EU, Russia in poisonous vegetable row over costly ban

{"s" : "OMXR.EX,^REURTRUSD","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} Christian Spillmann, 17:58, Wednesday 22 June 2011

The EU and Russia (EUREX: OMXR.EX - news) locked horns Wednesday over Moscow's costly ban on European vegetables with Brussels announcing an imminent end to the embargo that was swiftly denied by Russia.

Russia's three-week old ban on EU vegetables due to fears of contamination from Germany's deadly E.coli outbreak would be lifted "this week, or even tomorrow", said a spokesman for the EU's executive, the European Commission.

"An agreement was signed this morning between the EU and the Russian Federation. We are heading towards an immediate resumption of exports of European vegetables," said Frederic Vincent, spokesman for the health commissioner.

"Exports will be able to resume this week, or even tomorrow," he added.

But moments later in Moscow, the head of Russia's consumer protection watchdog threw doubt on the end of the ban affecting 25 percent of Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURTRUSD - news) 's vegetable exports.

"As far as the claim that it will happen immediately, these rumours are exaggerated," Rospotrebnadzor chief Gennady Onishchenko told the Interfax news agency after a Moscow round of negotiations aimed at ending the ban.

"We are introducing a special regime. No embargo has been lifted," he separately told the RIA Novosti news agency.

Asked to comment on Moscow's position, Vincent told AFP: "I can confirm exports will resume from tomorrow from Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland."

Russia slapped an embargo on fresh EU produce on June 2, amid the E. coli outbreak in Germany. As outrage mounted among Europe's fruit and vegetable farmers, the two sides agreed at a June 10 summit to move toward a certification system, paving the way for a resumption of trade.

About a fifth of Russia's vegetable imports come from the 27-nation bloc.

Europe's vegetable exports to Russia bring in 600 million euros ($860 million) a year, mainly from Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Belgium.

Vincent said that under an EU-Russia accord struck early Wednesday, the EU would supply Russian authorities "temporarily" with laboratory "surveillance and verification" papers to certify the products did not carry the deadly bacterium.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland have already put in place an E.coli monitoring and certification system.

The European Commission will transmit to Russia's health authorities "the names of the relevant national authorities competent to sign a certificate that must be stamped on exports for Russia, and the names of the national laboratories accredited to monitor the vegetables," the commission said.

The certification system will be a temporary measure kept in place until 10 days after the last human case of E.coli is reported in the EU.

In Moscow, Onishchenko said the two sides had reaffirmed the principles agreed by European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and President Dmitry Medvedev at a June 10 summit.

The two sides since have struggled to pin down the details since that meeting, and Russia said imports would remain suspended until all safety concerns were resolved.

Onishchenko said Russia and the EU still needed to agree on a list of European laboratories whose food testing standards meet Moscow's requirements.

"Everything depends on when they submit the lab list to us," Onishchenko said.

"Then we will resume" imports, he added.

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South Africa: Vegetables Cultivate Young Minds

West Cape News (Cape?Town)

Peter Luhanga

21 June 2011

When primary school pupils in Du Noon were asked where vegetables came from, they answered "Fruit and Veg City".Shocked Sophakama Primary school social science teacher Sergeant Tshuma said when he told them that vegetables were grown in the soil they didn't believe him and told him he was lying.

In order to convince them, he that he decided to start growing spinach on the school grounds. That was two years ago. Now, the school's spinach cultivation is so successful it is a staple ingredient in the stews and soups provided for the children by the school feeding scheme and sales of it to surrounding residents generate some income for the school.

The vegetable garden not only educates the children about food and the environment, but about business as well, said Tshuma, as the spinach was sold to residents for R5 a bunch.

"It's an integration of theory and practice. What they learn in class they practice in the garden," said Tshuma.

Grade 5 pupil, Somikazi Filane, 10, said it was exciting to participate in growing the school's spinach crop.

"I have learnt about growing plants," said Filane.

Another pupil, Athini Plaatgie, 10, who is in grade 4, said she has learnt that plants grow from the soil and what they need to flourish.

Grade 4 pupil Analiswa Papiyana, 9, said planting and taking care of the vegetables has helped her learn about the environment, as Tshuma lobbied for a water tank to collect rain water from the school roof in order to conserve water.

"We use tap water sparingly," he said.

More News on allAfrica.com

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Grilled vegetables: How to make sure they can take the heat

McClatchy Newspapers

--

Daylight hours are growing longer and farmers markets are filling up with fresh veggies galore.

Why not enjoy some of the summer bounty on the grill? Many cooks shy away from grilling vegetables because they often fall between the grates, or they're too soft or delicate, and they stick when placed directly on the grill. But there are just as many reasons to give them a try.

no more fear of falling (into the briquettes)

Large, firm vegetables -- Halved potatoes, thick slices of onion, large portobello mushrooms and whole sweet bell peppers can be cooked just like a piece of meat.

Smaller, softer vegetables -- Use a vegetable basket (shown here), which has holes or slits for heat and smoke to circulate. If placed over high direct heat, you can get the nice caramelization and smoky flavors of grilled foods. You also can place the grill basket off to the side to cook more slowly, especially if you close the lid.

Foil wrapping -- It's an easy way to grill vegetables, although it doesn't add much smoky flavor. Also, a cast-iron skillet can be placed directly on the grill to stir-fry or saute all kinds of vegetables.

Before you light the grill -- Rinse, trim and cut up the vegetables. If the recipe calls for precooking, bring a small amount of water in a sauce pan to boiling. Add vegetables and simmer, covered, for the time specified in the recipe. Drain well, then generously brush vegetables with olive oil, margarine or butter before grilling to prevent them from sticking to the grill rack. Grill over medium or medium-hot coals. You'll need long-handled stainless steel tongs to move vegetables on, off and around the grill.

how to grill 'em

Here are some grilling tips from Good Housekeeping and Bon Appetit magazines:

Fresh baby carrots -- Cut off carrot tops. Wash and peel. Precooking time: 3 to 5 minutes. (See above under Before you light the grill about precooking.) Grilling time: 3 to 5 minutes.

Eggplant (below) -- Cut off top and blossom ends. Slice 1/2 inch thick crosswise (globe) or lengthwise (Japanese). Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Do not precook. Grilling time: 8 minutes. They're done when slightly charred and tender. They're great for a meatless burger, baked mozzarella and tomato sauce, or a quick dip (mashed with fresh lemon juice, cumin and chopped garlic).

Fennel -- Snip off feathery leaves. Cut off stems. Precook whole bulbs for 10 minutes. Cut bulbs into 6 to 8 wedges. Grilling time: 8 minutes.

Leeks -- Cut off green tops; trim bulb roots and remove 1 or 2 layers of white skin. Precooking time: 10 minutes or until tender. Halve lengthwise. Grilling time: 5 minutes.

Sweet peppers -- Remove stem. Quarter peppers. Remove seeds and membranes. Cut peppers into 1-inch-wide strips. Do not precook. Grilling time: 8 to 10 minutes. Done when skin is charred or blackened and blistered. Great for pizza topping, sandwiches, scrambled eggs.

New potatoes (left) -- Halve potatoes. Precooking time: 10 minutes or until almost tender. Grilling time: 10 to 12 minutes.

Zucchini -- Wash; cut off ends. Quarter lengthwise into long strips. Do not precook. Grilling time: 5 to 6 minutes. Done when slightly charred and tender. Great for quesadillas, pasta with pesto, and goat cheese.

Crookneck squash -- Rinse, trim and slice 1 inch thick. Do not precook. Grilling time: 5 to 6 minutes.

Plum tomato -- Wash. Grilling time: 5 minutes: Done when skin is blistered and charred. Also great for polenta with basil and balsamic vinegar, and burgers.

Vine-ripened tomato -- Wash. Grilling time: 12 minutes. Done when skin is charred and split. Great for a gratin with bread crumbs and salsa.

Corn -- Remove husk and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grilling time: 15 minutes. Done when slightly charred and tender. Also great for a saute of lima beans and green beans, and pureed corn soup.

Red onion (right) -- Peel; halve through root end. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grilling time: 5 minutes. Done when slightly charred and tender. Great for tuna salad and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Here are some recipes to try on the grill.

GRILLED MEXICAN CORN

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 ears corn

Cooking spray

1/4 cup low-fat sour cream

6 lime wedges

Prepare grill. Combine first 3 ingredients. Place corn on a grill rack that's coated with cooking spray; cook 12 minutes or until corn is lightly browned, turning frequently. Place corn on a platter; drizzle with sour cream. Sprinkle with chipotle mixture. Garnish with lime wedges. Makes 6 servings.

-- Cooking Light (cookinglight.com)

PACKET-ROASTED BALSAMIC GREEN BEANS AND PEPPERS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons pure maple syrup

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 ounces green and/or yellow beans

2 bell peppers, thinly sliced lengthwise

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Start with eight 20- to 24-inch-long pieces of foil. Layer two sheets for each of four packets (the double layers will help protect the contents from burning). Arrange ingredients on one half of each double layer. Fold foil over ingredients and tightly seal the packets by crimping and folding the edges together. Grill over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating packets to another spot on the grill about halfway through to ensure even cooking. Let packets rest unopened for 5 minutes. Drizzle vegetables with a little extra vinegar just before serving.

Note: To toast pine nuts, place in a small dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

-- Eating Well (eatingwell.com)

Grilled Summer Fresh Peppers

1 each yellow, orange and red pepper

18 fresh basil leaves, divided

18 cherry tomatoes

1 cup shredded low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing, divided

Heat grill to medium-high heat.

Cut each pepper lengthwise in half. Remove and discard seeds. Fill each half with 1 basil leaf and 3 tomatoes; top with cheese. Drizzle evenly with 2 tablespoons dressing.

Grill 8 to 10 minutes, or until peppers are crisp-tender.

Place peppers on platter; top with remaining basil leaves and dressing. Makes 6 servings.

Make ahead: Fill peppers as directed; place in large resealable container. Refrigerate up to 8 hours before grilling as directed.

-- Kraftrecipes.com

Simply Sensational Grilled Vegetables

1 cup Italian dressing, divided

2 pounds sliced fresh vegetables (such as zucchini, red peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers, new potatoes or squash)

Pour 1/2 cup of the dressing over vegetables in shallow dish; cover.

Refrigerate 1 hour to marinate. Drain; discard dressing.

Preheat greased grill to medium heat. Grill vegetables 7 to 9 minutes on each side, or until desired doneness, turning and brushing with remaining 1/2 cup dressing. Makes 6 servings, about 1 cup each.

Use your broiler: Prepare vegetables as directed. Preheat broiler. Place vegetables on rack of broiler pan 4 to 6 inches from heat. Broil 7 to 9 minutes on each side, or until desired doneness, turning and brushing with remaining 1/2 cup dressing.

-- Kraftrecipes.com

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Grilled Chicken And Vegetables A Tasty Quick-Fix Dinner

 Grilled chicken and veggies create a quick summertime meal. (By Christopher Prosperi, By Christopher Prosperi / June 23, 2011)

When the family is hungry, the sooner dinner arrives on the table, the better. That's when a simple recipe with a quick cooking time makes the most sense. With this recipe for grilled chicken breast and vegetables, the most time-consuming part is fanning a charcoal fire. A gas grill makes the cooking process a cinch.

Grilling the chicken breast until cooked through but still juicy is the goal. For easier handling and quicker cooking, we cut the chicken into 3-inch pieces. A grill heated to medium high will sear the outside of the chicken quickly. If the chicken begins to char before the interior is cooked, move the pieces to a slightly cooler side of the grill. Chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees, or until the juices run clear.

It's hard to resist the smoky flavors of foods cooked on the grill. Even kids — or adults — who push their vegetables to one side of the plate will enjoy zucchini and tomatoes when seasoned with oil and spices and fire-roasted.

If there are leftovers, pile them on slices of ciabatta bread for a quick lunch. Serve cold or grilled panini-style.

GRILLED CHICKEN AND ZUCCHINI

>>2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 3-inch pieces

>>2 tablespoons olive oil

>>1 teaspoon paprika

>>1 teaspoon kosher salt

>>1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Mix olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Add chicken, and turn to coat with oil mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes. Put chicken on a preheated grill (medium-high heat), and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until fully cooked. Place on platter, and set aside.

For the grilled vegetables:

>>3 large zucchini, about 2 pounds total, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

>>4 large plum tomatoes, cut in half

>>2 tablespoons olive oil

>>1 teaspoon kosher salt

>>1 teaspoon paprika

>>2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the olive oil, salt, paprika and oregano. Add the vegetables, and toss until coated with the oil mixture. Place on the preheated grill, and grill for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Place on the platter with the chicken, and serve with a tossed salad. Serves 4 to 6.

.

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Garden offers food to North Hills pantries

Fresh vegetables, grown in Bellevue, soon will supplement the nonperishable items clients receive at North Hills Community Outreach's food pantries in Bellevue and Hampton.

In fact, some already are being harvested from an organic garden at 119 Davis Ave. The produce grown will be given to the 400 to 500 families who use the pantries every month. If the garden flourishes, the outreach will share with other local food pantries.

In 2008, Teresa Amelio of McCandless, a North Hills Community Outreach volunteer, donated the one-third acre of land that is the site of the garden with the vision that fruits and vegetables grown there would be given to pantry families. The garden is named the Rosalinda Sauro Sirianni Memorial Garden in memory of her mother, who died in 1983.

Ribbon-cutting for the garden will be held there at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, followed by a garden tea party at the James Porch Gazebo next to Bayne Library, 34 N. Balph Ave. from 2 to 6 p.m.

The back of the home on Center Avenue in Bellevue, where Mrs. Amelio grew up, faces Davis Avenue and the garden across the street. She remembers selling some of the vegetables grown organically by her Italian immigrant parents, Luigi and Rosalinda Sirianni, to neighbors. Mrs. Amelio, now in her 70s, and her husband Salvatore are putting the land to further good use,

"I'm so happy because that land has been sitting there for years and I wanted to do something with it. I got involved with NHCO and asked if they could use it. I'm so pleased the canned foods clients receive will be enriched with the items grown in the garden."

North Hills Community Outreach was formed after a devastating flood in 1986 ravaged parts of the North Hills. Religious and community leaders joined to help flood victims and the outreach was incorporated in 1987 with the mission of People Helping People.

The organization, headquartered in Hampton, has expanded to include satellite offices in Millvale and Bellevue, as well as programs such as Free Rides for Seniors, Community Auto, and numerous others.

To reclaim Ms. Amelio's ground, though, volunteers first had to remove weeds, brush, trees and thousands of pounds of bricks, rusted metal, broken glass and other debris that had accumulated over the past 20 years.

The Siriannis are also remembered through the Luigi Sirianni Family Memorial Field, a ballfield that was donated in 1994 by Mrs. Amelio's brothers, Nicola and Ernest, to the Bellevue-Avalon Girls Athletic Association.

Outreach garden coordinator Rosie Wise watered the garden, which she said was planted using the sloping contours of the property to reduce soil erosion and water run-off. Bellevue agreed to allow the agency to tap into the water line at the borough's utility building across the street from the garden.

The garden also saw help from community members.

Retired carpenter George Becker, 63, of Bellevue, worked on a metal mesh fence to keep the deer at bay. Mr. Becker said the gate was built wide enough for a truck to access the shed he also built, along with helping with the fence and compost bin.

"These people are so idealistic. They work hard and still have fun," Mr. Becker said of the outreach staff and volunteers. He said union carpenters volunteered to set the fence posts.

Two raised beds -- one four feet high and the other, two feet -- contain herbs and are designed to accommodate volunteers who find it difficult to stoop. The garden also has rows of onions, pole and bush beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, cherry and regular tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, said Ms. Wise, who has worked at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and as a soil conservation technician for the Department of Agriculture.

Close to 100 volunteers logged 250 hours since March, she said.

The garden was aided by a $75,000 two-year grant from Allegheny Grows, split among new urban gardens in Bellevue, Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills. It provided technical assistance, plants and material, according to Liza Walrath, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer events coordinator at Community Outreach.

The program is in collaboration with Pittsburgh Grows, which encourages city gardening, and the grant also is providing second-year costs for gardens in Millvale and McKees Rocks. Source of the money is federal community development block grants.

"We had the soil tested and it was great for gardening," Ms. Walrath said.

Ms. Walrath is chairwoman of a jazz-age garden party celebrating the garden's grand opening.

The ribbon-cutting party will include live music, refreshments provided by local businesses, a flower market, croquet and activities for youngsters. Theme attire is encouraged. The event is free; donations will benefit the garden. For information, call 412-487-6316, option 2.

Volunteers are needed to weed, water, harvest, and deliver the food to the pantries and cut grass. To help, contact Rosie Wise at 412-307-0069 or rmwise@nhco.org.

First published on June 23, 2011 at 5:52 am

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Scientists: No Proof Vegetables Are Behind Europe's E. Coli Outbreak

Published June 03, 2011

| NewsCore

Scientific analysis has failed to show that contaminated vegetables are behind Europe's deadly E. coli outbreak, the EU's Reference Laboratory for E. coli in Rome said Friday.

"Alarmism over the consumption of vegetables is not justified ... since laboratory analyses do not support the hypothesis that contaminated vegetables were the source of the infection," the laboratory said in a statement.

The laboratory, part of Italy's Higher Institute for Health (ISS), said it would be sufficient to follow basic kitchen hygiene to avoid infection, such as washing your hands after handling food and ensuring knives are clean.

"The only previous detection of a similar strain, although with a different serotype was carried out in ISS laboratories in relation to a small epidemic of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in France," it said.

HUS, a kidney disease, usually affects children and can be life-threatening.

The laboratory said the strain "cannot be considered mutant... but rather a strain originating from the acquisition of new genes."

The current outbreak has now spread to 12 countries but appears to be stabilizing, a senior German doctor said Friday, as the death toll rose to 19.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile defended an earlier false alarm on organic Spanish cucumbers that angered Madrid, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he would not allow Russians to "get poisoned" by EU vegetables.

All but one of the fatalities since the outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) poisoning began last month have occurred in Germany. A patient, who died in Sweden, had recently returned from there.

Regional German health authorities have reported more than 2,000 cases of people falling ill with EHEC poisoning, with symptoms including stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever and vomiting.

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Russia bans EU vegetables due to E.coli fears

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia banned imports of raw vegetables from the European Union on Thursday because of a deadly E.coli outbreak centered in Germany, Russian media cited the head of the consumer protection agency as saying.

"A ban on the import of fresh vegetables from EU countries takes effect from this morning," Rospotrebnadzor head Gennady Onishchenko said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Russia had already banned imports of vegetables from Germany and Spain over the outbreak, which has killed at least 16 people and made more than 1,500 others ill in eight European countries. Its source is unknown.

Onishchenko said his agency had issued an order on the ban to Russia's customs service and also ordered raw vegetables from the EU removed from store shelves, Interfax reported. He urged Russians to be alert and to eat domestically grown vegetables

"We are imposing a ban because the situation has not been brought under control in a month. The sources of the infection and factors in its spread have not been established," state-run RIA quoted Onishchenko as saying.

"The situation has worsened sharply in recent days, and so we are forced to take these extremely unpopular measures."

The German disease control agency the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 365 new E.coli cases on Wednesday, a quarter of them involving a life-threatening complication of a type of E. coli known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC).

EU officials said three cases had also been reported in the United States, adding that most infections reported outside Germany involved German nationals or people who had recently travelled to the country.

EU Health Commissioner John Dalli, however, said the number of new cases appeared to be in decline.

Onishchenko said the deaths caused by the outbreak "demonstrate that the much-praised European sanitary legislation, which Russia is being urged to adopt, does not work," Interfax reported.

(Reporting by Steve Gutterman; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Jon Boyle)

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Russia bans EU vegetables over E.coli, EU protests

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia banned imports of fresh vegetables from the European Union Thursday, accusing Brussels of sowing chaos by failing to give sufficient information about a deadly E.coli outbreak.

The European Commission said Moscow's move was disproportionate. The outbreak has killed 17 people and made more than 1,500 others ill, and food poisoning is spreading from Germany across Europe.

Russia extended a ban on German and Spanish fresh vegetables to cover the European Union because it said Moscow had not been given proper information on the situation despite repeated requests. The source of the infection is still unclear.

"The kind of things that have been happening in the EU for a whole month do not even happen in African countries," Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, told Reuters by telephone.

"I would call the action of the EU health regulators and the other European bodies responsible for this disgrace unprofessional and irresponsible," said Onishchenko.

The European Commission urged Russia to end its ban immediately.

"The European Commission protested to the Russian Federation this afternoon against the Russian ban imposed earlier today on all EU vegetable exports to Russia, and requested the immediate withdrawal of the measure," the EU executive said in a statement.

European Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said earlier that the EU Health Commission John Dalli would write to Moscow to express their objections.

The ban comes a week before Russia, whose leaders have often accused Europe and the United States of trying to force their rules on it, hosts EU leaders at a summit in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.

Russia is under pressure from Europe and other trade partners to announce how it will end protectionist measures, including meat import restrictions, as part of its push to join the World Trade Organization this year after an 18-year effort.

Shops in Moscow prepared to dump EU vegetables and consumers expressed a mixture of scorn and pride at the ban, while the foreign ministry quipped that Russian cucumbers were best.

"Every state will protect its market in order not to get these 'gifts', these cucumbers," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.

"As for the quality of cucumbers, I have tried many myself, but I think that those from the Moscow region are the best -- especially the ones from my own garden," he said.

High-end Russian grocery store chain Azbuka Vkusa, which sources more than 40 percent of all its fresh vegetables and fruits from Europe, said it could replace EU produce with Turkish, Azeri and Russian goods.

Toting a shopping basket filled with grapes and fresh vegetables at a store up the street from the Bolshoi Theater, pensioner Vyacheslav Yegorov called the ban "ridiculous."

"I am not afraid of buying vegetables from any country here... This thing will blow over and be forgotten tomorrow."

But another shopper, Natalya Kuzmina, said that imported food is more likely to have been treated with chemicals and that the ban would help domestic farmers.

Russian Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik played down speculation that Russia could face shortages, saying that imports of vegetables are low in the summer and that most cucumbers and tomatoes do not come from EU nations.

European Union countries exported 594 million euros ($853 million) worth of vegetables to Russia last year while EU imports of vegetables from Russia were just 29 million euros, EU data show. It was not clear what proportion of that was raw.

(Additional reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel, Alexander Reshetnikov and Elizabeth Shockman in Moscow; writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Kelland, editing by XXX)

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Farmer's Market Pickles Summer Vegetables

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT)-- Learn how to can and pickle your favorite summer vegetables this year at the Market Square Farmer's Market. Try a quick and easy recipe and join a free workshop to learn more.

The Market Square Farmer's Market is just one of the 25 farmer's markets in the nation that has been awarded with a canning grant. Therefore, they are holding workshops through out the summer where you can learn more.

The first workshop is this Saturday June 4th where you can learn to make Strawberry Jam at 10:00, Strawberry Syrup at 11:00 and Strawberries in Syrup at 12:00. The sessions are free and open to the public.

If you want to try pickling on your own; here's the two recipes we made this morning.

Sesame-Ginger Spring Vegetables

Yield: 1 qt.
1/2 lb. Snow Peas, stems removed
2 bulbs kohlrabi, peeled and cubed
3 small carrots, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 1/4 C. rice vinegar
1 1/4 C. Water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp. Ginger
1 Tbsp.Sesame Seeds
1 tsp.- 3 tsp. hot pepper flakes (optional)

1. Place the snow peas and kohlrabi in a 1 qt. mason jar. Add the ginger, sesame seeds, garlic and hot peppers (optional).
2. In a saucepan, combine the oil, vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a boil, stirring. Once sugar and salt are dissolved, remove from heat and add the cold water. Once completely cooled, cover the snow peas with the brine. Let stand until the brine has cooled, then cover and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 weeks to brine, before consuming.

Dilly-Spiced Spring Onions
Yield: 1/2 pt.

5 spring onions, finely chopped
1/4 C. white wine vinegar
1/4 C. water 1 tsp. kosher salt (I use Diamond brand; use less if you’re using Morton or table salt)
1 tsp. sugar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 hot peppers, whole or 1 tsp. dried cayenne powder
1 Tbsp. dill, chopped

1. Place the onions in a small mason jar. add the garlic, peppers (or cayenne) and dill.
2. In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let cool to warm, and cover the onions with the brine. Let stand until brine and cooled and then cover and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days before consuming.

Also, Saturday June 11th from 10:00-12:00 p.m. there will be a Chef's Challenge where two chefs will compete to make the best dish. The challenge is free but you can buy a ticket to enter and win a three course meal for two from the featured restaurant.

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Russia Won’t Lift Ban on EU Vegetables to Enhance Its WTO Bid, Putin Says

 Russia won’t lift a ban on imports of vegetables from Europe, imposed after an E.coli outbreak, to appease the European Union and enhance its bid to join the World Trade Organization, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./Bloomberg

Russia won’t lift a ban on imports of vegetables from Europe, imposed after an E.coli outbreak, to appease the European Union and enhance its bid to join the World Trade Organization, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

More than 1,600 people across Europe have been infected and 17 have died in the outbreak that started in Germany, according to the World Health Organization. The German government initially said cucumbers from Spain were to blame, though tests failed to confirm this. Spain will seek EU aid to compensate for damage to its cucumber producers.

Russia suspended imports of German and Spanish tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers on May 30 in response to the outbreak and yesterday extended the ban to all EU fresh vegetables. The EU has sought an immediate withdrawal of the Russian ban. The bloc’s envoy in Moscow today said that Russia, the largest economy outside the WTO, could follow its “rules and principles” even now, the Interfax news service reported.

“All the countries of Europe have been quarrelling over these cucumbers and now they’re trying to drag us into it,” Putin told reporters in Sochi today. “The EU says Russia’s decision contradicts the spirit of the WTO, but we can’t poison people because of some spirit.”

Russia is seeking clarification from the EU on the quality of its vegetables, Putin said, adding that he’ll review the grounds for the government’s import ban.

Russia’s consumer-safety watchdog said the government may lift the ban if German and EU authorities inform Russia of the cause of the outbreak and explain how it spread. The EU is involved in “intensive work” to identify the source, Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli said on June 1.

The Russian agency is also monitoring passengers and vehicles that arrive from countries affected by the outbreak.

Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said today that Russia has enough vegetables to meet domestic demand without imports from the EU. The 27-nation bloc accounted for 11 percent of Russian tomato imports and 5 percent of its cucumbers last year, according to the ministry.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ekaterina Shatalova in Sochi at eshatalova@bloomberg.net; Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow msysoyeva@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Sweetman at msweetman@bloomberg.net; Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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Russia bans EU vegetables over E. coli scare

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia on Thursday banned the import of fresh vegetables from European Union countries because of a deadly bacteria scare, as Germany kept up the hunt for the source of the bug that has killed 17 people.

Announcing the ban, Russia's top consumer protection official took the opportunity to slam European Union food safety standards.

"The fresh vegetable import ban affecting all EU countries went into effect this morning," consumer protection agency chief Gennady Onishchenko said, Interfax reported.

Vegetables already shipped in from the European Union "will be seized across Russia", Onishchenko said.

Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) can result in full-blown haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) -- a disease that causes bloody diarrhoea and serious liver damage.

The move came as officials in Germany, which has suffered all but one of the 17 fatalities, kept up the hunt for the cause of the deaths. Hundreds more people have fallen sick.

On Monday, Russia banned fresh vegetable shipments from Spain and Germany, warning the sanction could soon be applied to all EU countries if it failed to receive a proper explanation as to how the fatal disease was being spread.

But German and EU officials have been unable to find the cause of the outbreak. After initially blaming it on organic cucumbers imported from Spain, they backed off from that position on Wednesday.

Onishchenko said orders to stop all incoming European vegetable shipments had already been issued to Russian customs authorities.

"I call on people to forgo imported vegetables in favour of domestic products," he said.

Onishchenko, one of Russia's most outspoken health officials, has in the past thrown himself into the centre of political and diplomatic disputes.

On Thursday, he said the latest outbreak proved that Russia's food safety standards were being more professionally observed than those in Europe.

"This shows that Europe's lauded health legislation -- one which Russia is being urged to adopt -- does not work," he said.

"I am far from believing that my colleagues in Germany and other European countries lack professional skills," he said.

"But their hands are tied by an overly-politicised atmosphere."

Onishchenko added that "it was obvious" that Spanish cucumbers could not have been the true cause of the problem.

Russia has been quick in the past to ban the import of products that are also produced locally.

While this has ostensibly been on health grounds, some critics have accused the authorities of using this as a pretext to unfairly back Russian producers.

Spain has threatened to file a suit on behalf of its farmers against German authorities because of their initial claims and may seek financial compensation.

Germany's national disease centre has also admitted that the outbreak started nearly two weeks before the first infections were reported in mid-May.

The European Commission on Wednesday lifted its warning over the Spanish cucumbers after saying it could "not confirm the presence of the specific serotype (O104), which is responsible for the outbreak affecting humans."

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Vegetables off shelves from 4 Europe states

Supermarkets and hypermarkets in the Capital have removed vegetables imported from four European countries as fears of E.coli contamination spread in Europe this week. Vegetables imported from Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany have been removed from the shelves, as fears of E.coli contamination spread in Europe this week.

The UAE also imposed a temporary ban on import of cucumbers from a number of European countries including Spain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, Wam reported.

?We removed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and other produce imported from the European nations this morning in line with the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority?s direction,? confirmed an executive at Lulu Hypermarkets in the capital.

The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFD) on Wednesday morning directed the supermarkets to remove the vegetables from these countries from the shelves, following similar action taken by several European nations.

UAE advisory for travellers?

UAE residents travelling to and Emiratis living in European countries swept by E.coli outbreak are advised to avoid eating vegetables for their own health safety, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a travel advisory on Wednesday.

Isa Abdullah Al Kalbani, Director of Citizens? Affairs at the ministry, said the ministry, in coordination with the UAE Consulate in Munich, has been closely monitoring the E.coli outbreak in some European countries, including Germany, Spain, Denmark and Sweden. The deadly bacteria has killed scores of people. ? Wam

The authority said: ?It suspect that the vegetables which are imported from Spain, Germany, Denmark or the Netherlands may be contaminated?, an executive said.

The officials also took samples of vegetables to carry out chemical examination.

However, in Dubai, prominent retailers said they had not received any instruction from the Food Control Department of the local municipality to take any of the vegetables imported from the European countries off the shelves.

Staff in-charge of fresh produce in many supermarkets and hypermarkets said the samples of the salad vegetables from European countries were cleared in tests. ?All of us are confused. We are waiting for updates from the municipality,? a hygiene officer from a popular supermarket chain said.

Municipal officials said they had put strict control measures in place over the imports of certain vegetables from a few European countries. However, they were not clear if a total ban would be imposed on the vegetables in question, like cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes.

?Reports from Spain and Germany are changing day by day. The actual source of the outbreak is still not clear. We are closely monitoring the situation. A total ban may be imposed on more vegetables and products once there is clear information about the cause of the outbreak,? an official from the Dubai Municipality said.

A senior executive at Lulu Hypermarkets in the Capital said that vegetables are available in large quantities at its outlets dispelling the impact of the action. ?There is no impact of the removal of these vegetables on the retail business,? he said. ?We source our vegetables from the UAE, Oman, India and other countries. So we are not entirely dependent on the European nations,? he said.

 

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EU Vegetables Destroyed as Deadly E. Coli Damps Demand

June 03, 2011, 12:11 PM EDT By Tony C. Dreibus

(Adds Copa-Cogeca comments starting in seventh paragraph.)

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- European Union vegetable supplies are being destroyed as demand is curbed by the deadliest outbreak of E. coli on record, with producers losing millions of euros a day because of trade restrictions.

Cucumber, lettuce and tomato prices are tumbling and orders are being canceled, said Philippe Binard, general delegate of Freshfel Europe, which represents the industry. The market is at “an alarming standstill,” according to the Brussels-based group. The losses are forcing some farmers out of business, said Copa-Cogeca, an agricultural lobby group based in Brussels.

“This is having a serious impact because we’re dealing with perishable products,” Binard said by phone today. “We can’t store it and say that in six months, when the market is better, we’ll ship it.”

Infections have been found in 10 European nations and the World Health Organization says at least 16 people died. Some have a rare strain which releases a toxin damaging kidneys and other organs. While German officials are advising consumers to avoid raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, the original source is most likely cattle, said Rowland Cobbold, a veterinary public health researcher at the University of Queensland in Australia.

Russia, which according to Freshfel buys 400 million euros ($580 million) of EU vegetables a year, banned imports yesterday. That contravenes World Trade Organization rules, Fernando Valenzuela, head of the EU delegation to Russia, was cited by RIA Novosti as saying. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today he won’t “poison people” to satisfy WTO rules.

‘Very Isolated’

“Russia is really overreacting to the situation,” Binard said. “The ban applies to all EU countries and to all vegetables, when we know the problem seems to be very isolated to some parts of Germany.”

Spain’s agriculture industry is losing 200 million euros a week and German farmers are losing about 1 million euros a day, said Amanda Cheesley, a spokeswoman for Copa-Cogeca. That should decline after cucumbers from the southwestern European country were ruled out as the source of the bacteria, she said. None tested positive for the type causing the outbreak, the EU said in a statement.

’Nothing Sold’

“The Spanish were the most hard hit so they’re quite angry,” Cheesley said. “When you have an announcement like that, consumption falls for all cucumbers in all member states. In Belgium on Tuesday, cucumber sales were 25 percent for 25 percent of the price. In Spain, nothing sold. Hopefully it will pick up a bit now that they’ve cleared Spanish cucumbers.”

Farmers in Italy, the biggest European vegetable producer, harvested 13.65 million metric tons in 2009, the most recent data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization show. Spain was the second-biggest with 13.63 million tons. China is the world’s biggest vegetable producer followed by India, according to the UN.

Italian cucumbers sold for 15 cents (22 U.S. cents) a kilogram (2.2 pounds) as of May 29, compared with 70 cents at the end of April, according to data from Instituto di Servizi per il Merca.

‘Supply Chain’

“This is impacting the whole supply chain,” Binard said. “The producer is obviously the first to be affected. Behind him are the people who are packing and shipping and the importers and the wholesalers and the retailers are all being affected. A lot of transport is being canceled and it’s not just in Germany, it’s a situation affecting the whole of Europe.”

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by telephone yesterday and agreed that the two countries will try to get aid for European farmers affected, according to an e-mailed statement from the press office of the German government.

--Editors: Sharon Lindores, Nicholas Larkin

To contact the editor responsible for this story Tony Dreibus at tdreibus@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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Russia Bans EU Vegetables Due to E.coli Outbreak, EU Protests

Russia banned imports of raw vegetables from the European Union on Thursday because of a deadly E.coli outbreak centered in Germany, a move branded "disproportionate" by Brussels.

Grady Coppell | Digital Vision | Getty Images

German health officials said the infections, which have killed 17 people and made more than 1,500 others ill in eight European countries, could go on for months and their precise source may never be pinned down.

Russia had already banned imports of vegetables from Germany and Spain due to the outbreak, which German officials originally blamed on contaminated cucumbers imported from Spain before backtracking and apologising to Madrid.

Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, said the deaths caused by the outbreak "demonstrate that the much-praised European sanitary legislation, which Russia is being urged to adopt, does not work," Interfax news agency reported.

The new ban would take effect on Thursday morning, he said, prompting an immediate protest from the European Union.

Spain is threatening legal action over the crisis. It wants compensation for its farmers, who say lost sales are costing them 200 million euros ($287 million) a week and could put 70,000 people out of work.

The European Commission has said it is looking at what it could do about the impact on producers.

Reinhard Burger, head of the German disease control agency the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), admitted the precise source of the disease outbreak may never be found.

"There still is no indication of a definable source," Burger told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, adding it was too early to say that a plateau of new cases had been reached.

The RKI reported 365 new E.coli cases on Wednesday and said a quarter of them involved a life-threatening complication of a type of E.coli known as Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC).

Authorities gave no fresh figures on Thursday, a public holiday in Germany, but some media reported late on Wednesday that a 17th patient had died.

From Farm to Fork

EU health experts say they have been shocked by the size and severity of the outbreak, which is on a scale never seen before in the region.

Denis Coulombier, head of surveillance and response for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the EU, said studies so far show a strong link between disease symptoms and the consumption of fresh vegetables.

"To have such a high number of severe cases means that probably there was a huge contamination at some junction," he told Reuters in an interview. "That could have been anywhere from the farm to the fork -- in transport, packaging, cleaning, at wholesalers, or retailers -- anywhere along that food chain."

Russia's Onishchenko said it had resorted to a ban because "the situation has not been brought under control in a month."

"The sources of the infection and factors in its spread have not been established," state-run RIA quoted him as saying.

European Union countries exported 594 million euros ($853 million) worth of vegetables to Russia last year while EU imports of vegtables from Russia were just 29 million euros ($42 million), EU data show. It was not clear what proportion of that was raw.

European Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said the EU Health Commission John Dalli would be writing to Moscow "within hours" to tell them the ban was disproportionate.

France, Germany and Poland are the biggest exporters of fruits and vegetables to Russia, an EU spokesman said.

The ECDC says cases of E.coli linked with this outbreak have also been reported in Sweden, where one of the deaths occurred, and in Denmark, Britain, Spain and the Netherlands. Most infections reported outside Germany involved German nationals or people who had recently traveled to the country.

EU officials have said three cases of E.coli linked to the German outbreak have also been reported in the United States.

E.coli can be passed from person to person but the ECDC's Coulombier said there was no evidence this was happening in any significant numbers in this outbreak. Health experts are recommending strict hygiene measures such as hand washing and thorough cleaning and cooking of food.

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Russia bans EU vegetables over outbreak

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia infuriated the European Union on Thursday, by banning fresh vegetables from its 27 member states and faulting its health safety system for the death of 17 people from a lethal bacterial strain.

The sanction was immediately denounced as "disproportionate" by a European Commission spokesman who said Brussels would demand an official explanation from Moscow.

The Rospotrebnadzor watchdog said the ban was going into effect immediately and would remain in force until the European Union explained what caused the 17 mysterious deaths -- all but one of them in Germany.

"There is no evidence of infections going down, while the number of those sick with acute intestinal infection caused by enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) has not been taken into sufficient account," the Russian statement said.

Germany said on Wednesday that its initial assumption that the strain had come from organic Spanish cucumbers was wrong -- an admission that prompted the Spanish prime minister to demand financial compensation.

State television said Russia imports about one-fifth of its vegetables from the European Union and most of the rest from China and Turkey.

But the European Commission said the figure still amounted to more than three billion euros ($4.3 billion) in annual trade.

"It's disproportionate," the European Union's health spokesman Frederic Vincent told AFP, arguing that the ban unfairly punished countries where the vegetable crop was unaffected.

"The commission will write to Russian authorities to demand an explanation. This represents between three and four billion euros in European products exported each year," he said.

The Russian consumer watchdog's chief Gennady Onishchenko -- a man known to throw himself in the centre of political and diplomatic disputes -- said the outbreak revealed faults in the common European food safety system.

"This shows that Europe's lauded health legislation -- one which Russia is being urged to adopt -- does not work," Onishchenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency

"I am far from believing that my colleagues in Germany and other European countries lack professional skills," he said.

"But their hands are tied by an overly-politicised atmosphere."

Onishchenko added "it was obvious" that Spanish cucumbers could not have been the true cause of the problem.

Russia has been quick in the past to ban the import of products that are also produced locally.

It has scuffled with the United States over chicken part shipments and banned wine and other imports from Georgia and Moldova during times of diplomatic tension with those two former Soviet republics.

Critics of Russia's food policies say the bans serve the dual purpose of punishing the country's rivals while at the same time protecting domestic producers.

Russia's western neighbour Belarus said it too was mulling an EU import ban.

"We are carefully following the situation," a source in the ex-Soviet republic's agriculture ministry told the Interfax news agency.

"We have not yet seen our Russia's colleagues' official ban orders," the official said.

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