For Farmers, This Food Scare Is the Pits
Over the course of a few months, a thousand people become sick in nine states and in Canada. They suffer from intense diarrhea, weight loss and fatigue. Health authorities blame a microbe called cyclospora.
Cyclospora is a parasite that attacks the intestine. Researchers believe that it is transmitted though food and is not contagious. Health officials interview victims, trying to uncover a common dietary link. They blame strawberries.
Immediately, the strawberry industry launches its own inquiry, asking for stepped up government testing to isolate the source of contamination. But the media have seized on the story and strawberry sales plummet, even in areas where no cyclospora infections have been reported--which, after all, is most of the country. Strawberry growers cry foul, especially in California where the peak of the crop is being harvested. They blame health authorities for prematurely going public. They blame the media for irresponsible comparisons to Legionnaire’s disease and AIDS. And they blame the public.
The Center for Disease Control’s investigation is thwarted by state health officials who must first request the help of the CDC. Weeks after the first reported case, Texas invites the CDC to send investigators. A turf battle erupts, a local department resenting the interference from the federal authorities. Complicating the situation is the mystery surrounding cyclospora, which was identified only a few years ago. Few doctors have experience diagnosing the parasite and laboratories are not universally equipped for it. Scientists blame one another for the confusion and delay.
Initial findings do not point to strawberries. One cluster of outbreaks seems traceable to a Spanish restaurant in New York City, but it didn’t serve fresh fruit. Other reports seem to point to raspberries. Blame spreads.
Pressure mounts as the media report more people becoming ill. The strawberries vs. raspberries debate acquires a political overtone and fits well with today’s polarized climate. People want to point a finger of blame at the evil root of their problems, as if naming the culprit is a remedy. Strawberries, raspberries, immigrants, the poor, minorities--purge the nation of the targeted group and the disease will go away. I hope they don’t come after my crops of peaches and raisins.
We are a nation of blamers. We seek simple answers to complex problems and are willing to condemn based on limited evidence. We tolerate unfair or incomplete dissemination of information. Strawberries make headlines, but when strawberries are cleared, the news will be buried in the back pages. We decline to take any blame for the damage inflicted by such quick judgments.
Much of the blaming stems from our disconnection from the origins of our food. Americans know little about who grows their produce and how it’s grown. I can’t image the strawberry scare being so dramatic if people had known the growers. This alienation from farmers allows the whole country to cry, “It’s the strawberries!” How quickly would they incriminate “those Masumoto peaches”? So long as we don’t know where our food comes from, we can pretend that no one gets hurt by our unfounded charges.
I’m tired of the shadow of blame that’s cast upon produce. With each food safety scare, it’s farmers who are threatened, especially the small, family farm. Many of our crops are perishable. We cannot ride out the crisis for a few months. We do not have the deep pockets of large corporations to launch massive advertising campaigns, reassuring the public and responding to questions. Our silence is incorrectly interpreted as acceptance of blame.
The cyclospora illness concerns me, but marching out the latest suspect for public condemnation worries me; it confirms my suspicion that we’d rather lay blame than work on solutions.
