Rat lungworm has a ground zero, Puna.

[MarkD]

Things are getting worse for Hawaii on the PR front. April 14 article in SF Chronicle:

"Health officials in tourist-friendly Hawaii are defending themselves from criticism that they have for years downplayed the severity of a rare, brain-invading parasite that has infected dozens on the islands, including a San Francisco couple stricken by the disease on a recent honeymoon....

Susan Jarvi, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, started looking into the disease more than five years ago and said the state is over a decade late in alerting the community....“It appears to me that they’ve been trying to sweep this under the rug for a number of years now,” Jarvi said. “I would guess they don’t want to hurt the tourism industry.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/articl...o-12724371

Earlier in this topic, a person who expressed concerns about the role of organic farming in this problem was told by another commentator that it is "sheer ignorance" that organic farming poses more of a risk here. The "sheer ignorance" comment is flatly wrong. Organic farming is significantly more susceptible for contaminants.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/orga...tudy-finds

This does not mean that conscientious organic farmers cannot meet the same safety level as corporate farming. But the nature of organic farming, with no (or far less) input of commercial herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers and often a permaculture/biodiversity environment, means a greater likelihood of contamination. The organic farmer faces a big challenge here. Organic farming is also more likely to involve small scale farmers. More small farmers (as opposed to fewer monoculture operations) means a greater chance of deviation from agreed-upon agricultural practices.

Would not advise buying any more avocado/sprouts/lettuce sandwiches from roadside stands.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

The "sheer ignorance" comment is flatly wrong.

CNS and the Media Research Center are probably not the best sources of objective, reliable information. Here are some comments about them as a source of information:

* selective use of evidence.
* "False equivalence is at the very root of MRC’s beliefs."
The president of Media Research also suggested on national TV U.S. President Barack Obama looks like a "skinny ghetto crackhead."

They included this quote from the original researcher on which they based their article:

But Diez-Gonzalez cautioned that his study does not show organic produce to be a higher risk food choice. "What the data is telling organic agriculture is there is some room for improvement," Diez-Gonzalez said.

"I don't think we need to be more concerned about organic vegetables. Based on the epidemiological evidence, we can say that both organic and conventional vegetables would pose the same [food borne pathogen] risk for consumers," he added.

And with that as the basis of their information, CNS went on to write a scare piece starting with the title:
Organic Food Has 'Significantly Higher' Contamination, Study Finds

“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe… What we believe determines what we take to be true.” -David Bohm

[MarkD]

Re HOTPE comments:

Your information does not address the question as to whether organic farming is more susceptible to contamination from various natural sources (salmonella, e. coli, rat lungworm, etc.). Suggest we stick to the specific issue at hand.

You are implying that the extensive use of commercial pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer offers no advantage here. The whole point of organic farming is to grow food in a more natural environment. This inevitably--and very unfortunately--means the crops will be subject to higher levels of contamination from natural sources. Rat lungworm, although most likely not indigenous to Hawaii, is nonetheless natural.

The CDC's website on food borne illness is just one of many sources that will provide some enlightenment and education.

https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/attr...-2008.html

(In the natural world, reality is NOT what we take to be true or what we hope to be true. Reality is demonstrated science.)

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Your information does not address the question as to whether organic farming is more susceptible to contamination

From your link:
But Diez-Gonzalez cautioned that his study does not show organic produce to be a higher risk food choice. (or more susceptible to contamination)

You are implying that the extensive use of commercial pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer offers no advantage here.

From your link:
Based on the epidemiological evidence, we can say that both organic and conventional vegetables would pose the same [food borne pathogen] risk for consumers (or one offers no advantage over the other)

If you read the article at your link, the incidence of e. coli cited is traced to the use of cow manure as a fertilizer, not because conventional chemical applications reduce e. coli in the environment. Unless rat lungworm is discovered in cow manure, there is nothing in the article that would indicate a link between rat lungworm and organic food. Nothing.

I agree with you, reality is demonstrated science.

“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe… What we believe determines what we take to be true.” -David Bohm

[kalakoa]

This does not mean that conscientious organic farmers cannot meet the same safety level as corporate farming.

Check the "safety level" of our corporate food production:

https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/outbreaks.html

https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks.html

implying that the extensive use of commercial pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer offers no advantage here

Note that many of these outbreaks don't happen "in the field", but later during "processing". While it's nice that CDC reports on the incidents, our money would be better spent on stricter inspections to avoid the contamination in the first place.

[leilanidude]

Check the "safety level" of our corporate food production
------------
We have no idea if most organic products are safe as they do not enter the large distribution centers as often and therefore are never tested.

[kalakoa]

We have no idea if most organic products are safe

1; Hyper-local supply chain is subject to a different type of accountability.
2; Organic products are a choice, nobody is forcing people to consume them or not.

therefore are never tested

Point being: testing only catches these things after they're in the wild, usually spread across several states. For all the emphasis on "certified-facility-permit-license-inspection", I would expect contaminated products not to leave the factory. Especially since the compliance costs are passed along to me, the consumer.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

We have no idea if most organic products are safe as they... are never tested.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most if not all rat lungworm cases on Big Island And Maui that have been traced to local produce grown in Puna & Hana, both areas without a commercial farm. Therefore it's not possible to compare the presence or absence of rat lungworm from commercially grown produce in those areas to the organic produce grown in the same area.

Most commercial farming operations are in areas without the presence of rat lungworm. So:

Is commercial produce less likely than local Hawaii produce to contain traces of rat lungworm? Yes, but it's less likely because there is no rat lungworm to be found at or near those commercial farms. Not because of production methods or inspection practices.

Would an organic lettuce farm in the Salinas Valley be any more likely to harbor rat lungworm parasites than a neighboring commercial lettuce farm? No, because there are no rat lungworm parasites in the Salinas Valley that we know of.

You cannot make a broad indictment against all organic farms based on the limited sample area of Hana, Maui and Puna, because you have no commercial farms to compare them to.



“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe… What we believe determines what we take to be true.” -David Bohm

[leilanidude]

You cannot make a broad indictment against all organic farms based on the limited sample area of Hana, Maui and Puna, because you have no commercial farms to compare them to.
-------------
If they are selling the produce, they are a "commercial farm".

[alaskyn66]

Couldn't they make seeds that are slug resistant. You can still grow organic with gmo produce..

That's sounds a lot better than having worms tunneling around the brain.