Hollister
– Local growers have been hit hard by the recent E. coli
outbreak, San Benito County Agriculture Commissioner Paul Matulich
reported yesterday. He told the Board of Supervisors that farmers
have been unable to sell 4.6 million pounds of spinach growing on
875 acres of land, resulting in a loss of
$3.3 million.
Hollister – Local growers have been hit hard by the recent E. coli outbreak, San Benito County Agriculture Commissioner Paul Matulich reported yesterday. He told the Board of Supervisors that farmers have been unable to sell 4.6 million pounds of spinach growing on 875 acres of land, resulting in a loss of $3.3 million.
“At this date, harvesting and production remain at a virtual standstill,” Matulich said. He added, “The government’s released (the spinach), but packing companies don’t want to take it.”
Since Aug. 30, nearly 200 people have been sickened by E. coli from tainted spinach packaged at a Natural Selection Foods plant in San Juan Bautista. Two elderly women and a 2-year-old boy have died.
Salinas-based Nunes Co. Inc. has also recalled 8,500 cartons of green leaf lettuce after E. coli was found in a backup reservoir that provided supplemental irrigation for the lettuce. It has not yet been determined whether the E. coli is of the same strain that caused the outbreak, or is the more common, harmless form of the bacteria. Matulich confirmed that green leaf lettuce is a major crop in San Benito County.
At yesterday’s meeting, Matulich also said that at Supervisor Anthony Botelho’s request, he’d been looking into declaring the outbreak a federal disaster, which would make the growers eligible for federal aid.
“It’s very unlikely that a disaster declaration can be performed, because that would require a national disaster,” Matulich said.
Kathryn Flores, director of Community Services and Workforce Development, also spoke about the outbreak’s economic effects. She said that if Natural Selection Foods planned to have major layoffs at its packaging plant, the company would be required to post a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice with the state’s Employment Development Department, which would make the county eligible for financial aid, but nothing has been posted so far.
“It’s something we are monitoring every day,” she said.
On the growers’ side, Matulich said he had been speaking with officials in Santa Clara and Monterey counties to find a way to provide assistance, “but we haven’t found any real avenue.”
Botelho described the situation as “a disaster for a lot of people,” a sentiment that was echoed by a number of supervisors. Supervisor Reb Monaco also discussed the media coverage of the outbreak.
“We’re in an E. coli frenzy,” Monaco said, noting that he sees a E. coli story every time he turns on the television. “This panic mode has to stop.”
Matulich said many of the spinach fields have been replanted, but he concluded, “It’s going to take a long time to recover from this.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566, ext. 330 or
ah*@fr***********.com
.
