Yuma's lettuce growers working to ensure supply is as safe as possible

Yuma's lettuce growers are fencing their fields, posting no trespassing signs, auditing their food safety measures and monitoring their water supply to protect their crops from contamination.

But they need some help from the public to ensure the healthy vegetables they produce don't end up being a health risk instead.

"Farmers have adopted safety assurance practices but we can't do it alone," said area grower Tim Dunn, vice president of the Arizona Farm Bureau. "We need the public's help. In fact, individuals from the surrounding community can become our best advocates for helping us ensure that their food from field to fork is the safest and healthiest it can be.

"Food safety has to be a cooperative effort involving the local, state and national levels," he continued, "but it all comes down to what happens close to home."

That includes the nearby resident out walking their dog, the horse owner enjoying a ride on a sunny winter afternoon, the passerby who stops to pick a head of lettuce or the child who takes a shortcut to school through a field.

At stake is the marketability of crops. If a footprint or animal waste is found in a field, farmers must impound the area around it so it's not harvested. One incident of discovered animal waste can generate thousands of dollars of missed revenue, said John Boelts, area produce grower and president of the Yuma County Farm Bureau.

Even worse, no one wants a repeat of the e-coli outbreak in September 2006 tied to California spinach that killed three and sickened about 200 people in 26 states.

"Food safety is a local deal," said Boelts. "The reason is that no matter what happens at the national or even global level, implementation must be done on a field-by-field basis and almost on a plant-by-plant basis. You take something, you plant it in dirt, you don't cook it, you don't irradiate it - but you protect it. It's at ground zero where the most important safety measures must take place."

The agriculture community has responded by adopting stringent food safety measures.

Now it is time to educate the public, said Mary Campbell, food safety coordinator for Griffin Ranches and a member of a newly formed coalition of her counterparts for other area growers.

The coalition has identified five major risk factors: dogs running loose, horse riding, trash and other foreign objects, unauthorized human entry into fields and water source contamination.

"I'll see a car stop by a field and the person gets out to pick a head of lettuce," said Janessa Thelander, food safety manager for Barkley Co. of Arizona and another member of the coalition.

"They'll let the dog and the kids out to run, then they go away, unaware of the potential risks they're causing."

Dogs romping in a field may leave waste that becomes a source of e-coli contamination, and a person's shoes may carry bacteria that could lead to foodborne illnesses, Thelander said.

In other cases, a horse owner goes for a ride along a canal bank on a small road that separates lettuce fields, Campbell said. Animal waste left behind could get washed into the irrigation water or be picked up by tractor tires and carried into the field.

Trash, whether piling up by a rural residence, illegally dumped, or thrown from a car window, can be another food safety risk, said Vicki-Lynne Scott, director of quality assurance for Amigo Farms.

Scott noted that laws already exist prohibiting many of these risk factors. For example, the county has a dog leash law and throwing trash from a car is illegal. And entering a field without authorization is trespassing - a legal issue that could have serious health implications.

"A person wouldn't think of entering a neighbor's house or yard uninvited. It should be the same with our fields. It's just respect for property," she said.

Dunn and Boelts concurred, suggesting a number of things Yuma residents can do to help farmers keep the food supply safe and healthy.

"Stay out of the fields, always obey the leash laws by having pets on a leash and never drop trash in or near fields growing produce," they advise. "In fact, we'd even appreciate a watchdog mentality. If you see someone allowing their pets to run into the fields, politely inform the person of the safety risk and encourage them to leash their animal."

Boelts added, "It's a joint effort and just like any other public health concern, we all have a responsibility to help do our part."

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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.

Julie Murphree, director of public relations for Arizona Farm Bureau, also contributed to this report. She can be reached at 1-480-635-3607 or juliemurphree@azfb.org.