September 17, 2006
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SUNDAY GOOD NEWSThe good news is the FDA is willing to bite the bullet and tell us all
to Just Say No to All Fresh Spinach (including cooked). As
of this morning, the hit list had risen to 102 in 19 states with one
death. The assassin, E. coli, is a little organism that can
cause diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and kidney failure if it doesn’t kill
you. We regularly get alerts here in Portland, Oregon in the
summer about swimming in various streams or rivers when there’s been a
sewage mishap. Apparently, the spinach giant Natural Selection
Foods in California is where the trouble originated and they ship even
into Canada and Mexico. (Their brands include Natural Selection
Foods, Pride of San Juan, Earthbound Farm, Bellissima, Dole, Rave
Spinach, Emeril, Sysco, O Organic, Fresh Point, River Ranch, Superior,
Nature’s Basket, Pro-Mark, Compliments, Trader Joe’s, Ready Pac, Jansal
Valley, Cheney Brothers, Coastline, D’Arrigo Brothers, Green Harvest,
Mann, Mills Family Farm, Premium Fresh, Snoboy, The Farmer’s Market,
Tanimura & Antle, President’s Choice, Cross Valley and Riverside
Farms.) Word is still out about whether any other companies are
involved. Whew, I can imagine the owner(s) of NSF are freaking
their freaking freak about now. Years ago, when I was on my
youthful “vision quest” and living au naturel on the tiny island of
Formentera off Spain with only an outhouse for plumbing and a cistern
well for water, I contracted E. coli, and it just about decimated
me. I lost so much weight from dehydration that people I hadn’t
seen in months barely recognized me. I was lucky it was caught in
time and it took me months to put the weight back on. The bad
news is I’m going to miss spinach, though I’m guessing we’ll be allowed
to eat it again before Xmas. It’s one of those foods you hold as
a cherished symbol of parental abuse as a child and come to love in
your aging wisdom. In the meantime, what dark leafy green
vegetables shall we trust instead? Kale? Yuck.
Deep Thought:
“If you’re a circus clown, and you have a dog that you use in your act,
I don’t think it’s a good idea to also dress the dog up like a clown,
because people see that and they think, “Forgive me, but that’s just
too much.”
Today I am grateful for: John McCain et all finally stepping really up
Guess the Movie: “Well,
boys, I reckon this is it – nuclear combat toe to toe with the
Roosskies. Now look, boys, I ain’t much of a hand at makin’ speeches,
but I got a pretty fair idea that something doggone important is goin’
on back there. And I got a fair idea the kinda personal emotions that
some of you fellas may be thinkin’. Heck, I reckon you wouldn’t even be
human bein’s if you didn’t have some pretty strong personal feelin’s
about nuclear combat. I want you to remember one thing, the folks back
home is a-countin’ on you and by golly, we ain’t about to let ‘em down.
I tell you something else, if this thing turns out to be half as
important as I figure it just might be, I’d say that you’re all in line
for some important promotions and personal citations when this thing’s
over with. That goes for ever’ last one of you regardless of your race,
color or your creed. Now let’s get this thing on the hump – we got some
flyin’ to do.” Answer: Dr. Strangelove, 1964.
Winner: thenarrator.
The Content of Our Character
by Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
In a significant rebuff to President Bush and his security-driven
strategy for Republican victory in November, the Senate Armed Services
Committee on Thursday rejected the President’s military detainee bill
and passed a radically different alternative. At stake in this standoff
between the President and the Senate are legal and moral issues central
to the Constitution and the character of the American people: the right
to a fair trial, the use of torture, the accountability of high
government officials for war crimes. It also tests the powers of
Congress and the Supreme Court to rein in an errant executive.
(Rest of article here.)
Comments (23)
Kale is great. Steam it up. Put it next to your salmon.
Thanks for the update. I’m glad it is just spinach.
Right before Craig had his surgery I almost made his favorite spinach salad. Last I looked Illinois wasn’t on the list but I’m still glad I opted for something else.
Yes, he did have hernia surgery. He’s really had a hard time of it. It looks like he will be off 3 – 4 weeks. I don’t think he is in any rush to do much. Thanks for the advice.
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
I do thank McCain, Warner, even Lindsay Graham with who I am sure I do not share the same side of any other issue, and finally “welcome back to humanity Colin Powell.” I think the only solution is that every congressmember who votes to “re-define Article 3″ and any American voter who votes in November for any congressmember who voted to “re-define Article 3″ needs to be sent into front-line combat in Afghanistan or Iraq. Let them be active American soldiers if they feel that our troops don’t deserve Geneva Convention protections.
I hope talk of a “compromise” is just media babbling, but I liked this quote from The NY Times:
“If it seemed that our country was trying to redefine the Geneva Convention to meet the needs of the C.I.A., why can’t every other country redefine the Geneva Convention to meet the needs of their secret police?” Mr. Graham said on ”Face the Nation” on CBS. “It would be a disaster.”
If an American agent were captured in Iran, tried on secret evidence and sentenced to die, Mr. Graham said, “Americans would go crazy.”
ok….I admit it…I had spinach ravioli on Friday. So far so good… but e.coli is not nice. I saw a young lady become very ill with it except that she couldn’t pee. She endured dialysis for several weeks to save her life.
ironically, the food that is supposed to be good for you can now kill you.
i don’t like eating raw spinach, but the bf does, so i’ll have to tell him that it has to be cooked before he can eat it.
I’ve pretty much given up buying any of the packaged fresh greens for my bunnies. It just isn’t worth the risk. There have been problems with the Dole prepackaged salads in the past as well.
*sparkle
For once (ok, 6 times), I got here early enough to make a guess AND I think I know the movie BUT thenarrator got there first, so just in case he’s wrong I’ll guess “Wag the Dog.”
Oops, I meant to confirm Dr. Strangelove as the winner!
In case I miss it somehow, will you please let me know when it’s okay to eat spinach again? Thank you.
I’m giving up the bagged stuff now, too. It’s pretty freaking insane they can’t even wash the stuff well before bagging it. Ugh. Just what we all don’t need – killer veggies.
makes me happy that i don’t like or buy spinache..
Thanks for your comments today
I hope you are doing well.
RYC and yes New Mexico is worth visiting especially in the early fall around the first 2 weekends in October. The Albuquerque International Balloon fiesta is well worth visiting to see over 700 hot air balloons fill the sky in about one hour’s time. To make the short drive in to our northern mountains is well worth the adventure. E-coli seems like a terrible way to “diet” and I’m sorry that you ever had to go through that.
I don’t trust that stuff and always wash with 7th Generation dish soap first. Is that enough? I had food poisoning once too from a cream puff. I have never eaten one since.
The bizzare part is I usually buy the bagged greens…but I had stopped over the last month becuase I got burned out on salads…food karma is good for me!
Dr Strangelove – I was right!
I had some spinach – one of the brands you listed, either last week or the week before. I live in Ontario. I have heard nothing about this until now – and I work with immigrant families and children.
I’ve heard that in Mexico farmers irrigate with raw sewage to fertilize truck crops.
i’ve been living on spinach lately….boo hoo. you’re right, i hated the mushy canned stuff as a child and now love it.
Thanks for posting this! Bummer, I love fresh spinach!
I knew the movie, how odd, because I usually feel that it goes over my head and I don’t think it’s as funny as everyone else does. I was at a farmers’ market this weekend and was afraid of everything. This is because I’m in California and couldn’t remember where exactlyy the bad spinach was from. Could it be very local? Then I got to thinking about the smaller farmers, and how they might have fertilized, and the things I would eat raw. Then my parents made a comment about how one deadly spore could kill you if you ate the wrong mushroom and how hard it is to tell them apart, and they have a scientist friend who won’t touch them, so all the mushrooms looked sinister…It took the fun out of the market, and I left empty-handed. I read the comment above about New Mexico. Another thing about October is I do believe the first Saturday of October, they open Trinity Site. This is where they tested the first atomic weapon and many go there to pray for peace. White Sands is an amazing national monument as well, like being on another planet.
I was sent an alert about the E coli 7 days before it hit the media because I work inside the business. They only issued the alert when it spun so far beyond their control they had nothing else to hide…
I threw away a bag and a half from my fridge. I live on it! I, too, was surprised the government was actually going ahead with a “bad-for-business” strategy. Could they actually be more concerned with public health and safety? Oh, I just read Leonidas comment, sadly, that’s more in line with what I’ve come to expect.
You had E. coli! Wow, that is fortunate you caught it.
I came back to copy and paste this line you wrote: “It’s one of those foods you hold as a cherished symbol of parental abuse as a child and come to love in your aging wisdom.” What a GREAT line–I have to send this to my kids!