Cantaloupe Crisis Coverage
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Cantaloupe Crisis
In July 2011, cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Colorado were being shipped to grocers throughout the United States, and people were buying them in droves. On September 14, 2011, Jensen Farms voluntarily recalled cantaloupes that had been produced from July through September 10 because of listeria contamination.
Thousands of these cantaloupes were contaminated with listeria, a bacteria that was later discovered to have grown in shallow pools of water near the packing shed. Workers at the farm had trudged through the water into the shed, which then spread to equipment used to ship the cantaloupes to grocers nationwide.
Once Listeria was found in these cantaloupes, the farm was quick to issue a recall and many grocers reached out to customers who had bought cantaloupe to prevent food poisoning. Despite this effort, 25 people nationwide died from the listeria outbreak and 123 people in 26 states were reportedly ill. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this outbreak is the deadliest incident caused by foodborne disease in the U.S.since 1985.
These numbers have caused a panic among citizens, especially in Colorado. The idea that eating locally grown food is nutritionally and economically superior to imported fare has been increasingly strong over the past several years, but this outbreak has thrown a wrench in that. Suddenly, buying habits have changed so quickly that local farmers, grocers and restaurants are affected negatively.
Our goal in Cantaloupe Crisis Coverage is to prevent unnecessary backlash from the listeria outbreak. By presenting the facts from the perspectives of medicine, victims, farmers and grocers, we hope to inform the public about what they can do to remain safe from foodborne illness without destroying local economy. We will be a resource for learning how listeria works and staying safe.
We are doing this project for the Digital Media class in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Stay tuned!
Thousands of these cantaloupes were contaminated with listeria, a bacteria that was later discovered to have grown in shallow pools of water near the packing shed. Workers at the farm had trudged through the water into the shed, which then spread to equipment used to ship the cantaloupes to grocers nationwide.
Once Listeria was found in these cantaloupes, the farm was quick to issue a recall and many grocers reached out to customers who had bought cantaloupe to prevent food poisoning. Despite this effort, 25 people nationwide died from the listeria outbreak and 123 people in 26 states were reportedly ill. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this outbreak is the deadliest incident caused by foodborne disease in the U.S.since 1985.
These numbers have caused a panic among citizens, especially in Colorado. The idea that eating locally grown food is nutritionally and economically superior to imported fare has been increasingly strong over the past several years, but this outbreak has thrown a wrench in that. Suddenly, buying habits have changed so quickly that local farmers, grocers and restaurants are affected negatively.
Our goal in Cantaloupe Crisis Coverage is to prevent unnecessary backlash from the listeria outbreak. By presenting the facts from the perspectives of medicine, victims, farmers and grocers, we hope to inform the public about what they can do to remain safe from foodborne illness without destroying local economy. We will be a resource for learning how listeria works and staying safe.
We are doing this project for the Digital Media class in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Stay tuned!
posted by Dana Palmie at 10:14 AM
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