Who doesn't love strawberries? They're like little bursts of sunshine in your mouth when just picked and a flashback to summer when eaten in ice cream or jam. We planted eight a week or so ago, which I think is half the number we really need, but I wanted to grow some as summer treat without having to worry about pesticides. Wednesday, I picked up our meat share from Randle Farms and saw white buckets brimming with gorgeous, red berries--pesticide free. I wish I had taken my camera with me. Maybe I'll learn.
Seeing those beautiful berries piqued my curiosity about just how tainted with pesticides most commercially-grown strawberries are, so I did a little surfing to see what I could find.
Googling strawberries and pesticides produces pages and pages of hits from 2010 related to strawberries, California, and methyl iodide. I did a second search adding "2011" to find more current information, too. A New York Times article from June 2010, "Dispute Over Pesticide for California Strawberries Has Implications Beyond State," details the battle between the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and a scientific review committee over the approval of methyl iodide, evidently it is a battle still not settled. Outgoing Gov. Arnold Swarztenegger approved its use, and California farmworkers and environmentalists filed a lawsuit in December 2010 to prevent its use. Not to worry though, the website American/Western Fruit Growers quotes a spokesman for the company that produces the pesticide saying the lawsuit will have no affect on the "roll-out" of the product. The same article also devotes space to "Methyl Iodide Misconceptions." And who points out these misconceptions? The very same spokesman for ArystaLifeScience, the pesticide producer.
According to the NYT article and an online article from Rodale, California grows 90 percent of the nation's strawberries. Strawberries have a long association with toxic chemicals. Growers used to treat the ground, before planting, with methyl bromide until it was found that this particular chemical, along with being toxic, was detrimental to the ozone layer. Methyl bromide is being phased out and methyl iodide is being phased in.
This new chemical seems to have a mixed review. There are scientists who say methyl iodide is far too dangerous to be approved for use. Some California farmers, according to the article, are in favor of approval and believe California's strict regulations would be enough to insure that prescribed use of the chemical will be safe for all--farmers, workers, consumers, people who live in close proximity to treated farms.
Rodale published an online article, "Coming Soon to Your Strawberries: Newly Approved Carcinogenic Pesticide," which lists some of the specific health problems associated with the chemical methyl iodide. The article quotes Susan Kegley, PhD, founder of the Pesticide Research Institute, saying, "The methyl group can affect your DNA and change the way your genes function." Methyl iodide has been linked to miscarriages and thyroid disease and is listed as a carcinogen in California. Hmmm. Despite this, 47 states have registered this chemical for use. In addition to strawberries, the Rodale article says that methyl iodide is also used on tomatoes, peppers, and nursery crops. Florida is one of those registered states and a supplier of strawberries to grocery stores in Alabama. The article raises a number of interesting questions about the long-term effects of this chemical, which, by the way, must be applied by persons wearing protective gear with respirators.
As I said, there are pages and pages of hits when one searches for strawberries and pesticides. Don't take my word for it, and don't take the word of pesticide producers or the FDA. Investigate for yourself. Here are three more links to get you started: An online article from March 2011, "The Midas Touch, The Midas Effect," from Monterey County Weekly; articles about methyl iodide collected on the ANR News Blog (Agriculture and Natural Resources by the University of California); and a March 2011 online article from Change.org, "EPA to Re-examine Carcinogenic Pesticide, Methyl Iodide?"
I was in the dark about strawberries until a few months ago when my brother told me that they are one of the most heavily treated crops. I could not find organic strawberries in the grocery stores here, so I just went ahead and bought the inorganic kind this year, though I've bought organic in the past. I'm glad that Randle farms has the organic kind. Are they open to the general public?
ReplyDeleteAngela, follow my link to the side and under events they have a farm calendar that will tell you when the market days are/when the farm is open to the public to buy eggs, meat and whatever extra produce they have. Typically it is on a Wednesday.
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