California lettuce growers skip harvest amid cyclospora outbreak

A nationwide explosive diarrhea crisis that has left thousands clinging to their toilets and hospitalized others also seems to have another victim: lettuce growers in California.

Some like Larry Cox, who runs Coastline Family Farms in Salinas Valley, are trashing their lettuce crop and throwing the vegetables back into the soil, the Wall Street Journal reported. This week, Cox dumped 300,000 pounds of his romaine hearts.

The ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak has been linked to Taylor Farms, a California-based lettuce supplier.

Even though the source responsible has been “linked to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico and recalled by Taylor Farms de Mexico,” according to the FDA it’s still impacting Salinas Valley, a region with the nickname of “America’s Salad Bowl” and responsible for growing nearly half of the nation’s lettuce.

“It is incredibly demoralizing,” Cox said. “I would’ve been better off taking a vacation in the South of France than planting the crop.”

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by a parasite that transmits through contaminated food and water. It causes a range of unpleasant symptoms — including sudden, watery diarrhea, cramping, bloating, and fatigue.

Here’s the latest on the ‘explosive’ cyclosporiasis outbreak:

This year’s outbreak, which has affected at least 1,947 people across nine states, was linked to a Mexican facility under a California-based lettuce supplier. That has caused people, rightfully or wrongly, to be more wary of purchasing lettuce — and leave farmers like Cox stranded with unwanted lettuce.

Foot traffic, for instance, at salad-heavy chains such as Taco Bell or Chopt has fallen dramatically up to 21% in the year so far, the Journal reported.

Unit sales of fresh lettuce slipped 8.7% in much of July — more than 7.6 million pounds of lettuce — when compared with the prior year, according to data from consumer intelligence company NielsenIQ. Other produce also saw sale declines.

“Consumers aren’t sure what’s right anymore so, out of an abundance of caution, they’re just passing on everything,” said Joelle Mosso at Western Growers, a family farm trade group. She confirmed to the Journal that many growers in California are also plowing their crops back into the ground.

Max Teplitski, chief science officer for the International Fresh Produce Association, told the Journal that big disease outbreaks can dampen sales for years, such as with the 2006 E. Coli outbreak that affected spinach.

Some chains are desperately trying to revive demand. Taco Bell recently rolled out a string of steep discounts of lettuce-free items.

The consumer cutback has real consequences on the ground. Cox said sales of his produce, which he supplies to some of the country’s biggest restaurant chains and grocery store, are down 20% to 30%. Jobs for farmworkers have also been cut as a result.

Lettuce still is being harvested even if much of it ends up getting thrown away.

“You can’t afford to be downcast very long,” Cox told the Journal. “You better pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep pushing forward.”

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