With fresh spinach linked to an unusually virulent outbreak that has killed one and sickened 130, the region has vaulted to new fame: the E. coli capital of America.

According to the LA Times, the whirlwind of health warnings and media reports over the past five days has tarnished the reputation of its growers and processors so severely that experts predict some farms with large spinach crops may fail.

Though they have tentatively linked some of the illnesses to Natural Selection, federal regulators have, in an abundance of caution, recommended against eating any fresh spinach, organic or otherwise, which has brought the spinach harvest to an abrupt halt, affecting smaller growers’ and workers’ finances.