a good time to start a relationship with a farm in your area!

[texaspamrides]

Great reminder about buying local! In Texas, my favorite bestest store, Central Market, also pulled every leaf of spinach out of the store and my withdrawals are NOT being satisfied by green leaf lettuce or swiss chard, but I'm trying. I buy other things from a local market, but will stop today to see if they have spinach!

[Dogmama]

Thanks for the reminder! In Tucson, we don't have a lot of local growers, unless you enjoy eating cactus! There are some, though, and I'm going to start hitting my farmers' markets.

Anybody else wonder about that stuff in bags anyway? I mean, sometimes it would smell "off" after a day or two and I would toss it. I used the bags for convenience, but always wondered how they were really processed. That and carrots - sometimes you get the peeled kind & they are slimey. What's up with that?

[Bike Goddess]

While we wish it was only happening with spinach, what I now hear is that the water in the Salinas valley area is tainted. Wonder what the implications are for that little bit of news might be? It seems the growers in that region have been cited multiple times in the past few years for having contaminted crops (not just spinach).

[Dogmama]

While we wish it was only happening with spinach, what I now hear is that the water in the Salinas valley area is tainted. Wonder what the implications are for that little bit of news might be? It seems the growers in that region have been cited multiple times in the past few years for having contaminted crops (not just spinach).

My recollection is that Salinas Valley is quite a large area for growing a lot of crops - am I correct?