She says it was the mixing of contaminated and non-contaminated spinach, shipped nationwide, that caused the widespread 2006 outbreak.
Advocates of the local-food movement in the United States won an exemption from the new regulations for smaller growers who sell to local markets.
Industrial v. local food
Opposition to the industrial food system is one of the factors behind a growing local food movement. The number of markets where consumers can buy directly from small, local farmers has more than doubled in the last decade, to more than 6,000 nationwide.
Monika Blaumueller lives near one such market in Washington, D.C. "I have a lot of confidence in the food. I know that things are done in small batches. That makes it more sanitary."
She might feel safer but experts say local food carries the same risks. However, fewer people would be affected by an outbreak at a smaller-scale farmers' market than at a food factory.
Small farmers worried that rules intended for big corporations would squash the local food movement.
"A one-size-fits-all approach would have put small farmers and ranches out of business or prevented them from providing locally produced, healthy, fresh food to consumers who want it," says Susan Prolman, executive director of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
In an indication of how popular the movement has become, advocates won an exemption from the regulations for growers below a certain size who sell to local markets.
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2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27