The Tomato Pickle

I read that tomato producers say that the salmonella outbreak is killing their business. What a surprise that people actually use caution in their food choices. What else did you expect? Tomato growers didn't want "country-of-origin" labelling and they had their way with the business-friendly Bush administration, so now almost all tomato crops are suspect. That's called "karma". It means that we all are affected by the good or bad results of our actions. So, now we know how the Bush food regulation system works: if your industry produces bad food - even if your farm didn't produce it - people just don't eat your product until all food poisoning cases stop for a few months. This could actually turn vegetable growers into firm believers in strict food inspection standards and swift correction of those who violate those standards. What a revelation!!! So, all those silly, stupid and boring regulations established long ago - and most recently ignored by the Bush administration - actually have a real purpose!!

Instead of arguing over people's spelling or their atrocious grammar, why don't the comments here focus on the real question. It isn't about migrants and illegals going to the bathrooms in the fields, American workers would do the same thing. Ever see someone relieving themselves on the side of the road less than a mile from a reststop? And not all migrants are illegals and not all illegals have disgusting bathroom habits. I don't think that personal hygene is in anyway related to your citizenship status. It's also not about local farms being better than corporate farms. I grew up on a small farm but I'm not against corporate agribusiness. They can be far more efficient than local farms and use far less fuel per pound of production. Does that mean I wouldn't prefer to buy local? Of course not. Bring money into local farms, get fresher, tastier produce, but don't blame corporate farms for ruining the world. Many small local farmers use many of the same fertilizing techniques as large corporate farms, just on a smaller scale. Water that's being used for washing fruit is generally taken from a municipal water supply, not from the cattle trough or from an irrigation ditch. The real question is and should be who is responsible for the out break, what should be done about it, and how can we prevent them in the future. Wash your food before you eat it, cook it thoroughly, wash your hands, these are all common sense and they'd go a long way to prevent food outbreaks, but people don't bother. It doesn't need to be irradiated or anything else. The human race has survived for millenia without irradiating their food. Americans just need to be more careful about what they eat and how they're handling it. I don't know how anyone can say that a tomato with a stem still attached is any safer than one without. The stems can droop and the tomato can still touch the ground.

Buying local produce is better in many ways not just to prevent food borne illness but it reduces the amount of fuel used to truck these products hundreds sometimes thousands of miles to market. Our society is so accustomed to having all produce at all times of the year most people don't even realize their are certain seasons for certain fruits/vegetables. I buy local as much as I can and will pay more for it.

PerishablePundit.com , which is written by the Editor-in-Chief of PRODUCE BUSINESS magazine, has posted an in-depth round up of its exhaustive coverage of the Salmonella SaintPaul/Tomato crisis. The roundup is updated frequently at this link: http://www.perishablepundit.com/index.php?hot=salmonella

PerishablePundit.com , which is written by the Editor-in-Chief of PRODUCE BUSINESS magazine, has posted an in-depth round up of its exhaustive coverage of the Salmonella SaintPaul/Tomato crisis. The roundup is updated frequently at this link: http://www.perishablepundit.com/index.php?hot=salmonella

Get you some plants at your local harvest/farmers store. Grow your own - I have sic tomator and four pepper plants blooming right now that are doing very well. Can't wait to the flowers fruit. I think the farmers markets and locally grown is ideal. Help ma and pa and bring some business back locally.

Amphibians live on the moist ground. Reptiles live on the moist ground. Tomatoes rest on the moist ground. Fish live in water. All of these are sources of Salmonella. Maybe we need to outlaw water.

Cooking fish seems to neutralize the Salmonella.

Washing the utensils used for preparing the fish seems to remove the Salmonella.

Could Hygiene be the answer?

Maybe we just need to wash our food before preparing it.

Amphibians live on the moist ground. Reptiles live on the moist ground. Tomatoes rest on the moist ground. Fish live in water. All of these are sources of Salmonella. Maybe we need to outlaw water.

Cooking fish seems to neutralize the Salmonella.

Washing the utensils used for preparing the fish seems to remove the Salmonella.

Could Hygiene be the answer?

Maybe we just need to wash our food before preparing it.

You professionals should do some homework before you buy into propagana designed to force Irradiation of everyones food supply.

In the last two years there have been about 6 outbreaks of salmonilla each year, some larger than this one.
Why are we hearing about this one now. Legislation is pending. Pretty soon everything we eat will be dead and sterilized. The nutrition and the life zapped out of it!

Shame on you!

I'm amazed that ZEKE56 is amazed, since he can't spell "grammar" correctly.

I'm amazed by some of the language and grammer displayed here that these people who are writing these comments even know what a computer is, let alone use one.

Judging by the language and grammer of ngy, I am amazed he can use a computer to post a comment.

I'm amazed by some of the language and grammer displayed here that these people who are writing these comments even know what a computer is, let alone use one.

One problem with Farmer markets. In Northern climates you can't get tomatoes and all other veggies and fruits during most of the year. Shipping from far away locations, domestic and international, is the only viable source.