The Looming Toxic Legacy of Strawberries
Posted July 22nd, 2011 by Janelle SorensenMy daughters love strawberries and pretty much anything made with strawberries. I don’t know that I’ve ever met a kid who doesn’t. Do your kids? If they do, I urge you to take two minutes today to help stop a looming toxic legacy.
As Heather Pilatic, Co-Director of Pesticide Action Network North America, wrote on the Healthy Child blog this week:
More than 80 percent of the nation’s strawberries are grown in California and, unless we take action, many of these farms will soon begin using a fumigant (a pesticide injected as a gas to sterilize the soil) known as methyl iodide.The science on methyl iodide is strong and clear: scientists have overwhelmingly concluded that the public and environmental health risks associated with this chemical are extraordinary, even for a fumigant (fumigant pesticides are among the most toxic and difficult to control). Methyl iodide is a known carcinogen, neurotoxin, and mutagen… According to the chair of the Scientific Review Committee, Dr. John Froines, “there is no safe level of use for methyl iodide.”
Scientists use this chemical in the lab to induce cancer in cells and take serious precautions — using a ventilation hood and protective gear when handling small amounts. Yet, in California, methyl iodide is injected into the soil as a gas at rates of up to 100 lbs per acre. In addition to the threat posed to farmworkers and communities living next to strawberry fields, methyl iodide will likely contaminate groundwater.
Strawberries grown with methyl iodide will still be nutritional powerhouses, but if your berry leaves a wake of workers with more cancer, contaminated groundwater and serious risk of neurodevelopmental harm for kids who were exposed in the womb — can that still be called “healthy”?
Strawberries are naturally delicious and incredibly nutritious. How often do we find a food that’s so tasty and so amazingly good for us? Join us in taking action today to tell Governor Brown of California to protect the healthy legacy of this super-popular super-food.
Please take two minutes to take action! Sign here!
Read the rest of Heather’s post at HealthyChild.org. She highlights an interesting new study showing how incredibly nutritious strawberries are!
1 Comment
July 25, 2011 at 7:49 am by RalucaIt’s interesting the idea of this petition! I can not imagine how many horrible things are done for money. We should feed all those people who fertilizes the soil with that substance with contaminated strawberries!
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