E. coli is Our Friend

E. coli lives in the intestines of cattle and other animals and typically is spread through contamination by fecal material. Brackett said the use of manure as a fertilizer for produce typically consumed raw, such as spinach, is not in keeping with good agricultural practices. "It is something we don't want to see," he told a food policy conference.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/15/D8K5IKUG0.html

I just saw an old farmer spreading manure as I was driving home last night on Highway 26. But he probably wasn't preparing for a spinach crop in the spring.

Escherichia coli (pronounced Escherichia coli) is the predominant bacterium in a healthy person's intestines and takes part in the digestive process. It is also by far the most likely culprit if you develop a urinary tract infection.

In a world made up only of smart people, all that spinach throughout the country that will end up in landfills - could be taken home, washed, cooked, and eaten with no deleterious effects.

One of my chemistry professors in college told me that during WWII when Americans were encouraged to have Victory Gardens and an emphasis was placed on eating spinach through the influence of a popular cartoon, doctors noticed an increase in cases of Rickets. My professor suggested that something in the spinach was believed to effect the absorption of calcium in children's diets.

I've seen no documentation of this, but I do know that in the spring when the green leafy vegetables are at their peak, patients who use the blood thinning agent, coumadin, often develop problems in controlling the "thinness" of their blood. And, calcium is a key player in the coagulation process.

There. Now you have more to worry about.