Re: Unidentified subject!

Grem, Beth A wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
>  Very good points.  I am only a home grower but what you say makes sense.  I
> believe we tend to forget where our food comes from.  What I was thinking
> when I replied was that since commercial growers have large amounts of
> plants to tend to, they have no choice but to use chemicals when pests get
> out of hand.  But if I've got 6 pepper plants as a hobby, I should first do
> the hand pick thing before spraying willy-nilly. The web page did not offer
> that as an alternative.
> 
> Beth (md zone 7)
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Huhman [b*@bright.net]
> Sent: Saturday, June 05, 1999 2:32 AM
> To: veggie-list@eskimo.com
> Subject: Re: Unidentified subject!
> 
> Amen, Lorraine!  The same holds true in the animal production field. I read
> comments to the effect that the feed industry puts who knows what into
> animal feeds just to make a buck, without regard to safety or efficacy. I
> have managed feed mills for 21 years now, and the feed industry is
> conscientious about what additives are used and in what quantities.  It's
> very easy to criticize something that we don't personally have any knowledge
> of, particularly if it pertains to our food or health.  Were it not for
> commercial vegetable growers and livestock producers, a heck of a lot of us
> would be going to bed hungry at night..Like Lorraine, I don't want to start
> a war, but the 2% of the population that is feeding the rest of us needs
> some help getting the real story out somehow.  No one cares more about
> having a healthy food supply than the farmers supplying that food.
> 
> Bill Huhman
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Lorraine  <g*@syix.com> Hoag
> To: veggie-list@eskimo.com <v*@eskimo.com>
> Sent: Friday, June 04, 1999 6:06 PM
> Subject: Unidentified subject!
> 
> A quick comment on Beth G's remark about commercial growers using chemicals.
> It is a fact that commercial growers use fewer chemicals than the backyard
> gardeners.  Hard to believe?  Well it's true.
> It's all those lawns  that home owners pile chemicals on to keep them
> looking green and weed free. Also many home gardeners do not want any bugs
> or insects around and spray wildly around without thinking of the predators
> that are being killed as well.
> Yes I am a grower, almonds and prunes, and we are restricted to the bare
> minimum of chemical spray that can be used on our orchards. We also monitor
> the existence of insect damage before we even think of using a chemical.
> Two reasons.  Our crops are edibles and chemicals are expensive.
> On the page you recommended to Bill, you will note that the university made
> it clear that the grower must use traps or other means to establish the
> damage expected from insects at any particular time.  We do not, we cannot,
> just haphazardly spray away.
> Hope I am not starting a war here. It is just that farmers, growers, have
> this weird reputation of not caring about the environment and it's just not
> true.
> L
    Hi all. I'm new to this list. I dont want to start a war
either...but as far as chemicals go, there are alternative. I am an
organic gardener, well, a new one, only my 2nd time having a garden, but
the reason big commercial farms dont all go organic, is it is expensive,
and the supply and demand is'nt as high as "regular" grown produce. I
also have 6 fruit trees, that have'nt been sprayed with anything, and
are doing wonderful(just planted them last summer) our bigger problem
are the deer, need to put a fence around them until they get bigger.
Anyways, if all commercial farms were to go organic, the price would go
down, it would take a few years, but could easily be done. Anyways, not
sure if i really had a piont, guess i wanted to jupm in and say "hi".
Also, the one growing almonds and prunes, (L) what zone are you in? I'm
always looking for things to grow. Thanks
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