First Take

One of my co-workers wrote about this topic in his First Take, but I think it’s worth bringing back. Bobbi’s McDermott’s Yuma Ag & You column headlined “Taking one head of lettuce means area can’t be harvested,” published Jan. 6, made a real impact on me. I’ve never thought I could freely take a head of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower or romaine from the growing fields around us, but apparently some people have.

Ms. McDermott noted how that seemingly harmless act affects everybody. When a set of footprints is found in a field, a 5-foot circle is drawn and nothing around it can be harvested. Now imagine several footprints if people walked up and down! All that lost produce!

It’s all in the name of food safety. When people leave contaminants, as Ms. McDermott said, farmers must do what they have to do to give us the safest, freshest and highest quality possible.

We must take heed.