[compost_tea] Re: Re: NOP pr....

From: Kirk Leonard <kirk_at_oregonatural.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 12:09:20 -0700
Hoo yah!  Looks like an advance piece for another USNOP run on bashing
compost tea... Conveniently, Scheuerell associates an "increase" in food
contamination with manure and compost tea.  Huh?  Any increase I've heard
about was from contaminated ditch water or piss-poor handling/processing
practices.  Compost tea has never been reported to cause food contamination,
and to my knowledge, neither has manure (except in ditch water used by
stupid growers).

I hope someone here can attend this event and give us a take on what
transpired.

Thanks Jeff.  Good info.

Kirk

Some totally unsubstantiated and potentially irresponsible scuttlebutt on
this:  (And I trust Doc E doesn't mind my relating a little story here.)
Scheuerell was going to be a grad student under Doc E, but internal U
politics intervened and that didn't happen.  So OSU set up sort of a
yin-yang on compost tea, which USDA has picked up on (being a major OSU
funder).  Following the money, I think Scheuerell's looking for USDA money,
not a quid pro quo but effectively keeping ACT in limbo, like Millner having
to keep compost dangers in front of them to preserve Beltsville... Could be
a wild speculation but there's a pattern happening here...

USNOP may have stymied "aged" manures for now BUT THEY WILL NOT STOP COMPOST
TEA!  I hope there are some USDA lurkers here.  This crap is not defensible
but if they think it is they should speak up.  Steve S?

If there is a USDA person here, I would still like to know why the raw
manure pathogen table was attached to CTTF report since any manure and
compost tea are absolutely different.  And how was it ever determined that
compost tea was raw manure?

> Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 10:10:28 -0800
> From: "Jeff Lowenfels" <jeff_at_gardener.com>
> Subject: Re:  NOP pr....

> PRESS RELEASE
> For immediate release

> Contact: Amy Steigman
> American Phytopathological Society
> Phone: +1.651.454.7250
> Web: http://www.apsnet.org/meetings/2004/media.htm
> E-mail: mailto:asteigman_at_scisoc.org

> Keeping your peas and carrots safe to eat
> Plant pathologists present research on food safety at APS Annual Meeting
in Anaheim,
California

> St. Paul, MN (June 8, 2004) - Recent advances in food safety research are
enabling
plant pathologists to gain insight into how dangerous human pathogens, such
as
strains of E.coli and Salmonella, can survive on fresh fruits and vegetables
and what can be done to control future outbreaks.

> According to Steve Scheuerell, faculty research associate at Oregon State
University's
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, there has been an increase in
reported
human disease outbreaks associated with fresh produce over the last couple
decades.
"When an outbreak occurs, most of the infected produce has already been
consumed,"
said Scheuerell. "Usually recalls won't help. This is why prevention is key
to
keeping food safe," he said.

[snip]

> "On the domestic front, the National Organic Program has taken the lead in
implementing
proactive measures to prevent potential contamination of fresh produce with
human
pathogens," Scheuerell said. Examples include mandated pre-harvest intervals
for the application of manure and proposed quality assurance testing
regulations
for compost tea regulations (a brew of compost with water used as a
biocontrol
agent or fertilizer). "Using techniques developed by plant pathologists,
scientists
are just beginning to understand how human pathogens colonize leaf surfaces,
and how their survival can be influenced by manipulating leaf surface
microflora
and environmental conditions," he said.

> Plant pathologists from across the country will present more on this topic
during
the Food Safety as Influenced by Phyllosphere Microflora symposium at the
APS
Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif., July 31 -  August 4, 2004. The food
safety
symposium will be held Tuesday, August 3, 2004 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif. Members of the media are invited
to
attend annual meeting events; complimentary registration is available.

> The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is a non-profit, professional
scientific
organization dedicated to the study and management of plant diseases, with
5,000
members worldwide.

> -30- <




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Received on Wed Jun 09 2004 - 17:01:27 EDT

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