The nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak has forced some American farmers to throw out their entire lettuce crops, according to a report.One such farmer in California’s Salinas Valley told the Wall Steet Journal this week that he had to chop up 300,000 pounds of romaine hearts and plow it back into the soil.This came with no evidence that his crops were infected with the parasite causing explosive diarrhea that has sickened thousands of people in nearly every state.WHITE HOUSE ADDRESSES GROWING PARASITE OUTBREAK AFTER MORE THAN 400 AMERICANS SICKENEDA crop of lettuce is watered in Bakersfield, California in 2021.(Bloomberg via Getty Images)Cox’s Coastline Family Farms supplies major grocery stores and top restaurants around the country, but the outbreak has lowered the demand for his greens by as much as 30%, he said."It is incredibly demoralizing," Cox told the Journal.
"I would’ve been better off taking a vacation in the South of France than planting the crop."The region is known as "America’s Salad Bowl" and supplies the country with nearly half of its lettuce.CYCLOSPORA OUTBREAK: IS IT STILL SAFE TO EAT AT RESTAURANTS? HERE'S WHAT TO KNOWStill, he’s optimistic about the next harvest."You can’t afford to be downcast very long.You better pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep pushing forward," he explained.Although the outbreak has been linked to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico recalled by California-based Taylor Farms — the country’s largest lettuce supplier --- it’s affected the entire lettuce industry as Americans worry.An undated microscope photo shows Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts in a fresh stool sample prepared with a formalin solution and stained with safranin.
(CDC via AP)CRUISE SHIP HIT WITH THIRD STOMACH ILLNESS OUTBREAK IN TWO MONTHS, REVIEW UNDERWAY"Consumers aren’t sure what’s right anymore so, out of an abundance of caution, they’re just passing on everything," Joelle Mosso, a food scientist at family farm trade g...