E.Coli Outbreaks: One More Reason to Grow Your Own

Make a free compost bins from pallets and baling twine.

A deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany has just been announced in the news, with scientists across Europe racing to find the source. E. coli exists naturally in the intestines of all animals, including human animals, but several strains of it can cause iarrhea and kidney damage severe enough to lead to death, especially for infants and toddlers, the elderly, and others with compromise health.

In years past, we heard about E.coli outbreaks primarily associated with contaminated meat, and the cause was usually poor factor slaughtering techniques and butchering hygiene. More frequently, however, we are hearing of E.Coli outbreaks from fresh, raw fruits and vegetables.

Since E.Coli is a bacteria that resides inside humans and other animals, how does it get into your cucumbers and strawberries? The answer is usually water--water infested with unprocessed manure, or simply unprocessed manure from livestock or sewage from humans that has been spread on fields or even sprayed on crops as fertilizer. Improper handling and packaging, with transmission from contaminated hands to the produce, can also cause E.coli to be present in fruits and vegetables, but it's highly unlikely that the unwashed hands of one fruit processing factory would cause a widespread outbreak of fatal strains of E.Coli.

Regulation of manure handling is quite strict for farmers who qualify for the National "Organic" program label of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to the Organic Trade Association, raw animal manure must be properly composted before use in a certified Organic farm, or applied raw to land at least 120 days prior to harvest to ensure that E.coli and other potential contaminants die out and decompose. Non-organic American farms, and certainly farms outside of the United States which are the origin of an increasing quantity of our supermarket produce, do not have to comply with this precaution.

Home composting of animal manure for your garden will kill off E.coli bacteria, according to a publication of the Colorado State University Extension, Preventing E.Coli from Garden to Plate. Just watch your compost pile temperature and be sure it reaches an inner core temp of 130 to 140 degrees for five days or more. For added protection, turn manure into your garden beds in the fall and let it decompose through the winter. 

Knowing how your food was grown and being able to exercise a high level of control over its safety is just one more excellent reason to grow your own. For more about composting and to learn how to ensure your compost pile temperature stays high, check out Stu Campbell's classic volume Let It Rot, or Nicky Scott's book Composting: An Easy Household Guide, published by Vermont's own eco-minded publishing house, Chelsea Green.

Just skip buying the expensive garden-catalog compost bins -- some free pallets from your local transfer station and some leftover baling twine will do the job just fine.