Protecting the Cattle Industry

Three separate bills have been introduced to address the E. coli issues that arose last year with spinach and lettuce here in California (Bills would target unsafe farming of leafy greens). The bills basically call for more restrictions, inspections, and accountability for those "farmers" producing leafy greens.

The problem with this is that E. coli is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal track of mammals. Last I heard, leafy greens were plants that grow out of the ground, now out of a mammalian hind end. Since the focus of the laws is the greens growers, it seems an obvious maneuver to avoid blaming the people who should be responsible for keeping E. coli out of the water and fertilizer supply. Another example of good old fashioned American blaming the victim.

Even if the cause of these particular outbreaks is not directly attributable to nearby cattle farms, it doesn't negate the fact that more people in the U.S. die or get sick from E. coli because of infected beef than from anything else, but somehow those stories aren't big news.