Are California Strawberries Deadly?

[Mackay]

I get a magazine called Acres, its for the agricultural community. They had an article in it about Strawberries... I will type this out for you so you understand how extreme this is!

Danger! Proposed Surgeon General's Warning for (NON-ORGANIC) Strawberries

Average Pesticide and Fertilizer use on 2006 California Strawberries: 9,274,453 pounds of pesticides used at an average of 279.44 lbs. per acre on 33,190 acres. This is the highest average pesticide use on any fruit or vegetable! Two of the top five pesticides are probable carcinogens. All five of the top chemcials cause multiple birth defects. Five pesticides account for more than 90% of use on California strawberries. The most used pesticide was Chloropicrin, or tear gas.
Second most used pesticide was Methyl Bromide, the ozone destroyer. 92.3% of berries tested had pesticide residues. 69.2% of berries tested had two or more residues. Of the 109 pesticides used on strawberries, 38 were detectable on berry samples. Some strawberry samples had as many as 8 residues. Strawberries were the second-most pesticide contaminated fruit in the EWG study. Fertilizer use averaged 350 pounds of Nitrogen fertilizer per acre on costal lands, which drain into the ocean. Nitrogen fertilizer is the main cause of nitrate water pollution, dead zones in the ocean $ greenhouse gas polluton. Pregnant women, children and the elderly are the most at risk from the use of this fruit! Sources: Califronia EPA, DPR and CDFA, Environmental Working Group, U.S.EPA.

- Will Allen & Ronnie Cummins

for more, see "Is This Factory Farming's Tobacco Moment?"
at www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_20581.cfm


Time to leave california non organic strawberries behing.

 

[Rebecka]

Yep! Strawberries are way up there on the dirty dozen of pesticide heavy foods. I hope its okay to post this link. Mods, if not.. Sorry! http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods

 

[TanksHill]

Lovely!!!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Yeah, I won't eat strawberries unless they are organic or come from my own garden. I will wait for the organic strawberries to come into season, even though it is really hard to be patient.

 

[Ldychef2k]

So far this year the grandchildren and I have consumed about the same number of strawberries as usual: Two flats. I have made strawberry lemonade, 23 pints, as well. I am happy to report than none of us has died.

Sorry, just not intimidated by the food police. They have an agenda, and I don't listen to them.

 

[murphysranch]

here here, Ldychef!

 

[Rebbetzin]

I put in my own strawberries this year. Now I am glad I did! I saw a program once on all the chemicals that are not metabolized by the liver or kidneys. They stay in our bodies and the average person has at least 84 different types of these chemicals running around their bodies at any given time.

We wonder why there is an increase in cancer and our children are "affected" from birth with many maladies. It is hard to imagine these chemicals wouldn't cause a few defects on a tiny developing baby.

 

[Sunny]

Hmmm this makes me wonder. I never thought about it.

On easter we had strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was at my inlaws house. The next day my two kids and I were sick. Very sick for about 3 days. My DH did not get sick. He ate every thing we did, except for the strawberry shortcake.

I wonder if it was the strawberries that made us all sick..

 

[Ldychef2k]

My vote is for the Easter candy, if there was any.

 

[Wifezilla]

Most of the diseases we see today can be traced to the introduction of large amounts of sugars, starches and grains in to the diet and the removal of healthy natural saturated fats.

Chemicals MAY contribute, but the evidence that carbohydrates cause more damage to the human body than the typical exposure to pesticides most of us get is overwhelming.

Gary Taubes laid it all out very well with loads of references in his book "good Calories Bad Calories". Others have also documented what happened to native populations once they started getting regular supplies of white flour and sugar as well as tobacco. In one very memorable example, the Tokelau Atoll natives started getting "western food" on a regular basis and after a while began getting gout, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart disease, etc... Then there was an accident with the ship that delivered the supplies and they were cut off of the sugar and flour for months. During the time the ship was out of commission, they returned to their native diet of mostly coconut and fish. The clinic reported that by the time the shipments started again, the people who had been coming for treatment for all those "diseases of civilization" no longer needed to come to the clinic. They had lost weight, their blood pressure had gone back to normal, etc...

(Note I said typical exposure. I am not talking about farmer workers or people who end up with huge doses due to accident, mismanagement, or outright criminal dumping.)