South Hamilton honored

One school district that has had the fruit and vegetable program for several years is the South Hamilton school district in Jewell, Iowa. I took a day trip visited the school district in the spring of 2006 and got a first hand look at the success of the program. Candy Anderson, the foodservice director there, was what every person in her position should be and more.

In my column of April 2006 I wrote:

Jewell, Iowa, is what Smallville, Kan., would be like in reality television.
The South Hamilton School District , which serves Jewell, isn't white-bread predictable, however. With a name like Candy, the school's foodservice director in Jewell had better be good -- and she is. Candy Anderson has helped the district's two schools secure grant money in back-to-back years for the fruit and vegetable snack program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is on the cutting edge of bringing mangoes, jicama and papayas to her students, not to mention the produce mainstays of apples, pears, oranges, clementines and carrot sticks.
Anderson doesn't give an inch when it comes to nutrition, and she has had some big support. In the first year of the fruit and vegetable snack program, a few kids were bowling fruit down a hallway, Anderson recalls.
In response to that incident, the school's principal, Paul Hemphill, made an announcement to the student body. "I just was dreading what he was going to say," she said. Anderson feared Hemphill would say something like "Shape up or I'll take the program away from you." What he said instead -- to Anderson's relief -- was "Shape up or I'll take the pop machines out." He stressed the fact that the district was fortunate to participate in the program and that the bad behavior of a few wouldn't be tolerated. Unrelated to that incident, the school district eventually pulled its pop machines in favor of a milk machine that also had other more nutritious snacks. If every principal supported student nutrition like Hemphill and every school foodservice director made it happen like Anderson, American children would be a lot better off today.

Anyway, today I received this news release about South Hamilton:

The South Hamilton Elementary School in Jewell (Iowa) was selected from hundreds of schools around the country to receive a $15,000 grant from the Hidden Valley “Love Your Veggies” Nationwide School Lunchroom Campaign, to help provide better access to fresh vegetables and fruits during school meals.

About the grant program: Schools nationwide faced a difficult challenge this school year -- administrators were tasked with implementing a federally mandated Local Wellness Policy for their student body. The goal of these policies is to improve school nutrition and create health-based standards for the foods sold in schools to positively impact student health. To help schools, Hidden Valley launched a grant program awarding five $15,000 grants to schools in need toward a veggie station (as well as funding for the produce, training and maintenance) to help improve nutrition in public schools.

Join us and the kids from South Hamilton Elementary School for a press conference and unveiling of their new salad bar.

Executives from the School Nutrition Association and Produce for a Better Health Foundation will be on hand to discuss this important topic and how Hidden Valley is helping schools renovate their school lunch programs; school officials will provide information on their nutrition program that will be funded by the grant.

TK: The official announcement of the award is April 3....

SPINACH REPORT RELEASED BY FDA!

Here follows the news of today:

FDA PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2007

FDA Finalizes Report on 2006 Spinach Outbreak

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and California’s Department of Health Services (CDHS) today released a joint report on an extensive investigation into the causes of an E.coli O157:H7 outbreak last fall that was associated with contaminated Dole brand Baby Spinach and resulted in 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths. The inquiry was conducted by the California Food Emergency Response Team (CalFERT), a team of experts from FDA’s district office in San Francisco and CDHS. They were assisted by experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The investigators successfully identified the environmental risk factors and the areas that were most likely involved in the outbreak, but they were unable to definitely determine how the contamination originated.

TK: A concession to the inexact science of traceback...

“The probe was a notable effort by federal, state and local officials,” said Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “It yielded valuable information we can use to determine how best to reduce the likelihood of similar outbreaks.”
The report describes the painstaking detective work of the investigators following the first reports from CDC in September 2006 of an apparent outbreak of E.coli O157:H7 linked to the consumption of bagged spinach. The probe initially focused on the processing and packaging plant of Natural Selection Foods, LLC in San Juan Bautista, CA, where the contaminated products had been processed.
The next focus of the inquiry was the source of the spinach in 13 bags containing E.coli O157:H7 isolates that had been collected nationwide from sick customers. Using the product codes on the bags, and employing DNA fingerprinting on the bacteria from the bags, the investigators were able to match environmental samples of E.coli O157:H7 from one field to the strain that had caused the outbreak. Potential environmental risk factors for E.coli O157:H7 contamination at or near the field included the presence of wild pigs, the proximity of irrigation wells used to grow produce for ready-to-eat packaging, and surface waterways exposed to feces from cattle and wildlife.

TK: No mention of soil amendments among the risk factors....

Because the contamination occurred before the start of the investigation, and because of the many ways that E.coli O157:H7 can be transferred -- including animals, humans, and water -- the precise means by which the bacteria spread to the spinach remain unknown.
FDA continues to work closely with its federal, state and local partners to keep produce safe from bacterial contamination. In August 2006, the agency announced an initiative called “Leafy Greens” that focuses attention on the produce, contamination agents, and other areas of potential public health concern associated with such products. Recently, FDA recently issued a draft final guidance, “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Fresh-cut Fruits and Vegetables”, which recommends measures to prevent microbial contamination during the processing of fresh-cut produce.
Earlier this week the agency explored issues involved in the safety of fresh produce in a public hearing held in California, and it plans to hold a similar hearing on April 13, 2007 in Maryland. The goal of both events is to solicit and share information about the recent outbreaks, the involved and associated risk factors, and measures the agency could adopt to advance the safety of fresh produce.
Although washing produce would not have prevented the recent E-coli outbreak involving spinach, washing can reduce the risk of contamination from some other causes. FDA advises consumers that all produce should be thoroughly washed before eating.
The report on the probe of the Dole spinach contamination, titled: Investigation of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 Outbreak Associated with Dole Pre-Packaged Spinach, is posted at http://www.dhs.ca.gov.

Backlash?

USA Today runs a story today about aid to spinach growers, and it takes the point of view of one of the victims of the E. coli outbreak.
Here is how it begins:

Darryl Howard's mom, Betty, was among those who died after eating contaminated spinach last fall at her home in Washington state, he says.
He was stunned to learn last week that the emergency bill to fund the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina relief included $25 million to compensate spinach growers hurt when consumers stopped buying their products.
"They killed my mother, and now they want me to pay for it," Howard says.

TK: Props to some lawmakers - notably Rep. Sam Farr - who spoke up for the farmers who were also innocent victims, so to speak, of an outbreak they had no part in. The article also draws a contrast to the "must-pass" nature of this war funding bill and the food safety reform bill by Rep. Rosa DeLauro that languishes in committee.