By Kathleen Gillin
Twenty years ago, my daughter Rylee nearly died after eating spinach contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. She was only 9 years old. Sitting helplessly beside her hospital bed as she fought for her life was the most agonizing experience I have ever endured. Thankfully, she survived — but the health effects of that illness continue to impact her life to this day.
Because of that experience, I will always be a passionate advocate for food safety.
Recently, I read food safety attorney Bill Marler’s editorial, “Romaine Roulette,” in which he recounted the history of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to leafy greens and pointed to cattle operations as a likely source of contamination.
I agree with much of what Mr. Marler wrote. Dangerous pathogens do not originate in lettuce itself, and industries that raise livestock have a responsibility to prevent contamination of the environment and nearby food crops.
Bill Marler has done more than perhaps anyone else to force America’s food industries to take food safety seriously. His work has saved lives.
But there is another part of this story that deserves attention.
As part of my work as a food safety advocate, I serve as the Public Member of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA), which was formed in response to the devastating 2006 spinach outbreak that nearly took my daughter’s life. A few years after the LGMA was formed, their leadership reached out to invite families impacted by foodborne illness to California to meet growers, visit farms, and see firsthand the extensive food safety practices now required on leafy greens farms and verified through government audits.
What I saw changed my perspective. I met the people tasked with implementing food safety practices, including workers in the fields and packing operations, food safety specialists, auditors, and owners of family farms – people that care about producing a safe product and serve it to their own families. I saw an industry that had been forever changed by tragedy — one that understood the human cost of foodborne illness and was investing heavily in safer farming practices.
Since that first visit, I have learned much more about the leafy greens industry and its ongoing commitment to improving food safety. Is the system perfect? Sadly, no. Foodborne illness outbreaks still occur, and every outbreak is one too many. But what I have witnessed firsthand is an industry making continuous improvement, strengthening oversight, and enforcing safer production methods to reduce risk and protect consumers.
That’s why it is frustrating to see continued misinformation from many food safety advocates suggesting that leafy greens farmers do not test or treat irrigation water. They absolutely do. It is true that federal law does not universally require these practices. But, under the LGMA, measures to ensure the safety of water used in the farming of leafy greens are mandatory.
And water testing is only one example. Today, hundreds of science-based food safety practices are required under the LGMA framework. Because the LGMA represents members who produce over 90 percent of the leafy greens grown in the United States, water testing, buffer zones between animal operations, and other rigorous safety measures are already standard practice across the vast majority of the industry.
Bill Marler has spent his career advocating for safer food, and I respect that deeply. I only wish discussions about leafy greens safety more often recognized the substantial reforms and investments growers have made over the past two decades. I believe there is room in this conversation both to demand accountability and to recognize the real progress that has been made within the leafy greens industry since 2006.
Food safety should be a priority for all agriculture — not just leafy greens growers. This is especially true when it comes to cattle producers who, as Mr. Marler points out, absolutely must work in cooperation with their farming neighbors if we are to achieve real progress in preventing foodborne illness.
But I also believe something important happens when industries that invest millions of dollars in food safety improvements are recognized for those efforts. Why? Because recognition can create incentives. It can encourage others to adopt stronger standards, invest in prevention, and make food safety a central part of their culture. And that can save lives.
About the author: Kathleen Gillin is a food safety advocate, driven by a personal experience tied to the 2006 E. coli outbreak linked to spinach. She serves as the Public Member on the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement’s Board of Directors.
