As officials scramble to ascertain how tainted spinach reached
the national marketplace to poison more than 100 people in 21
states, the industry fallout has begun in earnest.
As officials scramble to ascertain how tainted spinach reached the national marketplace to poison more than 100 people in 21 states, the industry fallout has begun in earnest.
Product has been removed from the shelves. Restaurants will not serve spinach, even from a can. Grocers are promoting “alternative” greens.
“Our sales are zero,” said a farmer from New Jersey on Monday. Growers from the Garden State are not under suspicion from the E. Coli outbreak, but nevertheless are taking the hit. In 2004 New Jersey produced $3.8 million in spinach, placing it fourth nationally. In 2005 San Benito County’s spinach crop was valued at $14.78 million.
Reports have come in that Salinas Valley growers are plowing under spinach fields and laying off workers. Two producers and processors, Salinas-based River Ranch Fresh Foods, and San Juan Bautista’s Natural Selection Foods LLC, have recalled all their bagged spinach products.
Amid the speculation, there has been silence from the industry. Natural Selection Foods has issued few statements. A canvass of Tuesday’s newspaper accounts is virtually void of any information being released from the company. In the best of times Earthbound Farm was reticent in dealing with the press. Now, there is no dialogue.
This silence hurts the public and the company. We have absolutely no doubt that the largest organic produce company in the nation is not only complying with any and all government requests, but is probably extremely cooperative. Natural Selection is an important community member.
The company’s silence only adds to the mystery. A daily statement to the press regarding updates is little to ask. If not to mollify the press, to at least let the public know the company cares about it. A bunker mentality serves no one.
The stakes are high. The economic fallout is most likely to hit the farmers and producers the hardest. It is crucial to find out what link in the field-processing-store chain broke, so that it doesn’t happen again.
“The growers, the producers are most interested in finding answers to these outbreaks,” said Rep. Sam Farr – whose district includes the Salinas Valley – to the Associated Press on Monday. “The outbreaks can bankrupt these companies.”
