Killer Tomatoes

The New York Times yesterday reported a recall of tomatoes across national food chains:

McDonald's, Wal-Mart and other chains have halted sales of some raw tomatoes as federal health officials work to trace the source of a multistate outbreak of salmonella food poisoning. Burger King; Outback Steakhouse, a division of OSI Restaurant Partners; Chipotle Mexican Grill; and Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands, were among other restaurants that were voluntarily withdrawing tomatoes from their menus after federal recommendations that consumers avoid red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes unless they were grown in certain states and countries...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said at least 23 people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported."

The tomato scare is just another example in a series of food recalls over the last several years. The first few culprits were meat - beef recalled for E.Coli or Mad Cow Disease. Meat eaters started avoiding certain brands and cuts, and began over-cooking everything. Vegetarians rejoiced in smug victory of their worry-free diet. Then came spinach (organic spinach, at that!), lettuce, and even dog food. All of a sudden, everything was suspect - no food seemed entirely safe. Of course, as time passed, the recalls were largely forgotten, and people got back to eating as normal...but not without an extended sense of wariness.

This tomato recall too, shall pass. What remains, however, is an industrial food system that favors machines over people, and productivity over quality - or sometimes even safe - products. The Times article writes:

"Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are most likely not the source of the outbreak, federal officials said."

The cherry and grape tomato bit is likely a fluke - those species are not necessarily less likely to carry Salmonella, but were simply not part of the impacted crops this time around. What's not an accident is that homegrown tomatoes, and I would extend this to include tomatoes from small, organic farms where synthetic pesticides are absent, and human vigilance is still very much a part of the growing process, are far less likely to be a source of outbreak. Vegetarians and meat eaters alike may have to keep an eye on their food going forward. But people who grow their own food and shop at the farmers' market for their produce - avoiding any chance of eating tainted, industrial produce at supermarkets and fast food chains - should feel every right to eat safely, and smugly.