Colorado cantaloupe

Growers mobilize to protect brand, ensure safety

Even though last fall’s deadly listeria outbreak in cantaloupe was traced to a grower 90 miles away in Holly, Colo., farmers in Rocky Ford, Colo., are responding as if it had happened in their own backyard.

When the contamination occurred, the season was about wrapping up for Rocky Ford growers. The outbreak was later traced to machinery and pooled waters that had developed in a packing shed at Holly-based Jensen Farms, which sold the melons under the label, “Colorado Fresh-Rocky Ford-Cantaloupe.”

As the numbers of those sickened and dying grew – 146 ill, 30 dead, one miscarriage – the Rocky Ford growers knew that the world as they had known it had changed.

“Right here in Rocky Ford, we have a 120-year history of not having a food safety problem,” said Paul Casper, a partner-owner at Rocky Ford’s Lusk Farms and the fourth generation of his family to grow cantaloupe there. “This issue happened 90 miles away from us. We got branded for something we didn’t do, but have to deal with.”

There are only around 25-30 melon growers in Rocky Ford. Planning ahead, many scaled back production of melons for this year’s growing season in anticipation of reduced demand.  Probably 75 percent of the approximately 2,000 acres normally reserved for cantaloupe production was shelved this year.

“There have been some guys who are no longer producing, and a couple of guys decided to retire or do something else,” said Mike Bartolo, a vegetable crop specialist with Colorado State University’s Arkansas Valley Research Center. “In the entire valley, we’re a couple of thousand acres (of cantaloupe) grown. That’s going to be more down into the hundreds now.”

Strength – and safety – in numbers
A few months ago, Rocky Ford growers formed a new Rocky Ford Growers Association and trademarked the “Rocky Ford Cantaloupe” name so that only those who adhere to their standards can use it. Membership is limited to growers in parts of Otero and Crowley counties.

“Anybody who belongs to this organization and is going to market through this organization is going to have to comply with some definitive guidelines as far as food safety and handling,” Bartolo said, noting that new training, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification and twice-yearly audits by state ag inspectors will be part of that.

“They’re going to hit every potential aspect of it and make sure all of the bases are covered.”

The growers have been participating in training and adopting standard cleaning and cooling practices – the point at which the Jensen Farms outbreak was determined to have occurred. They’re also adopting computerized traceability systems and formalizing best practices – all to make sure that a repeat of last fall doesn’t happen on their watch, Casper said. And if it should, melons will be traced and removed from commerce quickly.

They’re contracting with Leaftrack, a company out of Middleton, to implement bar codes for traceability and QR codes for transparency.

“We will be labeling every case-slash-melon,” Casper said. “Labels will also have a QR code on them, which (consumers) will be able to pull up (with a Smartphone and see) the individual farm, when it was picked, and see everything that happened from inception of the melon to the day they buy it.”

Jenni Adams, Leaftrack director of operations, said the program is designed to instill consumer confidence.

“With the QR code, when the end consumers scans it, it will take them to a landing page,” she said. “The landing page will pretty much have the ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food.’ It will give the history of the farmer, what food safety measures they are taking for their farm, the transportation of the product, temperatures of the field … it can go on many levels depending on what the farmer wants to show.”

According to Michael Hirakata, of Hirakata Farms in Rocky Ford, it’s the right thing for him and his colleagues to do.

“It’s going to be a substantial time input, but we’re going to really try to keep our operations as transparent as possible,” Hirakata said. “As soon as we get our tools down here, we’ll start tracking until it reaches the store, so you’ll have a full history of that melon until it hits the shelf.”

The growers are optimistic that the public will understand and appreciate what they are trying to do. And while they don’t expect sales to return to normal for several years yet, they’re hopeful that this growing season will see some recovery.

“It took us 120 years to build this, and I think it’s made us stronger,” said Casper. “I think the people are more aware of what’s going on now.

“We are very proud of what we have done not only to save our industry here in the valley, but to do all these things to insure that this doesn’t ever happen again.”

Nationwide commitment
Meanwhile industry leaders from across the country continue to meet in weekly webinars to develop new cantaloupe safety guidance. California’s cantaloupe industry has approved a marketing order and is laying the steps for informational audits to begin this season.

“I think everybody is coming together nationwide to come up with a very definitive set of standards … and make sure that everyone is consistent,” Bartolo said. “That’s one of the premises of this organization, that in order to be Rocky Ford, there’s going to be some weight behind what that means. And that is going to obviously include state-of-the-art safety and handling practices.”

                                                                                                                   –By Kathy Gibbons, Editorial Director

Photos:

Fourth-generation farmer Paul W. Casper with son Dalton in a field that was being planted with Rocky Ford cantaloupes. (Courtesy Paul Casper)

Cantaloupe seeds are planted at the Hirakata Farm in Rocky Ford in mid April. (Courtesy Colorado Department of Agriculture)

 

 


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