Recent Listeria Outbreak Should Make Us Think

You may have heard recently about the listeria outbreak from tainted cantaloupe. What can we learn about our food process from this incident and what can we do to change it?

Think about this: The cantaloupe is out on a beautiful display at the entrance to your local grocery store. They have fresh sprigs of this and that making the cantaloupe seem alive and giving you the impression they just came from the farm. What they don’t tell you is that the fruit is not fresh from the farm.

A cantaloupe grown out west may make several stops before it even reaches your counter top. First there is the stop from field to the packaging house. Here it is cleaned and packaged. Then it’s off in bulk to the retailer who contracted to sell the melons. Here at the processors the melons may be cut or bagged. After the processor, it’s then whisked off to the retail distribution center where they are sent off to the different stores. Finally, they are unpacked and put on clever display. Imported fruits and veggies have an even longer trip. Two-thirds of our fruits and veggies are imported; there’s a thought.

Now that we have GMO seeds and crops, agribusiness has boomed. Because certain companies have patents on their seeds, the old way of saving seeds from plants that did well last harvest has been blown to pieces. Increasingly, big companies are altering seeds and making farmers sign contracts that prevents any use of seeds produced the normal way.

Farmers are not allowed to save any viable seeds, if there are any, for next year’s crop, this way the seed companies get forced repeat business. Farmers are also not allowed in most cases to put any insecticide on the crops, unless it’s the insecticide the company produces. In this way and through patents and regulation, large and even monopolized seed producers like Monsanto have power over the food produced and can limit availability. If something goes wrong or there is a breakdown somewhere like with this recent outbreak, what happens to the food supply then? Small time farms are being driven out of existence everyday and it’s putting us all at risk.

The listeria scare came from cantaloupes that were grown in Colorado. These cantaloupe have ended up in 19 different states and are linked to 17 deaths and 84 illnesses. They have been spread out so far the grower doesn’t even know exactly where the fruit went and can not provide a better list except to name 28 states where the fruit was first shipped.

With fewer and larger farms taking over food production and the need to import so much food instead of growing it ourselves, the risk for contamination on a larger scale grows. Think of the salmonella tainted spinach (2006), peanuts (2009) and eggs (2010) that we’ve had in recent years. Tracing these outbreaks back to a source can be very tricky because of the widespread distribution. And when you are growing food in contaminated soil it’s very hard to get away from an outbreak.

All this is not to say that fruits and vegetables in the store are bad. The best thing to do is buy organic, locally grown foods. Talk to your local farmers or go to the local farmer’s market. Better yet, cultivate your own garden and can up the fresh bounty yourself for winter. Glass jars are better to store food in than the cans you get at the store anyway. Wash your fruits and veggies with a gentle (NOT ANTIBACTERIAL) soap like Basic H before you eat or start cutting them, this will get any pesticide residue off.

Bottom line is, be aware of where your food comes from. Grow your own if you can or team up with a neighbor. Talk to local farmers and visit the local farmer’s market or farmer’s co-op. Get involved with your community to encourage consumption of locally grown and make foods. If you buy from the grocery store, make friends with the produce department employees. They can tell you which produce is the freshest. You can take the precautions necessary to keep you and your family safe.

For More Information Click the Links Below

Toxic Food, We are Eating It

Danger of Genetically Modified Food

10 Scariest Food Additives

The Ultimate Multivitamin Pack

Dangers of Processed Food

What is Shaklee, Shaklee Review (A Personal Point of View)

 Dangers of Anti Depressants and Some Natural Alternatives

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