September 19 has been a recurring waypoint for U.S. agriculture—marking moments when national vision, food safety, and climate stress converged to reshape how America grows, moves, and safeguards its food. From a farmer-president’s parting words to hurricanes and landmark safety reforms, the day threads together lessons in resilience and responsibility across the farm and food system.
1796: A farmer-president’s farewell sets a tone for a nation of growers
On September 19, 1796, George Washington’s Farewell Address was published in Philadelphia. The document focused on unity, civic virtue, and caution in foreign affairs, but its author was also the country’s most prominent farmer. Washington’s experiments at Mount Vernon—rotating crops, integrating livestock, and rehabilitating depleted soils—helped popularize practices that would echo across the young republic. His emphasis on cohesion and internal improvements framed decades of land and infrastructure policy, shaping settlement patterns, market access, and the agricultural economy that grew alongside them.
1989: Hurricane Hugo’s wake devastates Caribbean farms
On September 19, 1989, as Hurricane Hugo moved past Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, farmers confronted widespread destruction. High winds shredded coffee and banana groves, toppled shade trees that protect delicate understory crops, and flattened plantain, citrus, and vegetable fields. Irrigation lines, barns, and rural roads were mangled, isolating mountain communities and slowing recovery. The storm set back Puerto Rico’s coffee sector for years—an enduring reminder that perennial crops face uniquely long recovery times after major cyclones and that rural infrastructure is as critical as crops themselves.
2006: A spinach E. coli outbreak forces a safety reckoning
By September 19, 2006, a nationwide recall and consumer warning were fully underway after an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak was linked to fresh, bagged spinach. Traced to California’s Salinas Valley, the crisis put produce safety squarely in the national spotlight. In its wake, growers and handlers established the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, strengthened controls for agricultural water and soil amendments, and invested in farm-to-facility traceback. Those efforts accelerated industry and regulatory work that would later be reflected in the FDA’s Produce Safety Rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act.
2011: Deadly Listeria outbreak tied to cantaloupes
On September 19, 2011, federal health officials intensified warnings about a multistate Listeria monocytogenes outbreak tied to cantaloupes from a single Colorado packing facility. The episode would become one of the deadliest foodborne outbreaks in modern U.S. history. Investigations spotlighted sanitation lapses in packinghouses, the risks of using equipment not designed for produce, and the importance of rapid recalls and clear consumer alerts. Melon growers adopted new best practices for postharvest washing, cooling, and traceability, while regulators sharpened guidance and inspections under evolving food-safety frameworks.
2018: Florence’s floods expose livestock and waste vulnerabilities
On September 19, 2018, floodwaters from Hurricane Florence were cresting across the Carolinas. Corn, cotton, soybean, and tobacco fields lay underwater; poultry houses and barns were damaged; and numerous hog-waste lagoons were reported overtopped or inundated. The images reignited debates over siting concentrated animal feeding operations in flood-prone areas, the adequacy of rural flood control, and how disaster programs should balance rapid relief with longer-term resilience—through elevated equipment and power, hardened manure storage, and diversified rotations that better spread weather risk.
Why this date still matters
- Leadership and land: Washington’s farewell underscored a vision of national cohesion that enabled the land, transport, and market systems agriculture depends on.
- Climate risk on the rise: Hugo and Florence show how storms can erase years of investment overnight—especially for tree crops and livestock—and why infrastructure and siting decisions are pivotal.
- From crisis to code: The spinach and cantaloupe outbreaks translated tragedy into lasting reforms, embedding stronger sanitation, water-quality controls, and traceability across produce supply chains.
Taken together, the throughline for September 19 is clear: when agriculture confronts shocks—whether from weather or microbes—the sector adapts. The responses forged on and around this date continue to shape how Americans farm, protect public health, and prepare for the next test.