Subject: Re: Obtaining information on pesticide applications
From: [email-masked] (LodiCraig)
Date: 16 Jul 1994 05:48:02 -0400
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

In article <[email-masked]>,
[email-masked] writes:

>How does a consumer go about obtaining this information for specific
items he
>or she purchases at the local grocery store?

Its a little work, but it is do-able.  In California, there is now no
reason why you can't find out how you head of lettuce was treated.  This
does not apply to processed foods, since they are usually a mix of produce
from many many farmers.  Most processors are very strict about pesticide
compliance since one bad farmer can mess it up for a whole lot of product.

Start by asking you grocery store's produce clerk where & when they
purchased the vegetable.  Most stores purchase from a packer/shipper. 
Some purchase directly from farmers.  Many vegetables and fruits are sold
directly from the labeled crates.

Next, go to the packer and see if you can find out the name of the farm or
farmer who grew the vegetable.  You might need to be specific about the
date of shipment or other details like that.  The packer/shippers keep
track of that info in case a farmers produce goes bad ... the farmer then
won't get paid.

Then you could either go to the farmer himself, or go the the farmer's
county ag commissioner's office.  The county ag commissioner will have a
record of all pesticides used, and how much was used by that farm(er).

If your 'audit trail' breaks down, then don't buy from that grocery store.
 Some small grocery stores buy stolen produce and fruit, in which case
there would be not trail to follow, and no promise of safety.  Also be
careful of off farm roadside vendors  and flee market vegetables for the
same reasons.  Farmer's markets are great since you can often buy directly
from the farmer who grew the produce.

It was amazing that during the med fly quarentine in parts of California
how cheaply you could buy oranges and other soft fruit from the back of a
pickup truck at some street corner.  Few people realized that that fruit
had to have been smuggled or stolen (and the risk they were taking).  When
it comes to these guys, ignor the label on the bag ... they steal the bags
too.

Please send me an e-mail if you try out the search.  I would like to know
how it turns out.

To your health,
Craig, a farmer in California