Michigan Farm Caught Using Human Waste As Fertilizer

We all saw, "The Martian." Matt Damon's Mark Watney used his own waste to grow potatoes. That was a movie. What happens when it becomes real life?  Well here in Michigan the line between movies and realities got unintentionally blurred by one farm in Calhoun County.

Kuntry Gardens just had a bunch of its vegetables pulled from stores based on their brand of fertilizer. RAW HUMAN WASTE! The Michigan Department of Agriculture issued a warning on Monday and said they'd been using "raw, untreated human waste" to grow their vegetables. At least 11 different stores have been selling their stuff, including zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, and green peppers.

"What is the big deal?" Some might ask that very question. Allow us to answer it. Human waste can carry diseases like hepatitis A and norovirus, or have E. coli bacteria in it. You can't allow that and therefore they got issued a warning.

According to MLive, one store has already cut ties with the farm and said they won't sell their stuff anymore. It sounds like other stores might follow suit.

Kuntry Garden officials spoke to several news outlets, and said the incident was an honest mistake and that the farm was not using human waste as fertilizer!

“This was an incident that happened, it was not intentional. It was an honest mistake. We did not use [human waste] as fertilizer,” said Andy Stutzman, owner of Kuntry Gardens. “It was just a small spot, like 5 feet by 5 feet, of human waste that got dumped there from an outhouse. This happened before the land was plowed. We are going to be testing the soil to make sure the soil is OK for next year. We are stopping all farming/selling for remainder of year as a result of this incident. We are all about food safety, but this is just something that happened and it was an oversight.”

Thankfully, they caught it, but you have wonder how many times, in various places, this doesn't get caught.

After the pandemic, maybe we have become more cautious about what we eat. Certainly about what our kids consume. Somethings can even cause our pets, who eat almost anything, to get sick too. Click the link below to see exactly what those things are.