FDA In the Field

A group most accustomed to regulating drugs produced in clean rooms is now venturing out to the field. they have issued draft regulations (to serve as a "baseline") for the growth and processing of tomatoes, leafy greens, and melons at

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/FruitsVegetablesJuices/FDAProduceSafetyActivities/ucm174086.htm.

Some things are common sense, like making sure workers wash their hands after using the restroom, and providing them with facilities. Wearing plastic aprons, gloves, sleeves, and hair-nets while harvesting tomatoes (I kid you not! They recommend it! ) would look a little odd, and be rather hot for the workers. Other guidelines, like making sure no wildlife (including amphibians and reptiles) wanders through the field, are rather crazy. You need toads to eat bugs, and you need snakes to minimize the rodents. Bats and birds will do as they will. Dust will blow through in dry weather, and mud will splash up in wet weather. All of these things are to be somehow minimized. I'm really glad I'm not a California lettuce grower. If a rabbit nibbles a leaf, and it poops nearby, you have to destroy part of your crop! I'm going to go weed, then pick tomatoes for our own consumption with dirty hands. No hand sanitizers and no gloves! My hair is not properly netted! I will brush off all kinds of insects and their excreta! Aargh. If Americans are really that immuno-compromised- grow food hydroponically for them. For the rest of us- let's grow as much as we can ourselves, and/or go to their site and comment over the next 90 days before they publish the final draft.