[compost_tea] 2 per cent question on compost

From: chris reid <reidchris_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2004 07:37:40 -0500

Frank Teuton said:

I hope you are not saying that compost made according to process standards
will have thriving pathogen populations in 2% of the cases and that's not a
big deal...

I especially hope you are not saying that 2% of the compost used to make
compost tea has thriving pathogen populations and that's not a big deal.

If 2% of the population got food borne illnesses, that would 6 million
people in the US, or 600,000 Canadians....and most of them would indeed
think of it as a big deal.

So how about putting this all a bit more clearly and in proper perspective,
ie, just what 2 % of which composting process are we really talking about
here?


My comment:

First of all, would not the 60 day rule about applying tea make this food
poisoning issue a red herring? I don't think that is the correct scenario
to posit here. Two per cent pathogen population is not the same as 2 per
cent food poisoning.

I would like to see the focus and path forward center on the precautionary
principle, rather than on Risk Roulette.

I find it useful to keep in mind that taking steps to overwhelm pathogens in
such a way that we can't see them in our microscopes or our tests (at least
on the day we test for them) is comforting in the short run, but in the
longer term, it brings us drug resistant pathogenic E coli, Streptococcus
aureus that requires four different drugs to even *think* about getting it
under control -- so there's possibly no free lunch here.

So what are we willing to do in order to be able to use such a tool? Does it
have to act like a chemical but not be a chemical? Should it be alive but
act dead?

Testing is fine as far as it goes with a biological amendment measured at a
given point in time. There is a large amount of assumption on how that
material will be handled in order to believe that if it tests a certain way,
it "is" that way. We do the best we can with tests, but on what experience
is the tolerance level based?

Or are we using a short-term mentality (no germs NOW) that gives way to a
long-term nightmare (supergerms)? I don't know the answer, and don't want
to substitute a belief system or attitude one way or the other for careful
thinking and as many facts as can be assembled.

Chris Reid




 
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Received on Fri Mar 05 2004 - 11:05:36 EST

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