The chemical spill in East Palestine, OH is awful. Was our farm affected?

written by

Marie Reedell

posted on

February 16, 2023

*Last updated 2/27/23

Have you heard about the chemical spill in Palestine, OH? It’s really just awful. My heart goes out to the families and farmers and wildlife and soil in the affected areas.

There has been so much immediate obvious damage from the vinyl chloride train derailment leak and subsequent "controlled explosion". But, toxins like this often act as slow poison, and we may not know the full impact for years or even decades.

From what's been reported, we know that vinyl chloride and handful of other chemicals were spilled and entered the waterways in East Palestine, OH. And then there was a "controlled burn" to "clean up" the spill. Burning these chemicals releases dioxins into the air, which are terrible toxins that can cause longterm and chronic diseases like immune suppression, cancer, infertility, and more.

Now more than ever, it's so important to know your farmer and buy farm-direct! How will you know that food from the store is not from an affected area?

We’ve gotten a slew of emails from customers wondering if our farm was affected. And rightly so! I mean, how can we produce the most natural, highest quality food if our land is contaminated?

I did a bit of research, and here’s what I found:

We are 300 miles east of the spill. This is well outside the suggested 3,500 square mile contamination area.

The jet stream goes northeast, and we are east/southeast. Unless there was a big shift in air patterns, we should be clear from contaminated air.

This is a map of contamination by air with expected and typical air patterns (a computer generated model), and we seem to be in the clear.

Here is a NOAA map showing actual air movement from the days of the burn.Thankfully, it looks like it may have just missed us.

We are in a different watershed. This means that contaminated land water will not runoff to our area. That being said, pollution by air may have dropped dioxins in our greater watershed. At what concentrations, I don't know!

We are in a different aquifer. This means that contaminated ground water should not runoff in our area. Again, pollution by air may have spread dioxins to our aquifer, but it's too early to know if or how much damage there has been.

So, it seems that our farm is most likely in the clear.

All this being said, I’m not an expert on these types of toxic disasters. Fingers crossed that this preliminary research holds true and we remain unaffected.

What are your thoughts on toxins in our environment? Do you have any advice for those who were sadly exposed? Do you have any recommendations on how the farm should respond?

I’d love to hear from you. I highly recommend commenting on the blog (no account required - start typing for the guest option to appear). This is a great way for customers to share info with each other regarding this issue. Not a blog commenting kind of person? No worries. You can contact us directly. 🙂

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Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

The chemical spill in East Palestine, OH is awful. Was our farm affected?

Have you heard about the chemical spill in Palestine, OH? It’s really just awful. My heart goes out to the families and farmers and wildlife and soil in the affected areas.

We’ve gotten a slew of emails from customers wondering if our farm was affected. And rightly so! I mean, how can we produce the most natural, highest quality food if our land is contaminated?

So, it seems that our farm is most likely in the clear.

What are your thoughts on toxins in our environment? Do you have any advice for those who were sadly exposed? Do you have any recommendations on how the farm should respond?

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