Boycott Annie's brand food, please!

This year's been rough for me on the chrome front... Still no kayak salmon for me this season. I had planned to hit HMB tomorrow morning, but just found out earlier that I'll be working instead. Sifting lead bullets from a hillside the Navy used as a shooting range backstop...

If the weather hold up, I might try to hit HMB for chrome on Sunday afternoon/evening....

Watch that lead exposure. 

Roundup resistant weeds are more of a problem for the GMO crops that tolerate Roundup use.  We have to deal with resistance every day in the field.  We are on clone 14 for downey mildew in spinach.  We cannot breed spinach fast enough to outpace the evolution of the downey mildew.  This is not the result of fungicide applications,  more likely just the ability of mother nature to evolve to survive.  Breeding is the main means of staying in front of spinach downey mildew.  Currently we plant five varieties of spinach and hope to harvest two of them.  These losses are in the organic spinach.  Convention spinach allows us the use of several fungicides that give us an advantage. 

Insects develop very rapid resistance as well. After about 10 years our insecticides start to not quite work as well as they once did.  This is a function of some level of resistance being present in the population.  Fungi and insects have many generations in a year and that gives them ability to evolve and develop resistance more rapidly than something like a weed.  Weeds are generally only one generation per year and resistance takes longer to develop.

Roundup is not the only herbicide on the planet. I would guess that pre-emergent chemistries are used in greater tonnage than glyphosate.  If you rotate your chemistries,  you can roll back the evolutionary advantage that mother nature provides.  20 years ago, Ridomil fungicide was no longer active on downey mildew.  People stopped using it an favored other chemistries.  I can now rotate Ridomil back in and see good levels of control because we changed the gene pool of  downey mildew over 20 years.

Glyphosate does not work as well as it once did but it won't hurt us too badly.  They tweaked the chemistry a bit and glyphosinate is the hot ticket now.   I'm not sure if there are glyphosinate resistant crops out there yet.  They keep doing out with new chemistries and the trend is that they are less toxic, not more.  Government hasn't really given us anything toxic lately.  They mostly take it away.

Brian G,  the codling moth thing is tricky.  Start here.  http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7412.html   I'm betting that trying many different methods together will help.  Disruption,  scouting, timed sprays with the right BT (two types,  need to have the one more active on coddling moth) might be the ticket.  Let me know if you need help sourcing organic fertilizer.  I can 275gallons of 8-0-0 delivered to you for about $1000 out of the midwest.  My big guys are paying about that here but my guys in the desert are paying double that!  I can also get you BT at wholesale prices.

My parents have been battling the harlequin bug or bagrada bug for a while and its taking a toll on the oriental vegetable business. A lot of other farmers are having the same problem.  If you see bok choy or chinese mustard up in price its because of those damn stink bugs.

I have a question About organic only. Maybe some one can answer this. How much of the world's population would starve if the world went organic only. I do know the production per acre would drop.

 Here a fertilizer was banned in the US. But they could use it in Mexico. And sell the product here. I think California was the first to Ban the fertilizer. So farmers went out of state until the feds banned it.   

My parents have been battling the harlequin bug or bagrada bug for a while and its taking a toll on the oriental vegetable business. A lot of other farmers are having the same problem.  If you see bok choy or chinese mustard up in price its because of those damn stink bugs.

They are a nightmare.  In Yuma I saw a grower planted a strip of mustard down the center of the planting bed a few weeks before he transplanted his cabbage.  The bagrada were in the mustard and not the cabbage.  You can control them quite well with conventional sprays,  organic crops are a nightmare.

Is it wintertime already?

    

Thanks for posting this, AlexB. Wife and I glutten free and organic, mostly, for about three years now and we both feel much better -- really life changing for the Mrs. Have liked Annie's products and still have some on our shelf, but no more. The effect of my individual boycott of GM products, by itself, won't effect them much, but I will feel good about my effort, and who knows? from such small, individual steps a small army might move and grow. Thanks again.

As someone who votes with my dollar... Thank you for the info. I do care what goes in my families body.

I try I buy mostly at the Wonderful farmers markets here in Santa Cruz and fill in with staff of life. But Annie's was a safe quick easy fix for two young kids. But I won't support GM with my dollars so that they can further lobby against us.

It's all about personal choices 

I have never paid much attention to organic labels. It all seems a little overblown to me. I do worry about what agribusiness is doing to the land and water. I have heard about a new nongovernmental label for food products called Agritrue. They hope to replace the deception of government regulated "organic" labels with a voluntary system of transparency. They are currently trying to recruit producers and growers to use the label. If you think it matters how our food is produced, check it out. It might be a better way to label.

http://agritrue.com/about/

Been watching this thread thinking I'd put in my $.02 worth and just haven't do so until now.

True story... I had a back injury which left me sedentary for over 3-years. After surgery I decided to make up for lost time & had to loose a pile of weight. I became a caveman, a hunter gather or what is now referred to as the Paleo diet. Won't bore you with specifics; except to say went from 248 to 215 without exercise program of any kind... just a change in foods.

I promised myself at 215 I'd get ambitious; I figured my aching knees and feet from carrying so much extra weight would begin to feel better and so they do; I really haven't lost much more, just a few pounds, but I've become much stronger and feel like I may live for a few more years. BTW: My high school fighting weight was 205... Almost there!

I mention this because as a part of the diet, it is recommended to keep away from as many pesticides (and other contaminants) as possible, which is to say... no GMO's.

Here's my take on the current battle going on between the big chemical companies who want us to consume poison and the little family farmer who thinks we ought to live a healthy life free from chemicals.

Why in the world would the family farmer and us peon/surfs want to try to fight large corporations? What if the organic community decided to label their products NON GMO (most do anyway) so those of us who do care could buy those products; it would effectively cut off the fight or would it?

Here's the problem... you grow organic and your neighbor signs a binding ag contract with Monsanto (or others) which he can never get out of that says he has to buy their seeds and use their chemicals or leave the land barren (yes that's binding). Now, we'll say he goes for it and his organic neighbor's land is contaminated with all manner of chemicals & pesticides from run-off in the water table, and his free range chickens eats bugs tainted with chemicals, effectively ruining his crop with absolutely no recourse because; well because the contamination is an act of God... just cannot control those bugs can we?

So, does it matter? Time will tell... I'm crowding 70 and could give a crap about my time left here, except to say I want more kayaking & fishing time. For those of us who are knocking on heavens door (or another door LOL) it's not so important. But chemicals are like the national debt, someone down the line; your kids and grand-kids and mine will be the ones to pay the bill both in dollars and their health.

Should we care... I'm guessing we should.

If you want more information Google it, there is a fight going on right now with many millions being spent by Monsanto and others here in Oregon to convince us the chemicals are good for us (that's funny - I haven't liked chemicals since the 60's and early 70's).
That's all from me, thanks for the opportunity to vent.

A question for MoMo if you're checking in on this one. 

In general are the run of the mill fruits and vegetables in the marketplace, produced by big US commercial growers looking for max yield and profit (not the organic market) more or less toxic to humans than they were 20yrs ago?

I'm not saying they're toxic per se, but I guess what I mean is the pesticide residue lower and of a less toxic to humans nature than 20yrs ago?

I'm guessing yes with all the "old" pesticides that have been banned.

But I could be wrong.

A question for MoMo if you're checking in on this one. 

In general are the run of the mill fruits and vegetables in the marketplace, produced by big US commercial growers looking for max yield and profit (not the organic market) more or less toxic to humans than they were 20yrs ago?

I'm not saying they're toxic per se, but I guess what I mean is the pesticide residue lower and of a less toxic to humans nature than 20yrs ago?

I'm guessing yes with all the "old" pesticides that have been banned.

But I could be wrong.

Less toxic.  They make changes to product labels that remove use or increase the numbers of days to harvest.  When I started in 96, vydate was ok to apply up to one week to harvest.  Then a few years later they made it 14 days.  Then 21.  The chemistry eventually becomes irrelevant.  Our mainstay  for aphid control in cole crops was phosdrin and msr.  Phosdrin went away in the early 90's and MSR is essentially irrelevant now. They increased the pre-harvest interval and worker re-entry levels to levels that make it not possible to use them.  We said the charges would kill us,  the markets would collapse and we would not be able to grow broccoli.  Then came a new chemistry from Bayer that is very safe and it killed the aphid.    The timing was perfect. 

They also use something they refer to as a risk cup.  More toxicology lingo here. Essentially they gauge the risk a chemical posses to a population in the manner they consume it.  A few years ago they took leaf lettuces like romaine, red leaf, green leaf, and butter lettuces off the label for Kerb.  Kerb was the primary herbicide.  They allowed the product continued use on head lettuce.  The use on leaf lettuces filled the risk cup for our population so they pulled it.

All the chemistries being used now have little or now mammalian toxicity.  Government only approves"soft" environmentally responsible chemistries.  Huge amounts of money go into R and D.  Nobody is even bringing truly hazardous products to the EPA for submission. The origin of many of these products is nature, but then they are tweaked to be replicated synthetically.  A great conventional chemistry is spinosad.  It hammers worms and helps out with leaf miner and thrips too.  I think it originated in a Japanese golf course fungus. They have a synthetic and organic version of it.  Some of these products are the ones you put in your pets for flea control too. 

There is still very harmful chemistries in use.  Harmful in terms of acute exposure.  Their pre harvest intervals are long and they break down very rapidly. 

Government is also watching.  Ours and other foreign governments.  A few million dollars of organic produce rotted at the Mexican border last year as residue studies were an issue.  I think in this case it was heavy metals.  In the end, the government (ours) confused the math formula and as a result would not release the product.  I think a professor at Arizona State finally helped the EPA or FDA,  not sure which, see the error of their way.

I got a letter from the FDA a few years ago inquiring about my use of DDT on parsley!   WTF?  Have we even used it in the US in my lifetime?   Maybe the 1/2 life is that long and it's still in the soil from the 60's or their mass spectrometer was out of calibration. 

I hate government for the most part but I truly trust the efforts the epa and the state go through to protect our food.  I see the hurdles and delays they put up until they get what they need. 

Last comment on GMOs.  Monsanto is not the only company doing this.  All the big boys are.  A Bayer sales rep was joking with me that their scientists developed a GMO crop but were having Monsanto market it.

Bayer also bought the biggest organic chemistry innovator two years ago.  I guess if you connect the dots,  that acquisition is the same as what we saw with Annie's. 

Eat conventional produce, eat organic.   Just eat it!   Try to avoid produce grown in other countries specifically the developing nations.  It's worse than you think.  Workers make $1/hr and can't afford shoes.  I would never trust organic crops grown anywhere but here in the USA. There is too much potential to cheat.  There are only a few inspections by the certifier every year.  Maybe this is a good start,  getting to know and trust your grower  (stolen from above) http://agritrue.com

Thanks, I really appreciate the time that went into that response.  I'm kind of an info junky, but lazy when it comes to research.  I truly enjoy listening to someone in the business, regardless what the business is as it "increases my inventory of knowledge" 

The point of my question (and the answer I hoped you'd give) was that chemical exposure from fruits and veggies at least US grown is going down significantly compared to what it was when I was younger.

I eat more fruits and veggies than just about anyone I know, but I don't buy organic unless I have to, costs to much and from what I know the cost/benefit just doesn't seem worth it, FOR ME.

As for GM's purchase of Annie's. I think it's a nod to the growing popularity of organic and they want in on the market.  think about it they continue business as usual, which keeps their base business profitable, and their Organic business even more profitable by playing both sides of the issue.

If anyone is going to hold that type of business practice against them, then you better start looking at allot of other things too. 

Ever wonder where the plastic comes from that you yak is made of, or the gasoline you burn to get to the launch, or the fabrics (natural and synthetic) that your clothes are made of, or, or.

With all that said I do sometimes boycott companies based on their business/social/ethical/environmental practices. 

I don't "boycott" seems childish and whiny, I just chose to not do business as an adult with companies I disagree with. I dint feel the need to drum up support to validate my feelings. Where can I buy this white cheddar mac n cheese we speak of?