Another reason to know where your food came from
The New York Times had an article in this morning’s paper about how six lesser-known strains of the E coli bacteria are in the food supply, and one of them sickened 36 people in five states recently, causing kidney failure in three teenagers. It was on romaine lettuce.
The federal government and the food industry have known about these strains and the threat they posed for years, but nothing has been done to address it because the beef industry claims it would be too expensive.
Right now, it’s illegal to sell beef containing the most common virulent strain, O157. But the beef industry is resisting having the government do any more.
Like every big industry, agribusiness doesn’t want to be regulated. A few lives mean very little to the bottom line. Better to pay a few lawsuits than change the way they do business.
The solution is to know more about the food you eat and where it came from. Eat local food, in season. Fruits and vegetables from around the world may contain pathogens like E coli; local foods are far less likely to.
Buy vegetables in bulk and freeze them. We bought 100 ears of corn last year, spent an afternoon stripping it off the cobs and blanching and freezing it and we’re just now starting to run low. We did the same with green beans.
During the spring, summer and fall, we eat foods from our garden and from the local farmers’ markets.
Our meat is more expensive, but we buy it from local farmers and we eat less of it.
I don’t worry a lot about E coli because I don’t have a lot of exposure to it. If we refuse to buy from these huge meat processors, they will have to change the way they do things.
E. coli bacteria originate in the guts of cattle, meaning the beef industry is the one we need to control. The O157 strain made headlines in 1993 when four children died and hundreds of people were sickened by tainted hamburger sold at Jack in the Box restaurants. The next year, the U.S. Agriculture Department made it illegal to sell ground beef containing the O157 bacteria.
But the industry doesn’t test for the six lesser-known strains of the bacteria, so it can be in any beef you buy. But if you buy from local producers, the chances of getting E coli are much smaller.
E coli is in manure, which in the big feedlots, is everywhere. Animals stand up to their knees in it and their bodies are caked with it when they’re slaughtered. It spreads over all the meat, but is killed by cooking — which is why ground beef is the most likely to cause sickness.
Grinding the meat causes the bacteria to be spread all through the meat instead of staying on the surface.
But tainted meat or manure coming into contact with other foods can cause them to be tainted too. That’s why it’s found in vegetables sometimes.
We can virtually eliminate E Coli from our food by avoiding the big beef producers’ meats. Check the labels for what your beef is fed. If there’s nothing on the label, it likely means the animal — or animals — spent the last weeks of their lives in feedlots, caked with feces.
If an animal is grass-fed and has not been given hormones or huge doses of antibiotics, it’s a better bet — especially if you buy from a local farm, where you can see the conditions.
Pasture-fed meat is tastier and it allows animals to live a more natural life before they’re slaughtered. Most Americans eat too much meat anyway.
If we eat more local food, and eat it in season, we won’t be exposed to as many pathogens.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
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