California farmers are 'returning lettuce to the soil,' laying off workers as fears about cyclosporiasis continue

Workers are being laid off, assembly lines have stopped and huge amounts of lettuce and cabbage are being returned to the soil at farms across the country as fears about the spread of cyclosporiasis continue. 

Soumya Karlamangla reports for The New York Times that despite the largest cluster of cases being "linked to iceberg lettuce grown in Mexico," sales of lettuce and other greens from the Salinas Valley in California have "plummeted all the same."

Farmers are making the hard decision to till the unsold lettuce back into the field to use as fertilizer because that is the least costly move they can make if it doesn't sell. One such farm making that hard decision is Church Brothers Farm in the Salinas Valley. Karlamangla reports that the company "lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in discarded greens," and "returned an extra estimated 3.9 million heads of lettuce to the soil over the past six weeks as demand dropped."

The Salinas Valley -- long known as the "Salad Bowl of the World" -- has suffered the most from the downturn in sales. The region grows 70% of the country's lettuce. Though the Centers for Disease Control identified only one source of the parasite, it is investigating six other sites, but has not released names. 

The farmers and experts Karlamangla spoke with agreed that lettuce sales would bounce back, but for now "hand-painted tomatoes and heads of lettuce grace the public trash cans in Salinas."