Growing concerns over the cyclospora parasite are spurring more food shoppers to buy local.
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That means farmers like Nicole Reese, the founder of Kinship Gardens in Beltsville, Maryland, are seeing more customers.
“When you know where your food comes from, then you don’t have to worry,” Reese told WTOP. “When it comes to the parasite, if you get your food local, then you don’t have to worry.”
The microscopic parasite can cause cyclosporiasis, which commonly causes watery and sometimes explosive diarrhea.
A record number of cases have been reported in more than 30 states, some hit harder than others.
In five states — Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia — the outbreak has been traced to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell. The Food and Drug Administration is working with the supplier to determine if more potentially contaminated lettuce remains on the market, the CDC said.
Food safety experts, in the meantime, have been encouraging shoppers to get their produce from farmers markets and through other locally focused vendors.
“There are so many resources in this area that you don’t really have to go to the grocery store,” Reese said.
Kinship Gardens sells food directly to customers. It also works with The People’s Market, which delivers food grown in the D.C. area to customers’ homes and sells produce at area farmers markets.
Its owner, Brandon Starkes, said the business has also had a lot of orders this week.
“Because we work with small, local and regional farms, it’s just not a concern of ours,” Starkes said of cyclospora. “We know the farmers, we know how they handle food.”
In addition to its weekly deliveries to subscribers, The People’s Market sells local produce at area farmers markets. On Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., it will be at the Black + Forth market at 2201 Channing Street in Northeast D.C.
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