All On The Table: Cows, Corn, Gasoline, Spinach, E. Coli., and Grass
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 09.21.06
From a September 21, 2006 NYT op ed piece entitled “Leafy Green Sewage” we learned the most important question to ask about the spinach E. Coli contamination issue is: “Where does this particularly virulent [E.Coli O157] strain come from? It’s not found in the intestinal tracts of cattle raised on their natural diet of grass, hay and other fibrous forage. No, O157 thrives in a new — that is, recent in the history of animal diets — biological niche: the unnaturally acidic stomachs of beef and dairy cattle fed on grain, the typical ration on most industrial farms…In 2003, The Journal of Dairy Science noted that up to 80 percent of dairy cattle carry O157…Happily, the journal also provided a remedy based on a simple experiment. When cows were switched from a grain diet to hay for only five days, O157 declined 1,000-fold”. Turn the page for ideas on how this insight converges with the grass fed beef movement and the current political fascination with corn-based ethanol.
From the Independence Reporter newspaper of Independence, Kansas, USA comes the converging insight from a story titled: New ranching techniques borrow from old-school methods. "Looking out on the rolling tallgrass prairie surrounding his ranch, Kurtis, an Independence native, and other investors launched the Tallgrass Beef Company nine months ago, a business that is raising purely grass-fed beef cattle, with the final product being sold to customers all over the country through the company's Web site, as well as through retail outlets and now the menus of restaurants in the Chicago area".
“All cattle were grass fed until about 60 years ago, Kurtis said, explaining that the Tallgrass Beef operation is really just going back to the way cattle ranching was historically done. But then the government began providing subsidies to corn farmers, resulting in an excess of the crop and making corn an inexpensive feed source for cattle. Before long, grain-fed cattle - at least for a portion of the animal's life span - became the norm. And it remains so today”.
Once again the law of unintended government subsidy consequence rears its sharp horns. Our food ox has been gored…in the gut. But there is good news around the corner. The push for corn based ethanol is going to raise the price of corn, providing Mr. Kurtis with one more force driving ranchers into his supply chain.
We strongly urge you to read the full grass fed beef story. For some it may raise more questions than it answers. For others it may provide a level of comfort about the prospects for healthier spinach in the future. Here, from the TallGrass website , is a particularly good explanation of what makes the Kurtis approach unique.
Back to the spinach/corn/grass/beef convergence. There’s no chance at all of having our present Congress untangle the adverse health risks of 60 years of farm policy in a timely manner. The power of special interests is too strong to overcome. This problem needs a consumer-driven push to get markets moving in the right direction.
We’re hoping Mr K. does some under-TreeHugger-investigation into how important it is for water quality to keep pastured cows away from stream banks and provided stable stream crossings where needed. Industry leaders set the pattern, and he’s just the sort of guy we think can get that right and help the markets move in a direction that good for our health, the animals, and our environment.
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The New York Times is getting close but no cigar. Is it simply political correctness or a human no-no to discuss the most obvious source of this variation of e-coli?
After having lived in Florida for 20 years where it seemed like we often had as many migrant farm workers as California, I can tell you why there's ALWAYS a high potential for e. coli on our picked vegetables (and why you should ALWAYS wash everything thoroughly). Everyone should think about this one carefully because it really proves out the old axiom of 'You get what you pay for.'
Apparently most farms pay their pickers so little and generally tend to pay on volume picked; so the poor workers are always under a lot of pressure to pick as much as possible all day long. Now let's see: I'm tired, hungry, hot and underpaid already picking this damn stuff for rich Americanos. If the Port-a-Potty is a 1/4-mile or more off the field (for sanitation reasons!) so it means a 20+ minute walk, where do you think I'm gonna pee (or worse)?
Forget bird poop or fertilizer ... that's not the big problem.
=== author's response follows =====
All of the above, plus bird droppings.
It's good to see the Tallgrass Beef Company making an effort to get back to traditional cattle raising methods. One could only hope that their business thrives significantly to raise the eyebrows of competitors enough to have them revert to the old methods as well.
As for the farm workers issue that RobertinSeattle brought up, it's a very valid point that we don't think about. If we want to improve conditions in our food, we have to improve the conditions of the people picking it substantially as well. One would hope to get produce from a local supplier close to where you live. One that could be talked to about just such an issue.