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Toxic produce and the Pacific Festival of the Book
The Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides is available in wallet-sized pdf and iphone versions. Kind of a helpful thing to keep in mind as you plan your summer garden!
To save you the click, the “Dirty Dozen” (avoid non-organic versions) are:
- Peach
- Apple
- Bell Pepper
- Celery
- Nectarine
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Grapes (Imported)
- Carrot
- Pear
while the “Clean 15” (lowest in pesticides) are:
- Onion
- Avocado
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapple
- Mango
- Asparagus
- Sweet Peas
- Kiwi
- Cabbage
- Eggplant
- Papaya
- Watermelon
- Broccoli
- Tomato
- Sweet Potato
Meanwhile, back in the poetry world, this Saturday at 11am, I’ll be appearing in a panel called The Writer and Responsibility at the Pacific Festival of the Book, and then reading my poetry between 2-3pm together with Janet Rogers and Walter Hildebrandt (who are also on the panel, as is Gary Geddes, Stephen Henighan and Trevor Carolan). This takes place at the Church of St John the Divine, on Quadra/Balmoral; where long ago in another lifetime my mother sang in the choir.
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The swine, the swine
Pity the pigs who will die in vain over the misunderstandings that are propagating even faster than swine flu itself. If we had any doubt about human arrogance in putting ourselves above the interests of other species, we certainly confirm it whenever our species is at any risk. Consider the millions of turkeys, chickens, sheep, cattle, even water buffalo who have died over the past decade or so in the name of disease prevention. It was known then as it is known now that many of these animals were not diseased, but it was cheaper to kill them all, these unfortunate sentient beings in our dubious human custody.
The whole H1N1/”swine” flu business has at least, I hope, raised some flags about factory farming of animals, including but not only pigs. If we could all agree to skip a few meals of meat each week we could change the situation; but we don’t. Why don’t we? Instead, we are treated to messages telling us not to stop eating pork. And Egypt says it wants to improve pig farming by moving the animals away from the sources of urban garbage they’re fed and onto “proper farms”. Maybe the pigs being culled are better off…
While we wait for the UN to test the pigs at the centre of the outbreak, here’s some reading on the virus:
(But first, some pig poetry: Margaret Atwood’s Pig Song; Roald Dahl’s The Pig; Donald Hall’s Eating the Pig.)
April 29
Swine Flu: Don’t Blame the Pig (Time)
Swine flu: The predictable pandemic? (New Scientist)April 30
Swine flu source spawns wild theories (Reuters)
Virus’s Tangled Genes Straddle Continents, Raising a Mystery About Its Origins (New York Times)
Did factory farming cause the swine flu outbreak? (Macleans)May 2
The pig’s revenge (Guardian – Felicity Lawrence)May 5
H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) and You (CDC-Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)
Swine Flu Shows Need for Better Animal Testing (Time) -
Does food matter? And the birds and the bees.
So does food matter? If so, to whom? Why not to everyone? How do you make people care, or what should you expect them to do to prove they care? I’ve been asking myself many such questions in recent weeks.
I’ve been to two less-than-crowded gatherings lately, organised with the purpose of showing politicians in the provincial election that the voting public cares deeply about its food and about agricultural issues affecting food production. Apparently the current government correctly deduces that the public is not concerned enough to show up en masse, and so neither must they. No Liberal politicians bothered to accept the invitation to come and defend the government’s record at the legislature rally or the all-candidates forum on food security last week.
It’s odd, because if you ask around, you do find a lot of people out there who do seem to care, and who are acting on their concerns by buying local foods, supporting local farmers, growing their own food; vegetable seeds and starts are selling in record numbers; restaurants and shops that specialise in local foods are springing up like weeds. But then again, when I peek in the carts of my fellow shoppers in grocery stores, I see convenience foods; imported out-of-season fruits and vegetables; highly processed foods laden with hfcs, preservatives and fats; cases of pop, and generally a totally unsustainable lifestyle carrying on around me. And a miniscule percentage of the public turning up at food and agriculture rallies.
Farming Today, the straight-on BBC Radio 4 program on farming issues, talked honeybees last week. You can catch the full week’s worth – which includes an interesting exchange about the part that pesticide group neonicitinoids may play in unexplained bee deaths – for another six days. This week it’s on to chickens…
It’s definitely turned into spring here. My new mason bee house filled up a week after I mounted it on the fence
so I’ve added some high-density housing
along the lines of what Haliburton uses; I think I need to cut the tubes down in mine so they’re better protected from the elements.
Haliburton has also brought in some wireworm specialists to help with integrated pest management in the fields. They’re young but willing.
And finally, a walk through the woods proves the arrival of spring: Trillium in bloom
and food on the hoof: salmonberry
and oregon grape both in flower.
Arrrrr…
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In her latest collection, Rhona McAdam navigates the dark places of human movement through the earth and the exquisite intricacies lingering in backyard gardens and farmlands populated by insects and pollinators, all the while returning to the body, to the tune of staccato beats and the newly discovered symmetries within the human heart.
“…A beautiful, filling collection, Larder is a set of poems to read at the change of the seasons, to appreciate alongside a good meal, and to remind yourself of the beauty in everything, even the things you may not appreciate before opening McAdam’s collection….”
Rhona McAdam is a writer, poet, editor, and Registered Holistic Nutritionist with a Master’s in Food Culture from Italy and a deep-rooted passion for ecology and urban agriculture. Her work spans corporate and technical writing to poetry and creative nonfiction, often exploring the vital links between what we eat and how we live. Based in Victoria, BC, and available via Zoom, Rhona is always open to new writing commissions, readings, or workshops on nutrition and the culinary arts.
