new fumigant, methyl iodide in the strawberry fields (organic, toxic, compare)
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Grow a mass of strawberries from a single part of country and what do you get?
Fresh...
and far more so the field workers (http://www.panna.org/files/fieldsSum.dv.html - broken link)who grow them — to up to 54 known carcinogens, among other toxins. And things are about to get worse.
I don't know - the way I've been told to value/compare organic produce is to keep in mind the thickness of the skin and whether you eat it.
Bananas & oranges would be examples of fruits where a think peel means that you don't need a whole lot of pesticides to keep the bugs at bay.
But strawberries have very thin skin, so it would make sense they need to resort to extreme measures to keep them safe from the insects.
I have strawberries growing in a raised bed, and I can confirm it's hard to keep the critters off of them - if I was a wild animal I'd sure be going for a nice, tasty organic strawberry.
Buffoonery. It's just the anti-big-business Chicken Littles of the world trying to shut down a perfectly safe industrial/agricultural practice. It's the same type of loonies that attacked the asbestos industry with patently false claims. Or the manufacturers of lead piping.
Lying and fearmongering get you nowhere. I read your link. It lists 8 known or probable carcinogens, and 46 other pesticides with varying health effects that may or may not be be present on strawberries. Note the emphasis on may or may not. Of your list of 54, 19 are found in less than 1% of the time. Over half are found less than 10% of the time.
That's an awful long way from what you're telling us.
I figured the best thing to do in this situation was to look up methyl iodide (what a novel idea...). It's a possible carcinogen (listed alongside things such as magnetic fields. However, if you breathe the fumes, it can do some pretty nasty things to you. Actually, the first lines of that website mention danger to field workers and bystanders. Or course, they shouldn't be spraying on windy days anyway...
Once it's on the fruit, the danger of breathing fumes is gone. It's not even to probable carcinogen status, but if you're worried, wash your fruit.
I don't know - the way I've been told to value/compare organic produce is to keep in mind the thickness of the skin and whether you eat it.
Bananas & oranges would be examples of fruits where a think peel means that you don't need a whole lot of pesticides to keep the bugs at bay.
But strawberries have very thin skin, so it would make sense they need to resort to extreme measures to keep them safe from the insects.
I have strawberries growing in a raised bed, and I can confirm it's hard to keep the critters off of them - if I was a wild animal I'd sure be going for a nice, tasty organic strawberry.
Hi Chi-town Native,
That is more or less a good metric to use. Mangos and bananas have a two fold advantage in that they are protected from pests implying less pesticide use and far less penetration on the edible portion. Though I also have little use for trying to make agriculture into a factory and being fixed on a single food source when other alternatives are available. Massed produced strawberries are the worst of everything.
Lying and fearmongering get you nowhere. I read your link. It lists 8 known or probable carcinogens, and 46 other pesticides with varying health effects that may or may not be be present on strawberries. Note the emphasis on may or may not. Of your list of 54, 19 are found in less than 1% of the time. Over half are found less than 10% of the time.
That's an awful long way from what you're telling us.
Hi Stubblejumper,
I am telling you there is a significant risk, and for what? World peace? No, the cheapest strawberries possible.
Quote:
I figured the best thing to do in this situation was to look up methyl iodide (what a novel idea...). It's a possible carcinogen (listed alongside things such as magnetic fields. However, if you breathe the fumes, it can do some pretty nasty things to you. Actually, the first lines of that website mention danger to field workers and bystanders. Or course, they shouldn't be spraying on windy days anyway...
Good for you that you looked it up. Not so novel for me. Try an MSDS Dr Stubble.
Chronic Exposure:
Prolonged or repeated exposure to smaller doses cause primarily central nervous system effects. Symptoms may include slurred speech, blurred vision, Parkinsonian rigidity and memory defects. Has been shown to cause cancer in animals and may be linked to cancer in humans.
And there is no way in hell I'd support it even with no residue meaning some poor migrant worker puts his life on the line. It opens the door to use it elsewhere. If my only assurance was they would not fumigate on windy days? Are you kidding me?
Quote:
Once it's on the fruit, the danger of breathing fumes is gone. It's not even to probable carcinogen status, but if you're worried, wash your fruit.
Its not on the fruit. Its used to fumigate the fields before they put in the fruit.
And who wants it? A company based in Tokyo. The same place where they saw nothing wrong with sleeping pills for children.
If we need to use highly toxic chemicals just to grow some fruit, I think something has not been thought out very well.
If we need to use highly toxic chemicals just to grow some fruit, I think something has not been thought out very well.
I think it's fair to say that Americans in general aren't thinking a LOT of things through, from allowing everything we use to be "Made in China" (in extremely toxic manners) to welcoming poison in our food.
I rest my case with the fact that they can get away with listing "Artificial Flavors" in an ingredient list.
Excuse me, but the whole point of the list is tell us what exactly those artificial ingredients are!
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