The City of San Antonio has stated that the vegetable garden of the San Antonio Food Bank has not received any adverse contamination from a nearby dirt pile removed from the old convention center.
The study, requested by the city’s Metropolitan Health Department, found that vegetables grown in the Food Bank’s garden are safe for consumption. The concern came from the soil that was moved from underneath the convention center to old highway 90, near the food bank, one year ago. The city has maintained that the dirt is not contaminated by adverse minerals but District Six Councilman Ray Lopez says he wanted to make sure the food was safe.
“We went immediately to the food bank, got a large sample of the fruits and foods and vegetables that they produce in their gardens, took them to Southwest Research Institute and asked them to do expedite an assessment of them. And that assessment came back in saying the food is healthy, it’s in great shape, there’s no reason for any concern.”
The San Antonio Food Bank stopped issuing food from its garden for several weeks, when the contents of the mound of soil were called into question. It also hired a separate company to test the soil; the results also showed the food was safe. The convention center soil is being analyzed for a third time and results are expected are in six weeks.
