They took the tomatoes out of every McDonald's sandwich in the nation as a preventative measure, according to the sign at my local McD's yesterday. AND YES I ATE AT MCDONALD'S SHUT UP it was hot out and I needed a treat.

Hi Kevin -- I may still read you from time to time for this type of posting, but I am one of the millions of very angry Hillary supporters who has stopped reading your blog because of your anti-Hillary rants and will probably vote for McCain in the fall. You are one of the better "progressive bloggers" (I stopped being able to stomach Yglesias, Americablog, dkos, and TMP months ago), but it's still too bad that you threw us under the bus.
HR

@HR

Bullshit. Anyone voting for McCain is an idiot. Anyone voting for McCain for spite is a super-idiot.

See what I mean? As if it's up to Hillary supporters to mend the breach.

Chris - I don't mind the occasional fast-food meal myself. It's just seeing 'McDonalds' and 'treat' in the same sentence that I don't understand.

HR - I've missed the part where Kevin's ever 'ranted' about anything.

"the FDA published a list of regions that are not suspected of having produced the contaminated tomatoes. These areas included California, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico."

Pretty much leaves Florida and Mexico. My money's on Florida.

It's a big move by the FDA. Is big tomato behind Obama?

HR,
I understand your points - had Obama lost I'm not sure that I would have come around to voting for Clinton but I can promise you that I would never vote for McCain in a zillion years. Never. I'd probably go Nader or something unless Clinton convinced me to come around in the next few months.

Seriously though, what does voting for McCain do for you? Wasn't part of the reason you wanted to elect Clinton so that we could tear down this Republican Party?

The supermarkets I visisted over the weekend had notices posted where the tomotoes used to be.

Both my spouse and myself were probably sickened by the roma tomatoes I had purchased previously. It was the mass media that informed us of the probable cause of our malady.

Okay...tomatoes. I bought fresh tomatoes in TX at the local farmers market. I washed them thoroughly and cut up and ate. Until there is some type of explanation as to why/what/where/
etc.

Kevin...how about talking about beef and So Korea.
Do they know something we don't know about our beef supply. Keep in mind that madcow disease does not show up for up to 8+ years. All one needs to do is take at look at Agriprocessors violations.....

Let's put it this way, I will not vote for a candidate anointed by the media -- it's dangerous for the country. McCain may also be a media darling but we'll have large majorities in the House and Senate that WILL keep him in line.

Obama is dangerous -- corrupt and a little too slick with the press. I don't trust the media to cover him well and that's my worry.

HR: You're embarrassing yourself. I like Hillary, always have, and although I've criticized some of her positions I've never come close to anything like an anti-Hillary rant. You're imagining things.

You're also imagining things if you think voting for McCain will somehow make you feel any better about Hillary's loss. Believe me, if you wake up on November 5 to the prospect of a McCain presidency that you helped abet, you'll be kicking yourself for a long, long time.

The tomato-Salmonella scare has been all over the news in the past week with warnings about what's safe and what isn't. Removing tomatoes altogether from store shelves is new, but it wouldn't be surprising to find stores tomatoless if you'd been following the earlier stories.

The Emergency Email Network is also useful for this sort of thing, in addition to its weather warnings; it's sent me several updates, including one this morning about the FDA asking stores not to sell the suspect types of tomatoes.

http://www.emergencyemail.org/

Salmonella infections can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, according to the statement. Young children, frail and elderly people and those with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk.

Hey, talk about coincidences! Last week I made myself a sandwich with some tomatoes, and that night I felt... well... exactly that. And I'm on medication that weakens my immune system. Should I contact someone? (I felt terrible for a night, have been fine since).

I'd be disappointed about the shortage if I could actually remember the last time I had a store-bought tomato that tasted like, well, a tomato. Shoot, I'd settle for one that didn't have the consistency of an overripe peach.

I've found that the smaller the tomato, the better they taste off-season. So, for a winter salad, I'll put-in some cherry tomatoes or even grape tomatoes.

In the summer, it's easy to find good-tasting tomatoes.

How does salmonella get into (or is it onto)tomatoes?

So that's why tomatoes vanished from my local McAlister's Deli. In Mississippi, no less.

I blame gay marriage, which has obviously precipitated a domino effect of "unnatural" plagues in California.

Next, I predict that young women will "tan" themselves with chemicals from a bottle, rather than basking in the sun's healing, healthy rays.

Telling me that this is about "feelings" or that I'm "embarrassing myself" is an example of the sort of sexism that I'm talking about.

This is about the policy of having the media in bed with the President -- remember, this is what got us into war.

Thanks, Kevin.

Can salmon be reciprocally infected by tomatoes?

I suggest people start their own Victory gardens (Surge gardens?)
There are some excellent tomato plants out there that thrive in containers, such as "Patio", "Sungold", "Sweet 100", etc.

Another benefit: the damn things don't need to be trucked hundreds of miles at $5.00 a gallon :)

Google is your friend.

Salmonella naturally infects tomato plants (through roots, flowers, cracks in tomato skin, etc.). To get this kind of outbreak it probably means cross-contamination in a common wash tank where conditions were favorable (too low of chlorine, optimal temperature, etc.). Or maybe it's some sort of super salmonella that lives in the plants and crosses to the next generation :(

One reason a Clinton supporter would vote for McCain is because McCain's militarism is more appealing than Obama's, and more important than any feminist outlook. There could be another reason a Clinton supporter would choose McCain over Obama or McKinney, though, and it is not because of a feminist sensibility.

valletta,

I've had a small garden for years. I've even saved seeds from my favorite grape tomatoes and replant those. I'm probably breaking some copyright law doing that, but I don't sell them so shove off Monsanto.

Unfortunately in MN my tomatoes won't be ripe until early August.

There are some excellent tomato plants out there that thrive in containers, such as "Patio", "Sungold", "Sweet 100", etc.

Any that thrive with only a couple hours of morning sun? (An east-facing balcony, sun rises behind an eight-story building, shines on the balcony for awhile once it rises above the building, then disappears over my roof around noon.)

duh,

How does salmonella get into (or is it onto)tomatoes?

In the case of Jack in the Box and lettuce they traced it back to deer poop on the lettuce.

Bon apetit!

And HR,

Don't let the door hit you on the you know what on the way out you bitter bitter person.

Good riddance.

Another reason a Clinton supporter would threaten to vote for McCain is that's a tactic at-play during the campaign: the threat of the winner NOT being able to count-on the loser's primary voters...

Well, now we're seeing HR following-through with the threat. I have no doubt that HR will pull the Obama lever in November, or HR was not a Democrat from the beginning and is just busting chops...

lame.waste.of.time.

How does salmonella get into (or is it onto)tomatoes?

poor sanitation facilities for workers
improper cleaning

These problems have always been around. But with the concentration of production resulting from the industrialization of agriculture, when something goes wrong it's guaranteed to go wrong on a huge scale.

Oh, and what Brojo said. If you vote for McCain because your feminist sensibilities are offended, you're not thinking clearly. (And no, that's not a sexist statement. The world is also full of men who fail to think clearly when their masculine sensibilities are offended.)

I think HR is a right-wing plant to make us all think that Clinton supporters will really vote for McCain. Beat that drum often enough and even people like Juan Cole will send out urgent missives telling everyone there is a groundswell of Clintonistas out to vote for McCain for spite.

Not so. First give-away: HR called Clinton "Hillary". True Clintonistas would call her Clinton or Senator Clinton. The ones who call her "Hillary" are not serious.

Ce ne sons pas des garcons serieux.

The world is also full of men who fail to think clearly when their masculine sensibilities are offended.)

Hey, I told you, it was COLD that day, so now we fight at dawn. You pick the weapons.

I agree with Carol. Been around the internets long enough to spot a fake. Not necessarily a right wing plant though, maybe just an attention seeker - turning up in a threat about salmonella, of all things.

I too smell a troll. Bye, HR.

Re: salmonella - my kid got it in Alice Waters' famous schoolyard garden, oh-so-organic. He was playing near the chicken coops. I had been fussing over washing his hands all day, every time he got into something nasty (we were at the park etc.). But I was tired and distracted and just forgot to think about chickens and salmonella. Also there was a homeless guy lurking around at the far end of the garden and I was trying to keep an eye on him. I didn't want to just leave - he wasn't hurting anybody - but I wanted to make sure he was behaving himself around my children.

My son left the chickens and sampled a few organic raspberries. Got sick that night. After five days of high fever & gastric horrors, he was hospitalized three days. We didn't know what the hell was wrong until the lab tests came back salmonella.

Chickens are trendy among yuppie organic food types but they do harbor salmonella. Even organic chickens. The pediatrician couldn't believe there were chickens in a school yard garden. What were they thinking?

Folks, the solution is, wash your produce. You can wash it in a solution of peroxide and water if you're super worried. Use google to find it - you can buy commercial products but I know there are formulas out there that are inexpensive and easy.

We've known for several years now that you have to scrub your cantaloupe with dish soap and water using a brush before cutting into it. Why? because salmonella lurks in all the crevices and crannies. You cut into it and the knife carries the bugs from the rind into the fruit's flesh. A couple of people died from this in California five years back.

I'm in chemotherapy (8th month and counting) so i'm supposed to watch out for this stuff. Well, cooked veg is easier for me to digest anyway so I'll just stick with that.

HR: Man that was classic concern trolling-- like McCain's feminist positions. He called hos wife a cunt as a form of tough love! Just wanted to shake up the electorate. Get the feelings of "some"out there. The hard working six pack types. . .

Obama is, by comparison, Gertrude Stein. ..

...there is a groundswell of Clintonistas out to vote for McCain for spite.

Not so.

Sure are a lot of 'em on the Hillary blogs. How many people constitute a "groundswell"? There are some polls too, I believe.

First give-away: HR called Clinton "Hillary". True Clintonistas would call her Clinton or Senator Clinton. The ones who call her "Hillary" are not serious.

Uh, wrong. The campaign itself referred to her by her first name, partly for the warm fuzzies and partly to distinguish her from, you know, Bill.

Most Clintonistas I've encountered (including moi) refer to her as "Hillary," especially in informal contexts.

Tripp: Hey, I told you, it was COLD that day,

In the steam room?

Pistols.

Leila,

Sorry to hear about the chemo. Best wishes for that.

Chances are most people know this but I'll repeat it - keeping ducks with hogs is a bad idea too. The bird flu infects the hogs, mutates, and infects humans. That is one reason the yearly flu strain tends to originate in Asia - they keep ducks and pigs close by.

Now chickens do pretty well with cattle. They don't cross-infect, and the chickens can eat the bugs attracted to the cow pies.

Still, like you said, people need to use good food hygiene.

Fuck it. I'm an Obama supporter, but I'm voting for McCain to spite the Hillary supporters who are voting for McCain to spite the Obama supporters.

That'll show 'em.

Re: food hygiene - you'd be surprised how many people don't know that live chickens (and their poop) carry salmonella. And I doubt more than one out of ten cantaloupe eaters scrubs the rind with soap and a brush before cutting in to the fruit.

If you buy it pre-cut at your local deli or produce counter, what guarantee do you have that *they* scrubbed the rind? Just saying.

I never knew about ducks and hogs and I thought I knew something... so thanks for that. (Not that I'll be raising either)

Yea that's right take your ball and go home HR. You know there's not a red c hairs difference between the positions of Obama and Clinton. And talk about obsessing, how in the world do you connect tomatos with the democratic primary?

how in the world do you connect tomatos with the democratic primary?

Tomato has been used as a sexist remark since at least WW II. Salmonella infected tomato is considered a veiled derogatory sexist remark about Sen. Clinton.

Swift Loris, the best tomatoes for areas that do not get full sun are small tomatoes like cherry tomatoes. The sungold, mentioned above, is a super-sweet, orange, cherry tomato that would work well but any small to medium tomato should work. The bigger the tomato the more sun (energy) is needed. Either way you will get lower yield with less sun but you can still get quite a few fresh tomatoes even with morning sun.

Conservatives don't get salmonella because they are tough and self-reliant.

Conservatives are salmonella.

You guys are so blind.

The tomatoes that will come back are all going to be genetic clones, made in a laboratory, designed to dispense prozac directly into us. Ketchup has been adulterated in this way for over 10 years now.

Wake up sheeple!

Hey Leila, I hope your son is feeling better, and I hope you get well soon too.

And thanks for the tip about the cantaloupe.

Tomatoes not being offered on salads and subs in suburban DC today.

Not so. First give-away: HR called Clinton "Hillary". True Clintonistas would call her Clinton or Senator Clinton. The ones who call her "Hillary" are not serious.

Where the hell did you get this? Every Clinton supporter I know calls her 'Hillary'.

FWIW, the commenters replying to HR on this thread are showing classic ObamaCult behavior. Changing the tone in Washington? I'll believe it when I see a change in the tone on the blogs, and that's certainly been slow to emerge. Believe me, Washington will be harder.

I started my open pollinated heirloom tomato seeds on March 15th and ended up with 30 plants. I gave about half away and have the rest in my veggie patch. 2/3 are sauce tomatoes -- a polish variety actually and 1/3 are a black tomato that is medium sized.

also in the bed is a nice selection of hot and sweet peppers and as of yesterday some butter beans that I hope germinate before the birds steal them like they did last year....

Telling me that this is about "feelings" or that I'm "embarrassing myself" is an example of the sort of sexism that I'm talking about.

I think the troll hand is being overplayed here... Not every reference to feelings is literal.

This is about the policy of having the media in bed with the President -- remember, this is what got us into war.

...But while we're being literal, why are you bringing sex into into this discussion? Just what are you trying to imply?

Any self-respecting support of Hillary that would even remotely consider, even the possibility of voting for the very thing that represents the antithesis of everything that Hillary supported is either delusional or dumber than a box of rocks.

I like Hillary, I really like Obama.

This had not one thing to do with sexism or genderism or any other -ism. It was politics and two campaigns and Obama won. I completely understand the Clinton supporters feelings, but frankly I'm surprised with their negative comments. She's been dead in the water for nearly 3 months and any situation that would have given her the nomination would have been shady, which was the LAST thing we needed.

HR, you are certainly entitled to be mad or disappointed and please share that with others. But to threaten that you'd vote for McCain, marginalizes anything else you say as just worthless.

I still have a button that I wore every day for months in 1992 "I'm For Hillary's Husband".

Telling me that this is about "feelings" or that I'm "embarrassing myself" is an example of the sort of sexism that I'm talking about.

Posted by: HR

how was kevin to guess you are a woman, h.r.? or should he just assume that because your're threatening to vote for mccain since your girl lost?

touchy, touchy.

your no-doubt sexist pal,
blake

the best tomatoes for areas that do not get full sun are small tomatoes like cherry tomatoes.

Thankee, Bill. Too late now to start them, I suppose, right?

Swift Loris -- it's not too late, depending upon what city you're in -- in really hot climates like Texas or Arizona Tomatoes are a spring crop. You should still be able to find plants at your local farmer's market, your local nursery or Whole Foods.

"Folks, the solution is, wash your produce. You can wash it in a solution of peroxide and water if you're super worried."

I would have thought this, too, but someone up-thread mentioned that salmonella can infect the fruit itself. I believe I read something about that in another context. That may not be the kind of contamination that has happened in this case, but relying on washing something to remove the risk of salmonella isn't necessarily reliable.

Most likely, the salmonella was planted on our crops by our nasty little illegal alien nemesis on the other side of the planet. They don't have any sanitary procedures, from oil to terrorism to nukes to society, etc. This is why I find I will have no choice but to vote for McCain. I want the best possible food to reach my familys table, period. There is no contention. No other candidate will give me this result.

Seek the advice of your local landscape/plant dealer. There are tomato plants that can be grown in indoor pots during the winter, even under grow lights (Yes, like the ones you get in High Times), but they don't taste as good once grown.

HR has the right idea. Vote American, or we will NEVER be able to farm our land and our crops EVER again. Obama will destroy America from the inside and the outside as is his intention and his purpose for running for office in the Democrats. We can all see this has already started. For my family, my friends, my farm, my crops, my life, my country, my furure, I, too, will vote for McCain.

With Obamas lackies taking aim at the food on Americas table as a weapon against us you can just imagine what kind of structure is supporting him from within the Democrats themselves. Fortunately, there hasn't been any major word yet on any other crops having prospective problems like this. Yet. Of course McCain is the right and only choice. There is no other.

The salmonella has spread to comments.

Why do you say salmonella has spread to comments?? They're all perfectly right, as I'm sure you know. Safety for the food we eat is the most important meal of the day! They're right to express their concern. I want a president who cares for the lives of our children. What's wrong with that? There's nothng wrong with that! Why can't they express their concern? I'm voting for McCain, too. Of course I am. I want my children to have a future life as should we all.

I'm with Debbie. Safety and health are main priorities for our food. That needs no explanation. I will also vote for McCain. Good post, Debbie.

People who value their children's lives would not vote for McCain. McCain wants to send your children to serve in W. Bush's war missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and he wants them to only eat corporate contaminated food.