PLOWING THE FIELDS OF CHANGE

Latest Research Findings and Background

Farming with Food Safety and Conservation in Mind

Relative Risk of Animals in Produce Fields

Safe and Sustainable: Co-managing for Ecological Health in California's Central Coast Region

WFA Food Safety Paper "Food Safety Requires a Healthy Environment: Policy Recommendations for E. coli O157"

Food Safety vs. Environment: Actual or Perceived Conflict?

E. coli O157: A Biography

Animals and Food Safety

Vegetation as Pathogen Filter

Food Safety In the News

"Politics of the Plate: Greens of Wrath" in Gourmet Magazine

"Wildlife in Middle of War on E. coli" from the Wall Street Journal

"Fields of Overkill" in High Country News

"California Farmers Use Guns, Poison to Protect Crops" in the LA Times

"Minimizing Wildlife" from the American Vegetable Grower

"How Safe is your Salad?" in the San Francisco Chronicle

"GAP Metrics a Work in Progress" in California Farmer

Habitat Destruction

Addendum to WFA's Food Safety Paper "Environmental Destruction in the Salinas Valley: 'Food Safety' Requirements to Remove Habitat Make Leafy Greens Less Safe"

"Food Safety and Environmental Quality Impose Conflicting Demands on Central Coast Growers" in California Agriculture

Photos of Habitat Destruction

Addressing Industrial-Sized Problems

Antibiotic Resistance

Slaughterhouses

Re-thinking Harvest Machine Protocol

Packaging: Is Bagged Salad a High Risk Product?

Irradiation

Food Safety Gone Astray: The Misguided War on Wildlife A Teach-In for the Media, Decision Makers, and Stakeholders was held on November 20, 2008 in San Francisco, CA. Watch Video Clips from the Teach-In View Notes from Speakers' Presentations Read Highlights and Recomendations from 11/20 "Food Safety War on Wildlife Teach-In" See List of Speakers and Session Descriptions Synthesizing the critical aspects of the issue: "Food Safety: Symptoms of a Failing Agriculture" 10/29/08 "Unintended Consequences Make Food Less Safe" 11/10/08 "Food safety" practices have caused serious environmental harm and may actually be counterproductive to keeping our food safe. Much harm has occurred following the spinach E. coli outbreak in 2006, though systemic problems were brewing before that incident. This event brought together regional and national speakers to address the important and pressing issue of current food safety practices that threaten the sustainability of our food systems, as well as human health and wildlife. Fresh perspectives and the latest research on critical U.S. food safety challenges were addressed.

 

Conservation Concerns Regarding a Proposed National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (LGMA) The establishment of a nationwide LGMA by the USDA similar to those currently implemented in California and Arizona would bring about negative environmental consequences including the degradation of soil, water and wildlife habitat wherever leafy greens are grown. Until specific areas in the agreement are clarified, the scope is narrowed to processed greens, and a ceiling is placed on "supermetrics" that go beyond the requirements of the LGMA, this agreement should not go national. Read more