Don't Eat Your Spinach

Don't Eat Your Spinach

Have you heard about the outbreak of E. Coli that may be linked to packages of packaged pre-washed spinach? Today's NY Times reported that the company that produces the Earthbound Farms label may be the source, but there nothing is conclusive yet.

The Earthbound Farms label is the big business of the organic industry. (The article mentions how Earthbound Farms' parent, Natural Selections, also processes packages spinach for other brands, such as Dole.) You practically have to be big business to comply with the USDA's requirements to get "organic" slapped on your products. Those guys who come to your farmer's market probably can't afford to get through all the red tape. Thus, there has been much criticism of the label. There's also been much skepticism about the whole organic movement. I don't profess to know much about it, but I've read some pretty well-researched New Yorker articles on it. The information is out there.

All this is meant to put the following comment in perspective: it would be ironic to get e coli from organic spinach, no? (Or am I pulling an Alanis Morissette misunderstanding of irony?)

PS I'm alive. School is good. I've got senioritis. I'm having fun. I'm happy.
PPS Coincidentally, another story in the NY Times about organic products.