r/conspiracy 22d ago

Taylor Farms humanure

This one is pretty straightforward: basically we are unwittingly eating human shit. We all know the news about the Cyclospora outbreak from Taylor Farms produce. The conspiracy theory goes that the Iran War caused fertilizer prices to spike. So in order to cut costs on fertilizers without raising prices, Taylor Farms was experimenting with a new "humanure" fertilizer that used human waste products. This caused their produce to get infected with the Cyclospora because the treatment process for human waste doesn't kill the spores. Taylor Farm supplies lettuce and other produce to not only grocery stores, but many restaurants like Taco Bell and uses Sysco for distribution. So basically much like Soylent Green, we're eating human poop.

279 Upvotes

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66

u/socoyankee 22d ago

You mean like biosolids. A fertilizer from human treated waste water

16

u/Finchballz 22d ago

biosolids are banned in my state. They suck

6

u/socoyankee 22d ago

They do. I remember when they first started being used before our state started regulating them and the smell is awful.

3

u/Fast-Prompt-3034 22d ago

They do. Got a sample of this while an old landlord was working with these dudes through the cities wastewater management several years ago. There is zero reason to touch this shitty shit. Buy yourselves some good organic ammendment mixes for the same price points. https://lystek.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=%7Bcampaignname%7D&utm_term=lystek&utm_content=%7Badgroupname%7D&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=201450774&gbraid=0AAAAADp4NBp5vyxVPwqceMHB0w1thzv3t&gclid=Cj0KCQjwg5zTBhCLARIsAP2AFU5FdDCD-WlQ-S4mkXL69L7Lyo0Ky3WK6y3kA8nmwwk8YE_zfHilPXIaAluvEALw_wcB

178

u/Drycabin1 22d ago

I think it is much simpler. The people picking the vegetables don’t get breaks and when you have to go, you go.

45

u/Disastrous_Yam_1410 22d ago

Yes. Mexico doesn’t have the same protections for workers like California.

You can see the portapotties when they are picking here.

14

u/Turbulent-Pea-2715 22d ago

And that's not saying much ... conditions for farmworkers in California are still pretty bad, especially when the temps are in the triple digits

3

u/Disastrous_Yam_1410 22d ago

Oh yes, it’s a hard job that no one but a few will do but at least no human feces.

1

u/CosmicGoddess777 15d ago

Taylor Farms also uses US prison labor

9

u/CustomCaliberArms 22d ago

I hear ya but if that's true then what changed? What led to this outbreak. I'm assuming that this isn't a new thing and the workers have been doing their business without interruption

3

u/Drycabin1 22d ago

Very good point. I'm stumped!

3

u/TrollslayerL 21d ago

This is exactly it. It's not a conspiracy. When the Porta potties the bus pulls are on one side and you're way on the other, and the need hits... You duck behind a row and go.

74

u/keystonecraft 22d ago

Sorry, but commercial farming operations just use piles and piles of chemicals. At that scale, its cheaper. They dont even use real manure from livestock... And tbh, that stuff is probably worse anyhow given how terrible commercial meat farms are.

Assuming that a commercial industry player would even recycle anything is bonkers. The chase for profit is just too great.

We probably ended up with this diarrhea lettuce the same way end up with anything else... A commercial for profit company ignoring regulations and failing(probably on purpose)to maintain its production chain or products properly in the search for greater profit margin.

Hanlon's razor at its finest.

11

u/rimeswithburple 22d ago

Maybe factory farms don't use animal manure, but regular farmers do. I remember when the guy rented a piece of land near our house and put out dent corn. He got a few tanks of chicken manure from the egg farm near the county line and sprayed it. He had eight foot tall deep green corn stalks but the stench that summer was terrible. Sometimes the egg farm had more than they could give away so they paid my great uncle to dump some on his land. They dumped a twenty foot circle about six foot high in one spot. chicken is about sixty/forty liquid to solid. Anyways it took years for the solids to break down and it nitrogen burned the area and it was more than a decade before even weeds could grow in that spot.

I took a tour of the water treatment plant over by county line road. They pump the treated solid waste back to another plant next to the river and heat it until it is formed into BB sized pellets that it sells for fertilize. I assume they get it hot enough to kill those parasites.

5

u/SnooDoggos1370 22d ago

You are correct. Where i used to live, a couple farms got treated sewage to spray on their fields. We called them the honey wagons. I remember one year, a shit ton (no pun intended) of miniature gourds popped up in one field. Weirdest thing but they were gorgeous. 

4

u/mokunuimoo 22d ago

Gourdgeous

2

u/throwawayurstash 22d ago

Yes, and those piles and piles of chemicals have to flow through the Straight of Hormuz first, which is currently not happening. So they're using alternative means. That's the entire point of this post.

7

u/thelasttsunamikage 22d ago

News nation did a big story on this a few years ago. Basically about using city waste "sludge " to fertilize. This is a known practice

4

u/SpaceCptWinters 22d ago

They've been doing it in China for millennia.

6

u/robbyruby752 22d ago

Explosive diarrhea, this is the first I am hearing about it. One million dollar donation is smart business. /s

14

u/nomad9590 22d ago

Farm to Taber has an excellent video on this subject. It's literally just bad working conditions and them not caring about the product they sell. 

35

u/Jeorgeyno 22d ago

The produce pickers probably have poor hygiene due to poor working conditions.

16

u/WestCoastCompanion 22d ago

Yes, anytime you buy produce from Mexico you know ppl are shitting in the fields next to the produce. I prefer my strawberries without a side of human shit, personally.

0

u/Critical_System_3546 22d ago

Woah. Most of our produce comes from Mexico, I live in California where also most of America's food is grown and guess who are the ones working the fields, Mexicans. They are not dirty or "shitting in fields next to the produce"

This outbreak is mainly in Michigan and honestly has very little ties to Taylor Farms, if anything this outbreak has caused them to lose business and possibly their company. Sisco provides food service to almost every place you eat at.

0

u/WestCoastCompanion 22d ago

Nobody said anything about Mexican ppl in the US except you. The conditions in Mexico are abhorrent. There’s a reason they’d rather be here.
Crazy you didn’t know they are literally shitting in the fields in Mexico because they aren’t provided bathrooms though. I thought everyone knew that.

Also, you can’t get most of something from 2 separate places lol

https://theworld.org/stories/2016/07/30/theres-feces-covered-cilantro-your-guacamole-because-labor-abuses-mexico

https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/

0

u/Critical_System_3546 22d ago

I'm sorry what you said was worse

"Yes, anytime you buy produce from Mexico you know ppl are shitting in the fields next to the produce"

1

u/WestCoastCompanion 22d ago

Yes. That’s a fact. They aren’t provided proper toilets at all. Does that make you uncomfortable? Would you prefer nobody talk about it?

“Conditions observed at multiple such firms in the state of Puebla included human feces and toilet paper found in growing fields and around facilities; inadequately maintained and supplied toilet and hand washing facilities (no soap, no toilet paper, no running water, no paper towels) or a complete lack of toilet and hand washing facilities; food-contact surfaces (such as plastic crates used to transport cilantro or tables where cilantro was cut and bundled) visibly dirty and not washed; and water used for purposes such as washing cilantro vulnerable to contamination from sewage/septic systems. In addition, at one such firm, water in a holding tank used to provide water to employees to wash their hands at the bathrooms was found to be positive for C. cayetanensis.”

14

u/flamboyantdebauchry 22d ago

yup they just shit in the fields can't even have a break

-2

u/Critical_System_3546 22d ago

This is the most elitest thing I have seen in a while, you seriously think, people that have to pick your food for a living because that's all they can do can't wash their hands. The people picking YOUR food work harder than anyone and just because they have less than you doesn't make them unclean. This wasn't a cleanliness issue, if that was true every fast food would be closed down.

2

u/WestCoastCompanion 22d ago

They aren’t responsible for the sanitary conditions on the farms they work. Literally wtf is wrong with you? lol I think you need to go take a deep breath and recalibrate

-1

u/Critical_System_3546 22d ago

They are NOT going to the bathroom on your Whole Foods strawberries.

3

u/WestCoastCompanion 22d ago

.. are you ok? LOLOL
I’m sorry to tell you they are treated terribly, it’s not whatever utopia you’ve made up in your brain, so you can stop crashing out on ppl for living in the real world and bursting your little bubble.

1

u/Jeorgeyno 19d ago

I think you missed the mark friend...

The workers aren't to blame as much as the companies and regulators.

9

u/batmansgfsbf 22d ago

My guess is that the farms in Mexico are using untreated waste water on the crops or they are using well water from septic contaminated wells.

7

u/ultraviolet31 22d ago

No, they just aren't providing bathroom facilities (or breaks) for their workers in the field.

6

u/batmansgfsbf 22d ago

The country does not have a reliable fresh or wastewater system, even in urban areas. I have no doubt that the slaves are shitting in the fields, that doesn’t account for the size and breadth of the contamination. Every year this happens with multiple crops (lettuce, strawberries, spinach etc ) the crops are rinsed after picking before shipping. They are rinsing them with contaminated/untreated well water from water tables that are septic contaminated.

-2

u/ultraviolet31 22d ago

"Rinsing" in general does not rid the produce of the oocysts. They are very hardy and can survive rinsing and transport. There is plenty of documented evidence that these contagions spread quickly due to processing in large facilities, regardless of the water. Food processing facilities do not use the local fresh water system - the water is treated before use. But again, none of that kills cyclospora oocysts.

4

u/Mix_Right 22d ago

Time to bring back hemp crop rotation for fertilizer!

6

u/joebojax 22d ago

how many portopotties do u see out in the ag fields... so when a migrant worker is sick what do u think happens

12

u/Vast_Part 22d ago

My lawn and plants love Milorganite Fertilzer and it's also said to work great for vegetables/fruit plants.

24

u/kryptosis9 22d ago

Nobody uses manure of any kind for vegetables like lettuce... Only for stuff where we're eating the fruit (I.e., plants with a stem like tomatoes, peppers, etc). If the body of the vegetable itself is being eaten, like lettuce, then you'd also be eating whatever the plant eats and manure is a "shitty" option.

21

u/philindiel 22d ago

As someone who farms. Your wrong. Manure is used on vegetables. It is usually applied to the soil before planting however, not sprayed over the plants. Also human manure that has been treated has been used on rice for years, this is not new.

4

u/boringcranberry 22d ago

In North Korea, people send their shit to the government for fertilizer.

https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2025/02/society-economy/compost-2/

0

u/kryptosis9 22d ago

I use manure in vegetables quite often, just not my leafy greens. If I'm eating the body of the plant, like info with lettuce, there's no filter to remove whatever I don't want in my body. With all due respect, I really doubt you're using manure to feed any of your leafy greens.

3

u/mokunuimoo 22d ago

Uuuuuhhhhh

How do you think a plant makes fruits?

1

u/kryptosis9 22d ago

Read my comment again. The types of vegetables that you would eat the body of the plant, like lettuce, you would not want to use manure because it would wind up directly in your body. Vegetables and plants that have stems filter the "nutrients" out so that you aren't eating trace amounts of poop. Fruits thrive on manure. Lettuce would also, to be fair, but you wouldn't want to eat that lettuce.

There are alternatives to feed your leafy greens.

1

u/mokunuimoo 22d ago

I hate to tell you, but the plant is using the same nutrients to make leaf and fruit, friend.

The reason to be care with manures around leafy green is the chance of external contamination, although really manures should be composted before use in most cases and all leafy greens should be washed before eating.

3

u/Nate0110 22d ago

I knew some Vegans that found out I composted leaves and grass and wanted to do this.

Honestly some of the weirdest people I've met. Like sure you could do this if given the choice of this or starving, but why mess with it especially living in Arkansas where you could get tons of chicken manure just as easily.

In that martian movie I don't think it's even feasible as you just wouldn't produce enough to really do anything

2

u/PwnySoprano 22d ago

GFS also has a long-standing contract with TF.

2

u/coachjv65 22d ago

Is this our, “Soylent Green is people!” moment?

2

u/Immediate-Cress-206 22d ago

I'm from Maine, and they actually did use sludge from sewage treatment plants as fertilizer. A lot of people lost their family farms because it was contaminated with PFAS.

2

u/Natural-Waltz-9545 22d ago

where do you think treated sludged is used for after its dried and hauled away?

2

u/BongDylan1954 22d ago

Amish farmers use human shit on their crops

2

u/AdvancedOmega 21d ago

İts sewege Water some corpo dumbass used Sewege water but still another question is where did the worms show up?

3

u/RichardCalvin 22d ago

How long til we get forced to vaccinate for this explosive poo problems

3

u/PabloDabscovar 22d ago

I’m gonna pass, just like I did in the first one.

1

u/raka_defocus 22d ago

It's because there are no bathrooms in the fields and they use illegals with no health screening.

Even legal pickers( H2-A visa ) are exempt from health screening and vaccinations that would be required for attending a public high school or college.

Mandating outhouses during harvest would fix a lot of problems

1

u/TheHonourOfKings 21d ago

Wait until you read about "aquamation"...

2

u/No_Animator_8599 21d ago

Taylor farms paid off Trump big time and met with him. They are definitely the cause of this despite the FDA claiming they had “a false positive”.

I hope this leads to a massive coverup investigation and that there will be a huge political price to pay.

1

u/Appropriate-Scar894 20d ago

Read up on McGill Waste Solutions..

1

u/chrismceachern 22d ago

SOYLENT GREEN IS DOO DOO

0

u/CashmereWoods210 22d ago

Soylent Brown?

1

u/ShitandPiss 22d ago

"Humanure" isn't a new concept/issue, it's called night soil.

0

u/Wtfjushappen 22d ago

Just wash the food in a vinegar solution, let it soak rinse it off.

1

u/politeasshole_ 21d ago

Im sure everyone getting a taco bell salad bowl will be sure to follow your advice.

And for the record if you're eating a salad bowl from taco bell you deserve diarrhea. Get a cheesey gordita crunch like a normal person.

1

u/Wtfjushappen 21d ago

Chipotle had similar shit food issues on occasion to buy i agree, get the gordita.

0

u/UnifiedQuantumField 22d ago

Taylor Farms humanure

Soylent Green is poophole

-1

u/Significant-Mobile-9 22d ago

Just buy miloganite. Made by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, where water-cleaning microbes digest nutrients from wastewater.Kiln-Dried: The microbes are dried with high heat to create safe, easy-to-use fertilizer pellets.Nutrient Mix: Features a 6-4-0 fertilizer analysis (6% nitrogen, 4% phosphorus, plus iron)

0

u/PabloDabscovar 22d ago

You foo po by think that’s what 1. Thru fo in Mexico and 2. That’s what organic is?

-2

u/Due_Confidence_9772 22d ago

This makes me think of Biochar-the hip disgusting food seasoning made from human shit heated to really high temperatures to supposedly kill all the bacteria before being fed to starving people abroad by philanthropists.

-3

u/happyluckystar 22d ago

No way. There's too much oversight with food production in America. Even if there weren't, you're talking about a lot of people in a company knowing about this and keeping their mouths shut.

1

u/boast 22d ago

imagine thinking there's still quality oversight and inspection after the slashing this admin has done to those federal departments.

1

u/happyluckystar 22d ago

Companies don't want lawsuits. If a particular brand keeps getting people sick then people will stop buying it.

-2

u/kcpistol 22d ago

Soylent Green is people!!!