Cranbury spinach festival a hit for the second time.
By: Emily Holody
Angie Cook may as well have been handing out free chocolate for all the cheerful, bustling adults and out-of-breath children who stopped at the spinach festival on Wednesday afternoon.
But, all she needed was a bright orange sign posted outside of the Cranbury School reading "Cranbury Spinach, Free Today" to attract dozens of people to the 10 bushels of spinach in the parking lot.
Ms. Cook initiated the spinach festival after the E. coli scare in September, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned the public not to buy any bagged spinach because of an infected batch that was causing E. coli bacteria outbreaks. The bacteria, which resulted in 204 infections and three deaths, was traced back to Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista, Calif., where infected cattle feces were found on one of its four ranches in Monterey and San Benito counties, according to the FDA.
After learning about the problem, she asked Kay Davidson of A.H. Lowe and Sons Farms on Plainsboro Road if she could buy the spinach and set up a farm stand to help their situation.
Ms. Davidson spoke to family members, who replied that they wanted to give the spinach away. When Ms. Cook approached them again this spring, the family said it would be happy to give away spinach again.
"We like to offer (our spinach) to our town," said Lori Davidson, also of A.H. Lowe and Sons Farms. She wants people to understand that the E. coli problem applied only to farms that use manure, which their family farm does not.
"Enjoy spinach. It’s very safe," she said.
Still, the A.H. Lowe and Sons Farms continues to suffer from the event. It has been forced to plow under two crops of spinach.
In addition, sleet from the nor’easter, which hit the area on April 15-16, put holes in much of their spinach, making it unable to be sold.
"Farming is changing, weather is changing. We’ve had a rough year, but we’ll survive," said Lori Davidson.
Hoards of women with their children as well as a handful of men gathered around the blue and yellow crates of spinach, packing handfuls into plastic bags.
"I think it’s really sweet," said Laurel Quinn.
"People see all these trucks go through town and people say, ‘Where can I get that?’ You can get it in bags at the supermarket, but it’s so much better fresh," said Ms. Cook.
"It’s great for kids to know it grows around here," said Ms. Quinn. "Eating local produce is good for the environment, too."
The children were not quite as happy about their parents’ zeal for spinach. Little girls squealed that they hate spinach. Allison Miezen, 14, said her mother sent her to pick up the spinach.
"I don’t like adult spinach, just baby spinach," she said.
The spinach festival lasted about 45 minutes, but Ms. Cook has many ideas for how it could grow in the future.
She would like to see the town celebrate crops grown here, and hopes the festival can grow to a point where locals can learn about and celebrate agriculture in their town and support their local farmers.
"We would love to continue at whatever capacity we can."