Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
Of mice and men
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy! - Robert Burns, 1785
This well-known poem came to mind when I read an article in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle. The story said Monterey County farmers are being forced to drain ponds and clear planted buffers that have provided habitat for beneficial insects and helped clean runoff water - all in the name of food safety.
Writer Carolyn Lockhead of the Chron's Washington bureau said farmers were resorting to "scorched-earth strategies" in the quest for an antiseptic field of greens.
"Vegetation harboring pollinators and filtering storm runoff is being cleared. Fences and poison baits line wildlife corridors. Birds, frogs, mice and deer - and anything that shelters them - are caught in a raging battle in the Salinas Valley against E. coli O157:H7, a lethal, food-borne bacteria," Lockhead wrote.
But the article draws from UC Davis expertise to point out that clearing away buffers may do more harm than good. UC Davis scientists found that vegetation buffers can remove as much as 98 percent of E. coli from surface water, according to the story. UC Davis advisers warn that some rodents prefer cleared areas.
"Sanitizing American agriculture, aside from being impossible, is foolhardy," the article quoted UC Berkeley food expert Michael Pollan. "You have to think about what's the logical end point of looking at food this way. It's food grown indoors hydroponically."
Shades of another literary classic, "Brave New World."
Former UC advisor writes indignant piece for local paper
Is retail grocery giant Vons Supermarket co-opting the local food movement? The retired director and farm advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Ventura County, Larry Yee, seems to think so. In an opinion piece published in the Ventura County Star over the weekend, Yee expresses displeasure in Vons' loose definition of the term "local."
His curiosity was piqued, Yee writes, when he noticed cherries labeled "locally grown." A Ventura County ag professional for 24 years, Yee said he came up blank trying to think of a cherry orchard within 200 miles, a generally accepted and even liberal definition of "local." He asked the produce manager where the "local" produce was coming from.
"(The produce manager) quickly responded, 'California,' and then added, 'some of it is coming from Texas and other states, so I guess, it would be the USA,'" Yee wrote in his column.
Vons proudly promotes its "locally grown" produce in the store, on TV and on the front page of its Web site, alluding to the company's 50-year commitment to local farming. "In addition to the quality benefits, buying locally grown fruits and vegetables reduces greenhouse emissions by limiting transportation miles, and helps to ensure the vitality of local farms," the Web site crows.
However, Yee for one resents the company's claim on the adjective "local." He concludes his article:
"I am tired of false advertising and deceptive marketing practices by the big corporate world that values profitability above all else. Our global recession should give us all a huge pause to seriously rethink and redesign for a more 'sustainable' economy and future. The true 'local food' movement can help lead the way and that’s not loco."
Larry Yee
Activist radio program takes on UC-patented pesticide
They say all publicity is good publicity, so I'll point out a report about UC research that appeared on a blog and radio program titled Uprising - Subverting the Airwaves, broadcast on KBFK radio in Los Angeles and on the Web.
The premise is a proposed substitute for the fumigant methyl bromide, which is being phased out because it has been found to deplete ozone in the earth's atmosphere. The substitute, methyl iodide, was patented by UC Riverside, the story said, and licensed to Arysta LifeScience.
Methyl bromide has been important to the state's strawberry industry. Growers used it to control soil-borne pests and diseases that dramatically reduce strawberry yields. Methyl iodide does not harm the earth’s atmosphere, but many scientists and concerned citizens worry that it increases cancer, causes miscarriages and poses other health risks in humans and animals, said the program's host, Sonali Kolhatkar.
The guest on the show was Susan Kegley, a chemist and consulting scientist for the Pesticide Action Network. She said switching from methyl bromide to methyl iodide is analogous to leaping from the frying pan into the fire.
"This just seems like the wrong direction for California agriculture to be heading," she said.
Kegley mentioned that the California Department of Pesticide Regulation is currently considering the registration of methyl iodide in strawberries, and that the Pesticide Action Network is organizing a petition against the chemical's registration.
"The strawberry industry got together and developed a lot of techniques that would work, but are not in broad practice because (chemical) alternatives are available," Kegley said.
Newspaper airs harsh realities for UCCE
The Contra Costa Times yesterday ran a story about the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors' proposal to cut its $325,383 funding for the UC Cooperative Extension program.
The story centered on the cut's potential impact on the county's 4-H program. Writer Nanci Valcke reported that she gleaned from "UCCE literature" the breadth of the program's role in the community. "As a land-grant institution, the UC Cooperative Extension mandate is tied to the welfare, development and protection of California agriculture, natural resources and people," Valcke wrote.
The reporter also noted the wide-ranging UCCE involvement in the local community, including:
- Services to Countywide Youth Commission, Head Start in Concord, Employment and Human Services and flood control
- City programs
- Collaboration on the Markham Arboretum in Concord
- Help with the golf course, open space and trails, parks department and Heather Farm in Walnut Creek
- Collaboration with the East Bay Regional Park District and Mt. Diablo State Park
The story raised the possibility that the county's 150 4-H members could be absorbed by the 4-H program in neighboring Alameda County.
"I don't think Alameda is as cool. It's going to be difficult to be called Alameda 4-H. (But) I try and think of what Alameda is doing for Contra Costa, which is keep us going," the article quoted Orinda 4-H member Madison Gibson.
Newspaper sleuth finds evidence of gopher horde
A reporter at the Ventura County Star, Lisa McKinnon, did some detective work recently trying to substantiate a hunch about gophers. Her theory appeared in the third paragraph of a story published today: "Landscapers and gardeners alike say the local gopher population this year is one of the biggest, and possibly the most hungry, they have seen."
Evidence included in the story:
“I’ve definitely noticed more gophers this year on the trails. It looks like Swiss cheese out there.” - volunteer UC Master Gardener Dani Brusius
“It does seem to be a little busier this year than in the past." - Jeremy Patton, supervising manager for the pest management company GopherMan
And deniers:
"The number of gopher holes in the county’s regional parks is no higher this year than in the past." McKinnon paraphrased Ron Van Dyck, deputy director of the Ventura County Parks Department
No one would disagree that just one gopher can do a lot of backyard damage. The story includes a number of control options and many readers posted comments with gopher eradication strategies of their own. The article also steers readers to reliable information on gopher management: UC Cooperative Extension. A side bar with the article includes the URL for the Ventura County UC Master Gardener program and a direct link to the UC IPM Pest Note on gophers.
Have you noticed more gophers this year than in the past? Yes or no, please post a comment.
Pocket gopher.