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In the middle of an epidemic of E. Coli caused by contaminated romaine lettuce, small farmers in western Washington said their lettuce was safe.
The Food and Drug Administration estimates that California is a likely source of E. coli-contaminated Roman lettuce that has left dozens of people sick across the country. California contains a number of larger farms that ship products across the country.
The romaine lettuce at Carnation Farms is not yet big enough to be harvested, but the Roman is not so easy to sell right now anyway.
"The farmers I know have seen people come to their market and say no, we do not buy spinach or romaine.People are really panicked and they are like, no," said the director, Rosie Smit. "If you know your farmer, you know where he comes from and how he is grown.You do not have to worry about it."
RELATED: Reminder of the Romaine: What to know about the warning about E. coli
Carnation Farms grows 8 acres of organic vegetables with very specific food safety rules and close monitoring. The farm is a small production. The food is eaten locally and travels short distances. The products are handled by fewer people than large industrialized farms and are followed by soil for sale.
"We start with the soil – clean soil, clean water, clean hands of the workers. We do not use manure. We use organic certified aged compost. We take care to wash and disinfect all our harvest boxes, our warehouse We take our products out of the field, we cool them quickly and in our cold room so that they maintain the right storage temperatures. There are many stages and different areas of production with which we are very cautious. our workers wash their hands and there is no cross-contamination of livestock and vegetable production, "Smit said. "We absolutely record everything we plant, where we plant it, when we harvest it, where it is shipped, so there's this whole traceability factor that comes in. So if something happens, what I'm doing is Never hope to do, we could trace it's just back. "
RELATED: Why washing Roman lettuce does not kill E. coli already sick 32 people
The FDA thinks it may take weeks to confirm the source of the latest E. coli contamination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked people and shops to eliminate all Roman.
"So, if we take the example of the 2006 spinach recall, over 40,000 spinach bags were turned into a day in a processing plant." These spinach were distributed in all States and sickened more than 200 people, some of whom have died, "Smit says.
Meanwhile, Smit and other people from Snoqualmie Valley tell customers that they are confident that their lettuce is not contaminated. According to the CDC, every year, 48 million people are diagnosed with foodborne illness, half of which is due to product consumption. This is an always important reminder to know your farmer and buy locally, says Smit, which is a lesson that she lives on herself.
"It's butter lettuce that I've received from a farmers' market this week.I bought it from a local farmer who I have great confidence in." "said Smit. "We should not be afraid of the Roman if we know the farmer, we know how he is grown and where he is grown."
© 2018 ROI
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