Growers of fresh produce on the Central Coast of California currently face conflicting demands regarding measures to protect food safety and those to protect environmental quality. To explore the extent of conflicting pressures and identify the range of possible impacts on the environment, we conducted a survey of Central Coast irrigated-row-crop growers during spring 2007. The results indicate that growers are experiencing a clear conflict, and some are incurring economic hardships because their practices to protect the environment have resulted in the rejection of crops by buyers. In addition, some growers are being encouraged to or are actively removing conservation practices for water quality, and most growers are taking action to discourage or eliminate wildlife from and adjacent to croplands. These actions could affect large areas of land on the Central Coast and, as indicated by growers, they are likely to increase over time.

This research brief explores the apparent conflict between new food safety rules designed to minimize the presence of wildlife around farm fields, and environmental protection efforts designed to decrease the impacts of pesticides, fertilizers, and sediments on the environment.

Using information from existing research, the brief examines the effectiveness of measures being used by Central Coast growers to address environmental problems. We then summarize the history of food safety issues on the Central Coast, and outline potential sources of crop contamination in the field. Finally, we discuss the ways that food safety guidelines conflict with environmental protection methods, proposing the idea that such methods could in fact be designed to reduce contamination sources and improve food safety.