The nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak has forced some American farmers to throw out their entire lettuce crops, according to a report.

One such farmer in California’s Salinas Valley told the Wall Steet Journal this week that he had to chop up 300,000 pounds of romaine hearts and plow it back into the soil.

Visit umafrika.club for more information.

This came with no evidence that his crops were infected with the parasite causing explosive diarrhea that has sickened thousands of people in nearly every state.

WHITE HOUSE ADDRESSES GROWING PARASITE OUTBREAK AFTER MORE THAN 400 AMERICANS SICKENED

Cox’s Coastline Family Farms supplies major grocery stores and top restaurants around the country, but the outbreak has lowered the demand for his greens by as much as 30%, he said.

"It is incredibly demoralizing," Cox told the Journal. "I would’ve been better off taking a vacation in the South of France than planting the crop."

The region is known as "America’s Salad Bowl" and supplies the country with nearly half of its lettuce.

CYCLOSPORA OUTBREAK: IS IT STILL SAFE TO EAT AT RESTAURANTS? HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Still, he’s optimistic about the next harvest.

"You can’t afford to be downcast very long. You better pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep pushing forward," he explained.

Although the outbreak has been linked to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico recalled by California-based Taylor Farms — the country’s largest lettuce supplier --- it’s affected the entire lettuce industry as Americans worry.

CRUISE SHIP HIT WITH THIRD STOMACH ILLNESS OUTBREAK IN TWO MONTHS, REVIEW UNDERWAY

"Consumers aren’t sure what’s right anymore so, out of an abundance of caution, they’re just passing on everything," Joelle Mosso, a food scientist at family farm trade group Western Growers, told the Journal.

Viraj Puri, who founded Gotham Greens in Brooklyn told the Journal that, despite lagging sales, his company opted against less seeding.

"The public health benefits of a diet grounded in fruits and vegetables are indisputable," he said. "I really hope consumers can get back to trusting the fruits and vegetables they buy in stores, because they generally are safe."

Nationally, sales of fresh lettuce fell by nearly 9% in the month between mid-June and July as compared to the same time last year, the outlet reported, citing data from NielsenIQ.

That’s equivalent to 7.6 million pounds of lettuce.

Sales were also down on other vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, spinach and Brussels sprouts.

Even salad dressing has taken a hit.

After one outbreak of cyclosporiasis was linked to lettuce served at Taco Bell, its sales went down by 25% that week.

While some are heading to local farmers markets, hoping their lettuce is more safe, most people appear to be taking a vegetable pause.

Read full story at source

After the kind of month it’s been, a week that actually cooperates might feel suspicious. That’s fair, stargazer — but trust this one. Saturn trining the Sun builds toward exact Thursday and Friday, and the effect is structural rather than pressurized: what you build this week holds, what you commit to has traction, what felt like a ceiling a month ago starts looking more like something you can actually work with. The grind has been considerable. This is what it was building toward.

Venus moving into Libra Thursday softens the relational register after weeks of Venus in Virgo’s scrutinizing eye — something in how you relate to people opens up. Neptune opposing Venus all week means the warmth comes with some idealization attached, so see it clearly rather than just feeling it. The Last Quarter Moon Wednesday asks what to release before the week’s better energy takes over. Answer it. Then build.

Visit newsbetting.club for more information.

How will your sign fare this week?

Aries: March 21 – April 19

Mars conjuncting Ceres in Gemini this week is not a combination you see every day, Aries — your ruling planet’s charge-forward energy running directly into Ceres’s territory of nourishment and care. The result isn’t a slowdown. It’s a redirect. The drive is fully intact, but this week it’s asking what it’s actually feeding — in your own life and in the lives of those around you.

Saturn trining the Sun through the week gives everything more structural grounding than you’ve had in a while — the ideas Mars is generating in Gemini have somewhere stable to go. Friday’s Moon in Gemini adds mental agility to an already communicative stretch. Put the energy somewhere that actually sustains something. That’s not a lesser use of it — that’s the point.

Aries monthly horoscope

Taurus: April 20 – May 20

Venus has been in Virgo for weeks, Taurus, and you’ve felt every bit of it — the scrutinizing eye turned on everything you have and want and are, the sense that nothing quite measures up to the standard Venus keeps setting. Thursday that changes. Venus moves into Libra, and the register softens. Something you’ve been picking apart gets to just exist for a while.

Neptune opposing Venus all week means the relief of Libra comes with some idealization attached — a tendency to see what you want to see rather than what’s actually there. Take the softening. Let yourself stop auditing everything. Just don’t let the pendulum swing so far that you stop seeing clearly. There’s a middle ground between harsh and blind.

Taurus monthly horoscope

Gemini: May 21 – June 20

Saturn squaring Mercury finally exits this week, Gemini, and the difference should be immediate — the communication overhead that’s been grinding against everything you’ve tried to say or think or plan for the past month just lifts. What nobody tells you about that kind of relief is that it can feel disorienting. The static was uncomfortable, but it was also something to push against. Now there’s just open air.

Mercury is still in Cancer, which means the emotional register is still running. Venus sextiling Mercury keeps the feeling-into-words flow cooperative all week. Friday’s Moon in Gemini is the best mental stretch of the week — use it. The processing of the past month isn’t done, but at least now you can do it without the interference.

Gemini monthly horoscope

Cancer: June 21 – July 22

The week opens with the Moon in Pisces, Cancer, and if last week felt like operating in a foreign country, this is coming home — water, emotional fluency, the whole interior world running on a frequency you actually recognize. Don’t rush past that. Let it do what it does before the Moon moves on and the registers shift again.

The more interesting story runs underneath: Saturn trining the Sun all week means the structures in your life that have felt heavy are starting to feel more like foundations. Not finished, not resolved — but load-bearing in a way they weren’t a month ago. Monday’s Moon trining Jupiter opens the week with some room to breathe. Let it be easier than you’re bracing for.

Cancer monthly horoscope

Leo: July 23 – August 22

All season, Saturn has been the thing working against you — squaring your Sun, adding weight to everything, making the simplest moves feel harder than they needed to be. This week that changes, and the difference is going to be noticeable. Saturn trines the Sun through Thursday and Friday’s exact hit, Leo, and for the first time in a while, the structure is cooperating rather than pushing back.

That’s not a small thing. It means what you build this week actually holds. The ideas, the commitments, the decisions that kept sliding off the table during those grinding Saturn square weeks — they have traction now. The Last Quarter Moon Wednesday asks what to release before you move forward. Answer it clearly. Then build.

Leo monthly horoscope

Virgo: August 23 – September 22

The self-critical voice has been relentless for weeks — Saturn squaring Mercury will do that, turning your already exacting inner assessment into something closer to a sustained cross-examination. It exits early this week, Virgo, and what follows is a quiet that might feel stranger than the pressure did. You’ve been running on that pressure as fuel. Now it’s gone, and the engine needs something else.

Venus sextiling Mercury all week keeps the emotional register accessible and communication cooperative. Saturn trining the Sun gives the week a steadier foundation than you’ve had in a while. The exacting standards are still there — they just don’t come with punishment attached. See what you can build from a place that isn’t constantly braced for its own failure.

Virgo monthly horoscope

Libra: September 23 – October 22

Venus coming home to your sign on Thursday should feel like a straightforward win — Venus in its own territory, the relational register finally running on a frequency that actually suits you. It mostly is, Libra. But Neptune opposing Venus all week means the homecoming comes with a slightly distorted mirror: everything looks a little warmer, a little more promising than a truly clear-eyed read would confirm.

That’s not a reason to distrust the whole week. It’s a reason to notice when you’re filling in gaps with what you want to be true rather than what’s actually there. The warmth Venus in Libra brings is there — just don’t let Neptune turn it into an excuse to overlook something you’ve already clocked.

Libra monthly horoscope

Scorpio: October 23 – November 21

Pluto doesn’t usually traffic in soft things — that’s not the complaint, that’s just the territory. Pluto trining Venus this week is something different: an unusually cooperative current between Scorpio’s ruler and the planet of love and connection. Not the usual excavation. Something you already care about gets to go further than you’ve let it go before — a relationship, a creative investment, something you’ve been holding at arm’s length.

The retrograde keeps all of this below the surface, which you prefer anyway. You don’t need to announce it. What the trine asks is that you let something get one layer more honest, more present, less defended than your usual setting. The depth is available this week. That part’s up to you.

Scorpio monthly horoscope

Sagittarius: November 22 – December 21

You’re more comfortable with the vision than with the blueprint — always have been. The idea, the horizon, the conviction that something is possible: that’s your territory, Sagittarius. The part where you sit down and actually work out how it gets built has always been considerably less interesting to you. This week wants to change that, and the timing is good for it.

Saturn trining Jupiter enters active range this week, and for once Saturn isn’t the thing pushing back against Jupiter — it’s the thing giving it some architecture. The expansion Jupiter has been generating has somewhere structured to go now. Neptune trining Jupiter keeps the vision generous and intact. What you build with that combination might actually hold.

Sagittarius monthly horoscope

Capricorn: December 22 – January 19

You’ve gotten so accustomed to Saturn feeling like a weight — something to carry, push against, and endure — that this week might take a minute to read correctly. Saturn trining the Sun is Saturn operating the way it’s actually supposed to: supportive, structural, grounding rather than grinding. The effort you put in has somewhere to go this week. Take a second to notice that instead of just moving past it, Capricorn.

Saturn trine Jupiter also enters active range, which means the structure and the expansion are cooperating simultaneously for the first time in a while. For a sign that usually has to fight for every inch of progress, this is a week where things can move without the usual resistance. Don’t overthink it. Just build.

Capricorn monthly horoscope

Aquarius: January 20 – February 18

The ideas have been coming fast — Uranus in Gemini has seen to that, Aquarius. New frameworks, new connections, new ways of looking at things you thought you’d already figured out. That part is easy. The harder question is which ones actually deserve your follow-through, and this week is putting that squarely in front of you whether you planned to deal with it or not.

Saturn trining the Sun brings a grounding current to everything — not a slowdown, but a settling. The restless mental churn gets a filter. Some of what’s been swirling deserves pursuing, and some of it is just Uranus doing what Uranus does. Friday’s Moon in Gemini is the best moment of the week to sort one from the other.

Aquarius monthly horoscope

Pisces: February 19 – March 20

You’re good at sensing what people need, reading between the lines, filling in what someone can’t quite say. That’s a gift and also, this week, a liability. Neptune opposing Venus has Neptune in tension with how you relate and connect — and the actual risk, Pisces, is that the person you’re responding to is partly constructed from your own impressions rather than fully who’s there.

That’s not a character flaw. It’s Neptune doing what Neptune does in an opposition: dissolving the edges between what’s true and what you’d like to be true. Saturn trining the Sun all week offers a counterweight — grounding, structural, honest. Use it to check your read on people before you invest too much in a picture of them you’ve assembled yourself.

Pisces monthly horoscope

When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The post Weekly Horoscope: August 2-August 8 appeared first on VICE.

Read full story at source