Speaking out on tomato salmonella

"This week's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning regarding salmonella contamination of tomatoes is a reminder that eating from sources close to home is one way to avoid exposure to widespread foodborne illnesses," says Tracey Ryder, co-founder and president of Edible Communities, Inc., the network of publications dedicated to the local food movement across North America.

“If there is a problem with a locally grown crop, consumers can trace their food back to its source very quickly,” Ryder says.

In the current case of salmonella in tomatoes, FDA officials have been trying to locate the origin of the outbreak since May. “We’ve seen this exact situation before with industrially produced food, and we’re likely to see it again.”

Ryder says the FDA’s pronouncement that homegrown tomatoes are safe to eat resonates with “locavores,” proponents of eating locally grown and raised food. “For many locavores, the next best thing to homegrown is food that is locally grown on a small family farm,” she says. “Our publishers in more than 40 communities across the U.S. and Canada have definitely seen the interest in their publications grow as more folks lose confidence in the industrial food system and look for local farmers they can know and trust.”