Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[su do <speakingbeareturns@yahoo.com>]

I have absolutely no respect or trust in the FDA. It will be interesting to 
see how this plays out. There are conflicting viewpoints as to where the 
tomatoes originated. Above all, every time this happens, it's another finger 
pointing to the need for locally grown food.


--- On Tue, 6/10/08, Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net> wrote:

> From: Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>
> Subject: [Livingontheland] Florida tomato industry in "complete collapse"
> To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 3:56 PM
> People still trust the farmers market though. I'm
> growing three times the tomatoes from last season.
> 
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
> ------------------------------------------
> 
> Florida tomato industry in "complete collapse"
> Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:15am EDT
> 
> MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's tomato industry is in
> "complete collapse" and $40 million worth of
> tomatoes will rot unless federal regulators quickly trace
> the source of a salmonella outbreak and clear the
> state's produce, an industry official said on Tuesday.
> 
> "We probably have $40 million worth of product we
> can't sell. We've had to stop packing, stop
> picking," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president
> of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.
> 
> The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday warned
> U.S. consumers that the outbreak was linked to eating
> certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and
> products containing these tomatoes. Several major restaurant
> and grocery chains have stopped selling those varieties.
> 
> "It fundamentally shut down the industry," he
> said. "The stuff that should have been harvested over
> the weekend won't survive more than another day or so.
> The stuff we have in storage is getting riper every minute
> and at some point it will have to be disposed of."
> 
> Florida is the largest tomato-producing state, with a crop
> valued at $500 million to $700 million annually, he said.
> The state produces more than 90 percent of the nation's
> tomatoes this time of year, Brown said.
> 
> The FDA has said that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes,
> grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still
> attached. But those varieties account for only a tiny
> portion of the industry, Brown said.
> 
> The FDA has said it does not know where the contaminated
> tomatoes originated.
> 
> The infections have struck most often in New Mexico and
> Texas.
> 
> "We're very interested in seeing the FDA bring
> resolution to this and also would like to express concern
> for those who've fallen ill," Brown told Reuters.
> 
> The FDA said there had been 145 reported cases as of
> Saturday, including at least 23 hospitalizations, related
> to the outbreak since mid-April. The infections were caused
> by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon type of the bacteria.
> 
> Salmonella bacteria are frequently responsible for
> food-borne illnesses. Symptoms generally appear within 12
> to 72 hours after eating infected food and include fever,
> diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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