Local agriculture professionals are concerned about the economic
effect the FDA’s nationwide advisory against eating fresh or
packaged spinach could have on local spinach growers and packing
plants.
Local agriculture professionals are concerned about the economic effect the FDA’s nationwide advisory against eating fresh or packaged spinach could have on local spinach growers and packing plants.
“Spinach has been a real good crop for everybody over the years,” San Benito County Ag Commissioner Paul Matulich said. “So anytime something like this happens it’s going to hit a lot of folks pretty hard.”
The FDA issued an advisory against eating fresh or packaged spinach last week, after 109 cases of E. coli were reported across 19 states. The disease was linked to San Juan-based Natural Selection Foods. Natural Selection works with more than 30 brands throughout the country, including easily recognizable names like Earthbound Farm, Sysco, Dole, Trader Joe’s and Ready-Pac.
It has not been determined if local spinach is the cause of the outbreak, or if spinach going through Natural Selection’s packing process was already contaminated, but the company has instated a voluntary recall. Consumers should throw out spinach if the “Best If Used By” dates are between Aug. 17 and Oct. 1.
“It’s a real shame, because these guys bend over backwards to make sure that everything’s safe,” Matulich said. “Those plants are as sanitary as the hospital.”
Spinach has been one of the county’s top 10 crops for the past two years, with production shooting up from 6,315 tons in 2004 to 13,330 tons in 2005, valued at more than $14.78 million altogether. For comparison, Monterey County’s spinach crop was valued at more than $188 million in 2005; spinach is the 7th most popular crop in the county.
“Without question, this could have a devastating impact on growers and the people employed to harvest the spinach,” said County Supervisor Anthony Botelho, whose district includes San Juan. “We just have to hope this doesn’t become a long, drawn-out issue.”
For the past two years, “salad lettuce” has been the county’s top commodity, a mix of greens including herbs, radicchio, lettuces, chard and baby spinach, like those found in bagged salad mixes at the grocery store. Local growers produced 16,454 tons of this mix in 2005, valued at more than $35.78 million. These bagged mixes containing spinach also have been recalled.
Matulich said spinach production has more than doubled because of the increasing popularity and availability of bagged salad mixes at major grocery stories.
“People buy them all the time, because it’s easy to just take the bag home and have your salad ready,” he said. “So growers have responded to that.”
Also, Matulich added, San Benito County is one of the few places spinach can be grown virtually year-round. Because of the mild coastal climate, spinach thrives in South Santa Clara, San Benito, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, whereas it can only be grown in the winter in Southern California and Arizona. So a large outbreak of contaminated spinach likely would have had to come from the region.
“Anybody who understands the food distribution system in this country knows that we grow the safest and most wholesome food available,” Botelho said. “But these things do happen on occasion.”
No ag officials could recall an E. coli outbreak ever stemming from San Benito County food or packaging plants in the past, and the Department of Public Health has no record of a local case of E. coli poisoning for several years.
For their part, ag professionals are confident the incident will not sully the reputations of local growers who cultivate crops besides spinach, or that of ranchers, and believe that sooner rather than later, consumers will trust California and local spinach once again.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of advertising, but eventually somebody’s just going to say, ‘Hey, let’s have a spinach salad,’ and they’ll forget about it,” Matulich said.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or ds****@fr***********.com.
