In the wake of the ongoing salmonella outbreak associated with eggs, CNN Newsroom today ran a series of feature stories on food safety over a five-hour period. As part of this coverage, the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) was highlighted as an example of one industry's proactive response to minimizing foodborne illness outbreaks and protecting public health.
In multiple spots over the course of its five-hour morning news programming, CNN portrayed the LGMA as "a success story on how our food has been made safer" noting that in the aftermath of a major foodborne illness outbreak a few years back, "leafy greens farmers turned to the experts who had the most power to bring about change ?? ?C themselves."
"We feel we have the responsibility of providing a safe product," said leafy greens farmer Jess Quinlan who was interviewed as part of the CNN coverage. "Not only do we have this responsibility, but we have a moral obligation to provide a safe product."
Also interviewed for the piece were LGMA CEO Scott Horsfall and Steve Thomas, who leads the team of government auditors charged with inspecting leafy greens farms under the LGMA's food safety system.
CNN's Dan Simon, who reported live from a Salinas-area leafy greens farm throughout the morning, repeatedly referenced the proactive nature of the LGMA explaining that leafy greens farmers had asked for government oversight through the public-private partnership formed three years ago under the LGMA. He explained that companies operating under the LGMA agreed on a set of rigorous food safety standards and then asked to be inspected by government auditors. The LGMA was offered as a model program that is being considered for national implementation and could be applied to other industries.
"It is tremendously gratifying to see the California leafy greens industry finally being recognized for its work in acting to implement this program by a major news network," said LGMA CEO Horsfall. "The LGMA is, in fact, working to create a cultural change when it comes to food safety and the members deserve to be recognized for the work they have done."
Horsfall noted that it is also very important for consumers to know about what is being done to protect the food supply so they can buy leafy greens products with confidence. Horsfall explained that recent public opinion research shows a very high level of support among consumers for the LGMA food safety model.
"In a survey conducted in April, we found that 80 percent of consumers had a favorable opinion of the LGMA when provided a description of the program which involves a stringent set of food safety practices on the farm verified by mandatory government inspections," said Horsfall. "The survey also found that when it comes to food safety issues, consumers have a high level of confidence in farmers and government agencies such as USDA and FDA.
The LGMA public opinion survey, conducted in April of 2010 among 800 consumers nationwide, also found that 86 percent of consumers stated that farmers and food processors should work together with government agencies in setting food safety regulations.
"There is an overwhelming industry commitment to the LGMA with 99 percent of the leafy greens produced in California now subjected to mandatory government food safety inspections," said Horsfall. "The LGMA has been in place since 2007 and we believe our approach can serve as a strong model for a national leafy greens food safety program."
Horsfall noted that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Salinas last week to visit a leafy greens farm and observe an LGMA government field audit.
"The LGMA represents a strong collaboration between government and farm communities to protect public health," concluded Horsfall. "This is something which is important for consumers, regulators and the trade to know and this kind of media coverage will go a long way in helping us to communicate all the leafy greens industry is doing to produce a safe product."
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