Stay Safe and Eat Cake

        This past week, the CDC and FDA released a statement that romaine lettuce has been infected with E. coli. Lettuce everywhere has been removed from stores, restaurants, and so on. This is a really bad case, but it is somewhat funny in a way. Lettuce is supposed to be healthy for us as humans, but now if we try to eat it, it could kill us. I don’t eat salad or lettuce or anything leafy and green, so I am always going to be safe from lettuce.

            Recently, the source of the outbreak has been traced back to northern and central California. It is interesting because if you are the grower of lettuce and it comes from your farm that has E. coli, how do you come back from this? No manufacturer would want to stay in business with a farm that is producing harmful crops. How do you fix your image if you are the farmer and owner of the farm?

            As the farmer, you need to figure out if you are the cause of the problem or not. Once you determine whether you play a role in the situation, you need to figure out how to solve it, so it doesn’t happen again. You have to do something about the E. coli. It has to be gotten rid of. Once you have done that, you need to get a professional to clear you so it is official that the problem has been solved. After that, you do damage control with the manufacturers. You have to ensure them that the issue has been resolved and they should have no issues resuming business with your farm.

            It is all about image and reputation. This can be tricky, especially in the food industry. When it comes to E. coli, the farmer does not have any hand in the matter. There are not really any specific precautions they can take to ensure that this doesn’t happen. It is unfortunate. One thing you can do to stay safe during this time is to stay away from lettuce and eat cake instead.