Vegetables

Delaware County is taking from the bad guys to give to the good guys. State-of-the-art equipment once used to grow marijuana will soon be used to grow vegetables and herbs in Philadelphia, G. Michael Green, Delaware County's district attorney, said Tuesday. The equipment, seized in a Chester drug bust, will be donated to Cheyney University and the Partnership CDC, of West Philadelphia. It will expand the Urban Food Lab at the Partnership CDC's facility at 4020 Market St., Philadelphia.

Eve Minson had challenging careers in advertising and education, but what she loved more than anything else was working the soil. Now, at 53, she makes her living - in the most holistic sense of the word - growing vegetables, flowers, and herbs on a rented swath of heaven that she calls Just One Seed, a field of barely 1 1/2 acres in rural upper Bucks County. Her equally enterprising neighbors, Marc and Joanna Michini, raise hogs, lambs, chickens, turkeys, and rabbits on another rented parcel carved from the 120-acre Come Along Farm, about a mile from the Delaware River in Tinicum Township.

Libby Goldstein can't stand the "3-H's" - hazy, hot, humid - for even one more summer. And quite frankly - which, quite frankly, is all this firecracker can be - she's sick of the politics. So after 35 years of intimate involvement, Goldstein has retired from the Southwark/Queen Village Community Garden at Third and Christian Streets, which she founded in 1976. Back then, community gardens were a political act, more about feeding the poor than growing heirloom tomatoes. Unlike hundreds of other gardens from that era, this one survives and thrives - in large measure because of Goldstein, who is both revered as icon and mentor and remembered as "pot-stirrer" and "pain in the a--. " Now, Miss All-of-the-Above has given up her vegetable plot, though not her key to the gate.

BERLIN - Cucumbers were back on the radar of German health authorities Wednesday as the possible cause of an E. coli outbreak in Europe that has killed at least 26 people and sickened more than 2,700. Two weeks ago, investigators blamed cucumbers from Spain for the deadly outbreak and then later ruled them out as the source. Then, the focus shifted to sprouts from northern Germany, but none that were tested turned out to be contaminated with the bacterium strain blamed for the outbreak.

One in an occasional series on the demand for locally grown food and its impact on our region. A decade ago, it was de rigueur to augment the description of a dish on a restaurant menu with the name of the farm that provided the precious ingredients. But when Wendy's (yes, the burger chain) declares it has followed "the farm-to-table philosophy from the get-go," you know the food movement has shifted from its core. We've gone way beyond farm-to-table. Now it's not good enough for a chef to buy from a local farm.

LONDON - Health experts say time is running out for German investigators to find the source of the world's deadliest E. coli outbreak, and some have been surprised - even shocked - at lapses in the German investigation. German health officials are still looking for the cause of the outbreak that began May 2. So far, the super-toxic strain of E. coli has killed 24 people, infected over 2,400 and left hundreds hospitalized with a serious complication that can lead to kidney failure. New cases are still being reported every day - 94 more in Germany yesterday.

BERLIN - Schools have pulled raw vegetables from menus, piles of cucumbers sit untouched on shop shelves, and farmers say they are losing millions. As scientists scramble to find the source of an E. coli outbreak linked to raw vegetables that has killed 18 in Europe and sickened nearly 2,000, consumers are swearing off lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes just in case. "Cook it or don't eat it," Hamburg kidney specialist Rolf Stahl said at a news conference Friday. "That's my personal recommendation.

LONDON - Scientists yesterday blamed Europe's worst recorded food-poisoning outbreak on a "super-toxic" strain of E. coli bacteria that may be brand new. But while suspicion has fallen on raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce as the source of the germ, researchers have been unable to pinpoint the food responsible for the frightening illness, which has killed at least 18 people, sickened more than 1,600 and spread to least 10 European countries. An alarming number of victims - about 500 - have developed kidney complications that can be deadly.

WASHINGTON - There's a new U.S. symbol for healthful eating: The Agriculture Department unveiled "My Plate" on Thursday, abandoning the food pyramid that had guided many Americans but merely confused others. The new guide is divided into four different-sized quadrants, with fruits and vegetables taking up half the space and grains and protein making up the other half. The vegetables and grains portions are the largest of the four. Gone are the old pyramid's references to sugars, fats, or oils.

Growing up, I firmly believed two things. First, I would one day be the starting power forward for the Philadelphia 76ers. Second, vegetables are bad. As I've gotten older, I've realized I lack both the height and the array of post moves to make it as an NBA starter. But the years have only affirmed my instincts about vegetables. The herbivore camp will point to the various health benefits of consuming leaves, stems, and roots. But these pale compared with the emotional, physical, and monetary costs.