Requiem for Popeye
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Posted by Jacqueline Church Sep 23, 2006 |
Can't you hear Popeye laughing
That high pitched ah-kee-kee-kee sort of giggle he had?
Well, maybe he'd be crying. I don't know.
The whole e.coli Spinach fiasco is a good opportunity to revisit some of the tenets of our version of eating local. Not the fundamentalist West Coast style, but the common sense East Coast style multi-culti Omnivore's Dilemma.
The takeaway message from the most recent e.coli outbreak is not to stop eating spinach. The take home message ought to be to know your farmers. If you're buying from a local farmer, even better, an organic local farmer, you can safely enjoy spinach. The New York Times quotes Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the F.D.A., confirming local spinach, particularly on the East Coast,is safer.
It's the big boys who'll poison you while selling you "healthy" food trucked across country. So, to review:
- Yes, eat your spinach.
- From your local farmers' market .
- No, not from the mega-mart.
- No, do not rely on the government's saftey standards.
Remember they're reducing the already miniscule testing for mad cow disease.
Cue Popeye, "I've had all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!"
And, while we're at it...has anyone else noticed the absence of info on the contaminated long-grain rice news? California growers must be searching the skies for the plague of locusts next.
For another take on the Spinach issue see my friends at The Ethicurean: Spinach Ripple.
For those interested in eating local in Rhode Island, see my discussion boards for a reader's suggestion and weblink. Thanks Barbara!