4 ms·

California’s strawberry industry is hooked on dangerous pesticides

28 points by r0h1n 12y ago

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
calbear81 12y ago
I generally buy organic for fruits and vegetables where I will eat with the skin on due to surface exposure to pesticide sprays. Being in the Bay Area, we have access to lots of organic strawberry farms relatively close by. I would suggest you try a day trip down to Pescadero when U-Pick is in season to do your own picking at Swanton Berry Farms. They had some of the best strawberries I have ever had and the price was better than at Whole Foods ($2.50/lb + freebies you eat while you pick). You can make a whole day out of it by checking out Harley's Goat Farm or head down to Santa Cruz.
- rhelmer 12y ago
  Certain organic pesticides, which generally take less time to break down in the environment than synthetic and so tend to need larger doses, are allowed on certified organic farms. Also there's a chance of things like E. coli from contact with manure (commonly used as a fertilizer, although it's supposed to be aged and/or treated as part of the organic certification in the US), or just from bacteria normally present in soil. So, make sure you wash fruits and vegetables before eating, whether grown on organic-certified farms or not! (EDIT - s/more time/less time/)
  - leoh 12y ago
    I personally know the field manager at Swanton Berry Farm and they do not use pesticides. It's an amazing place. http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2009/09/21/a-farm-of-a-different-breed/ http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2009/09/21/a-farm-of-a-diffe...
    - bryanlarsen 12y ago
      Do they use manure?
protonfish 12y ago
It's like a battle to see whose science is worse. In the end there are so few facts on either side it is hard to make any rational conclusions. I suppose this is true for any political debate. When you should be starting with facts to form an opinion, politics starts with an opinion and collects supporting facts while ignoring disproof.
pessimizer 12y ago
sitedown: http://web.archive.org/web/20141110211538/https://beta.cironline.org/reports/californias-strawberry-industry-is-hooked-on-dangerous-pesticides/ http://web.archive.org/web/20141110211538/https://beta.ciron...
callmeed 12y ago
I grew up, and still currently live, right in the middle of strawberry-land (South San Luis Obispo and North Santa Barbara counties). I grew up in Oceano, which has a lot of strawberry fields and migrant farm workers (I went to one of the few bilingual elementary schools at the time). A few observations/anecdotes related to strawberries and pesticides: - The strawberry "season" here is now much longer. It used to be that in early April all the local farms would open their roadside stands within a week of each other. They would all shut down around the same time too. Many of them now open in February or March and sell strawberries into early Fall. - The strawberries now look and taste different than they did when I was a kid (i.e. the 1980s). They used to be smaller, sweeter and red all the way through. The strawberries you get now are often white inside (unripe?), less sweet and much larger. There is one local farm [1] whose strawberries are so big it's freaky. - Some friends of mine lived in a neighborhood surrounded by strawberry and other other produce fields. Frequent dust, migraines and illness forced them to sell their house and move to another part of the county. Purely anecdotal of course but they are convinced pesticides were partly to blame. [1] https://www.facebook.com/pages/Okui-Strawberry-and-Fruit-Stand/151691566787 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Okui-Strawberry-and-Fruit-Sta...

28 points by r0h1n 12y ago

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

I generally buy organic for fruits and vegetables where I will eat with the skin on due to surface exposure to pesticide sprays. Being in the Bay Area, we have access to lots of organic strawberry farms relatively close by. I would suggest you try a day trip down to Pescadero when U-Pick is in season to do your own picking at Swanton Berry Farms. They had some of the best strawberries I have ever had and the price was better than at Whole Foods ($2.50/lb + freebies you eat while you pick). You can make a whole day out of it by checking out Harley's Goat Farm or head down to Santa Cruz.

rhelmer 12y ago
Certain organic pesticides, which generally take less time to break down in the environment than synthetic and so tend to need larger doses, are allowed on certified organic farms. Also there's a chance of things like E. coli from contact with manure (commonly used as a fertilizer, although it's supposed to be aged and/or treated as part of the organic certification in the US), or just from bacteria normally present in soil. So, make sure you wash fruits and vegetables before eating, whether grown on organic-certified farms or not! (EDIT - s/more time/less time/)
- leoh 12y ago
  I personally know the field manager at Swanton Berry Farm and they do not use pesticides. It's an amazing place. http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2009/09/21/a-farm-of-a-different-breed/ http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2009/09/21/a-farm-of-a-diffe...
  - bryanlarsen 12y ago
    Do they use manure?

protonfish 12y ago

It's like a battle to see whose science is worse. In the end there are so few facts on either side it is hard to make any rational conclusions. I suppose this is true for any political debate. When you should be starting with facts to form an opinion, politics starts with an opinion and collects supporting facts while ignoring disproof.

pessimizer 12y ago

sitedown: http://web.archive.org/web/20141110211538/https://beta.cironline.org/reports/californias-strawberry-industry-is-hooked-on-dangerous-pesticides/ http://web.archive.org/web/20141110211538/https://beta.ciron...

callmeed 12y ago

I grew up, and still currently live, right in the middle of strawberry-land (South San Luis Obispo and North Santa Barbara counties). I grew up in Oceano, which has a lot of strawberry fields and migrant farm workers (I went to one of the few bilingual elementary schools at the time). A few observations/anecdotes related to strawberries and pesticides: - The strawberry "season" here is now much longer. It used to be that in early April all the local farms would open their roadside stands within a week of each other. They would all shut down around the same time too. Many of them now open in February or March and sell strawberries into early Fall. - The strawberries now look and taste different than they did when I was a kid (i.e. the 1980s). They used to be smaller, sweeter and red all the way through. The strawberries you get now are often white inside (unripe?), less sweet and much larger. There is one local farm [1] whose strawberries are so big it's freaky. - Some friends of mine lived in a neighborhood surrounded by strawberry and other other produce fields. Frequent dust, migraines and illness forced them to sell their house and move to another part of the county. Purely anecdotal of course but they are convinced pesticides were partly to blame. [1] https://www.facebook.com/pages/Okui-Strawberry-and-Fruit-Stand/151691566787 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Okui-Strawberry-and-Fruit-Sta...