Guest guest Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Hi all, Several years ago I was involved in teaching organic farmers about remineralizing their fields to bump up the nutritional levels when their fields had been mined out of those nutrients. One Mexican chap who was one of the respected organic growers and consultants in Mexico got offered a whole big ocean going ship load of left over Agent Orange from Viet Nam left there when the US pulled out rather quickly. He got the load and sold it to growers all over Mexico to reduce weeds in the rows so that there would be less labor weeding the fields. Last I heard, he had gone for a second ship load since the sales were so brisk and everyone liked how it reduced weeds between the rows and around the edges of the fields. And then of course when you look on labels these days, much of the off season produce is coming from Mexico... so who is eating this stuff? Just google Agent Orange sites in Viet Nam and see pics of the babies and adults deformed by that substance. Plus, which I have not been able to confirm yet, there is supposedly a company in Houston,TX which is still manufacturing DDT and shipping it out of the Port of Houston bound for farmers and bug sprayers around the world. I heard this story from a conversation with a stevedore who worked there at the port of Houston. And there is minimal to no foods testing apparently from what I have been able to find out. No one gives much of a shit about the toxins put on the fields in other countries which then gets shipped into the US. If anyone has " proof " of either of these happenings, please post on this group if you will... thanks... I'd like to learn more... I'm reminded of the cool health food store in Santa Cruz, CA which has a big sign above the produce which says that 80% of the produce is organically grown within 15 miles of the store, 15% within 100 miles and the other 5% is from elsewhere. Makes big sense to get locally grown produce so that you can potentially have more feedback loop with the growers for purity and nutritional levels... sorta the Macrobiotic concept to only eat fruits and veggies in season, locally grown. St: Message: 2 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:02:37 -0000 " Christian Blackburn " <Christian_Blackburn Indian Mangoes Anyone Hi Gang, I just thought you should all know about the mandatory processing of mangoes coming into the Unites States. They all have to be irradiated: Video Parody: http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/MediaClips.htm + Press Release http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB? contentidonly=true & contentid=2006/03/0063.xml .. Does this make anyone else especially leary about by edibles from India? It should! Bon Apetit! -Christian Blackburn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 > And then of course when you look on labels these days, much of the > off season produce is > coming from Mexico... so who is eating this stuff? Just google > Agent Orange sites in Viet > Nam and see pics of the babies and adults deformed by that substance. FWIW, I read an article a couple of years ago that asserted that *on average* produce from Mexico tested to have *lower* pesticide levels than that from the US. > And there is minimal to no foods testing apparently from what I > have been able to find > out. No one gives much of a shit about the toxins put on the fields > in other countries > which then gets shipped into the US. Duff Wilson @ the Seatimes did a series of articles a few years back documenting the way that toxic waste in the US goes into chemical fertilizers, loaded with heavy metals. > I'm reminded of the cool health food store in Santa Cruz, CA which > has a big sign above > the produce which says that 80% of the produce is organically grown > within 15 miles of > the store, 15% within 100 miles and the other 5% is from > elsewhere. Makes big sense to > get locally grown produce so that you can potentially have more > feedback loop with the > growers for purity and nutritional levels... sorta the Macrobiotic > concept to only eat fruits > and veggies in season, locally grown. It also makes sense simply from an energy standpoint. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 Thanks for the balance, Anthony. It seems to me if they are putting Agent Orange on their fields, it would kill the crop along with the weeds. How would the pesticide know the difference? Ron RawSeattle , Anthony D'Atri <aad wrote: > > > > And then of course when you look on labels these days, much of the > > off season produce is > > coming from Mexico... so who is eating this stuff? Just google > > Agent Orange sites in Viet > > Nam and see pics of the babies and adults deformed by that substance. > > FWIW, I read an article a couple of years ago that asserted that *on > average* produce from Mexico tested to have *lower* pesticide levels > than that from the US. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 > Thanks for the balance, Anthony. It seems to me if they are > putting Agent > Orange on their fields, it would kill the crop along with the > weeds. How > would the pesticide know the difference? That depends on the herbicide. Some kill *everything* and are known as soil sterilants, used eg. along electric fences to keep vegetation from shorting the wires. Others target plant chemistry that's unique to a fraction of the plant kingdom, often broad-leaf plants. Ones sold to people who mistake their lawns (which are themselves an abomination, but I digress) for astroturf are often like this, not affecting grasses, but doing a number on dandelions, plantains, etc. " Agent Orange is a roughly 1:1 mixture of two phenoxy herbicides in ester form, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5- trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). These herbicides were developed during the 1940s by independent teams in England and the United States for use in controlling broad-leaf plants. Phenoxy agents work by mimicking a plant growth hormone, indoleacetic acid (IAA). When sprayed on broad-leaf plants they induce rapid, uncontrolled growth, eventually killing them. When sprayed on crops such as wheat or corn, it selectively kills just the broad-leaf plants in the field - the weeds - leaving the crop relatively unaffected. " 2,4-D was legal in the US at least as of a couple of years ago, and probably still is. It seems unlikely to me that farmers in Mexico would go through the trouble and expense of mixing up Agent Orange, including diesel or kerosene -- those would get expensive, and likely taint the taste of the crops too. One possibility might be that they're using 2,4-D and someone equated that to Agent Orange. And there's no way they'd be using AO on things like strawberries or vegetables, as they'd be killed too. There are some plants that seem to be immune to pretty much anything. @$@ #!! Japanese knotweed, for example. If you spray it with mecoprop (which is now illegal in the US) or *undiluted) Roundup, you'll kill the foliage, but it'll regrow from the deep roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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