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Download large images by clicking on thumbnails
Photo credits:
NAIP 2005 - National Agriculture Imagery Program 2005
Lighthawk 2008 -Jitze Couperus/Lighthawk 2008
Piled
Trees p. 1 top photo of Addendum
Piles of dead trees lie in rows along parts
of the Salinas River, where farmers have been pressured by shippers and
buyers to remove habitat. Trees, grasses and bushes can effectively filter
dust- and water-borne pathogens and lower the risk of food contamination.
Tractor Prints
p. 1 bottom photo of Addendum
Farmers are reporting increasing pressure to remove everything (such
as the trees shown above) that might attract wildlife to fields of leafy
greens, and many other crops. Environmental regulations are ignored, as
is the fact that non-crop vegetation is beneficial for food safety.
NAIP 2005 p.2 top photo
of Addendum
The red lines in the photos immediately above and below indicate the same
area at two different points in time. The top photo was taken in 2005
before the 2006 E. coli 0157 spinach contamination event that
catalyzed increased pressure to remove habitat. The bottom photo was shot
in 2008. Given that ninety to ninety-five percent of California’s
riparian habitat was historically destroyed, the little that remains is
all the more valuable. On average, seventy-five percent of wildlife species
use riparian areas at some point in their lifecycle.
Lighthawk
2008 p.2 middle photo of Addendum
When the 2008 aerial photo above is examined closely, piles of wood
like the ones below can be seen to have been pushed back along the edge
of the existing vegetation. These trees only months ago formed a mature
multi-layered diverse forest that supported insect-eating songbirds, rodent-eating
hawks, and other wildlife.
NAIP 2005 p. 4 top photo of Addendum
Tree lines that served as windbreaks and habitat for beneficial insects
and rodent-eating raptors in the past are rapidly being removed because
of the unfounded fear that native birds are significant vectors of E.
coli 0157. The top photo was taken in 2005 and the following two
bottom photos were taken in 2008.
Lighthawk 2008 middle
photo of Addendum
Fence in
Salinas River Floodplain 2008 of Addendum
This fence in the Salinas River floodplain interferes with the movement
of wide-ranging wildlife between important water sources and nearby uplands.
When fencing is used, it should surround the perimeter of the crop, not
the border of the property.
Rodent Station 2008 bottom photo of Addendum
Depending on the requirements of the food safety auditor, farmers
are made to deploy either poison bait or traps in pvc stations like this
one shown here. Small wildlife have not been found to be vectors of E.
coli 0157; rather there is a risk of their being inadvertently collected
during harvesting and ultimately bagged (wholly or in parts) with processed
leafy greens. This is a difficulty with harvest techniques, not a life
and death concern for humans.
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