The Department of Agriculture has extended the ban on the sale of locally grown cabbage to the entire territory, after the department found a lot of worms in cabbage inspected by the agency, which is currently trying to identify why the worms are being found in so much of our local cabbage.

The ban also includes sale of cabbage to local stores and at roadside stands, and the move has attracted strong criticism by some Samoan cabbage farmers, who plan to take the matter to the governor’s office. Samoan cabbage farmers are saying Asian cabbage farmers should be the ones targeted, not them.

Agriculture had originally put a hold on the sale of cabbage to the federally funded School Lunch Program after worms were found late last month in cabbage served at Aua Elementary School.

Agriculture director Lealao M. Purcell said the department recently conducted site inspections of small markets or roadside stands where locally grown cabbage is sold and these inspections discovered a lot of worms in the cabbage.

Therefore the decision was made, in order to protect the health and safety of the community, to stop the sale of this cabbage for now, he said.

“The public should not be using the cabbage with so many worms,” he said. “The health of the community is of utmost importance, more than people making money.”

Lealao pointed out some of the locations they visited during the inspection. One site is a make-shift roadside market, under a tent next to the Nu’uuli Place Center, where an Asian man was selling a variety of vegetables and fruits.

At this location, which was visited last week, Lealao said a lot of worms were found in the cabbage and the Asian farmer was informed not to sell any more cabbage to the public.

“Due to health concerns, the decision is to stop — for the time being — the sale of locally grown cabbage. This is not only to the School Lunch Program, but anywhere else in the territory,” while a complete inspection is carried out as to why so many worms are infesting the cabbage, he said.

He publicly apologized to the community, especially the farmers who are affected by this decision, which he says is not permanent, but will be reviewed again after DoA conducts"future inspections” of vendors selling cabbage.

Some Samoan cabbage farmers are not happy with Lealao’s decision, saying that they shouldn’t be affected with such a decision, it should only target Asian farmers, who also sell cabbage to the School Lunch program.

Lili Tupuana’i, a Malaeimi farmer, said she and other Samoans farmers should not be punished because worms were found in cabbage from Asian farmers. She said that it was last week that Agriculture officials stopped by her roadside stand in Malaeimi telling her about the ban on the selling of locally grown cabbage.

Pavaiai farmer Vincent Ropati called the DoA’s ban “unfair” to Samoan farmers and said it should be reversed.

(Samoa News should point out that it has never been said that the cabbage sold to the School Lunch Program were only from Asian farmers.)

[Original Samoan story was published in Samoa News on Nov. 8 and 13.]