The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s blanket recommendation that people not eat fresh spinach didn’t seem to have much influence Thursday afternoon at Holcomb Farm.
Dozens of people were picking up their allotments of spinach and other fresh produce to take home to feed to their families.
Sure, they’d heard about the E. coli outbreak linked to spinach that has sickened more than 100 and killed at least one person in the past week. But they were also confident in the skill of Holcomb Farm’s staff to grow fruits and vegetables that were safe to eat.
“I know where it’s coming from — no cow manure, no bad water,” said SharenBaker of Hartford.
“I was so happy to see it here,” added Amy Watts of Windsor. “Knowing it’s from the farm, I know it’s fine — that there are no problems at all.”
Spinach is not a big crop in Connecticut, although lots of small farms grow a few rows to sell at farmers’ markets and roadside stands. Holcomb Farm grows about half an acre. And there’s little reason to suspect anything is wrong with that spinach, said F. Philip Prelli, the state’s commissioner of agriculture.
“People shouldn’t be afraid to eat the spinach they get from the farmers’ market,” Prelli said.
“Most of the produce grown in Connecticut is probably very safe,” added Frank Greene, director of the state Department of Consumer Protection’s division of food and standards.
Although the problem appears to be confined to spinach grown in California processed, bagged, then shipped across the country– the FDA has not distinguished between the processed spinach available in grocery stores and locally grown spinach.
But there’s a big difference, local growers and their customers say.
Kathy Caruso of Cromwell’s Upper Forty Farm expects no trouble selling the spinach she’s growing once she begins picking it in about three weeks.
“If I bring spinach and it’s fresh and people know it’s from my farm, it will just fly off my table,” said Caruso, who sells her produce at farmers’ markets in West Hartford and Cromwell. “It’s local.”
There have been a few questions about spinach and the FDA recommendation at Holcomb Farm, which has a community-supported agriculture program that allows members to buy a season’s worth of produce for a flat fee.
“It’s been a steady topic of conversation,” farm manager Sam Hammer said, “usually in reference, kind of jokingly, to ‘you don’t have to worry about this spinach’ and that kind of thing.”
The spinach available Thursday afternoon at Holcomb Farm was cut Thursday morning, rinsed and placed in bins.
“Here, I can point to the exact spot where they harvested it,” Hammer said. “It traveled about 100 yards to get to the barn. It’s a very transparent supply chain.”
Holcomb Farm also tests the water it used to rinse produce to ensure it is drinking water quality, Hammer said.
Still, there’s a small sign posted over the spinach at Holcomb farm: “You do not need to throw away this spinach. If you want to see where it is grown — Ask!”
Suzy Brinegar of Granby said Holcomb Farm’s organic practices give her “no reservations” about eating its spinach. She’s also got a practical reason for making sure spinach remains part of her family’s diet.
“I’ve finally got my kids eating spinach — I can’t stop now,” she said.
Contact David Owens at dowens@courant.com.
