By Josh Poling, Home Cafe and Marketplace
Friday, August 24th, 2012 1:00 PM CST
The question of the day has been why are we still serving cantaloupe in light of the recent salmonella outbreak. The answer is simple: we take pride in sourcing our ingredients. My cantaloupe comes from Need More Acres Farm owned by Nathan and Michelle Howell. I buy six cantaloupe a week from them and only them. The only reported infected cantaloupe came from ONE corporate farm in southern INDIANA. There have been reported cases of people infected in Kentucky, but they were once again consuming the cantaloupe from Indiana.
This not only serves as a lesson in the importance of knowing the source of your food, but also not making decisions based on a culture of fear. I have had several customers today tell me or my staff they don’t want to risk it. Nathan and Michelle Howell are my friends. In addition to running Western’s vineyard, his own personal farm, and a major organizer of the Community Farmer’s Market, Nathan is also a full time father and very good one as anyone who has witnessed his interaction with his children will tell you.
If I quit buying Nathans cantaloupe based one on outbreak in Indiana, I would be turning my back on the very food and people we believe in so much here at Home. So today, Nathan’s cantaloupe stays on my menu and I encourage you to try it as it is the best I have ever had.
We believe in local food and will continue to feature it on our menu.
For more information on the salmonella outbreak please read one of the articles below:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-08-21/salmonella-warning-cantaloupes/57188704/1?csp=34news
or
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120818/NEWS01/308180052?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1
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