You may not want to eat strawberries from California soon.

California is about to sign off on an insane plan that would allow farmers to use one of the world's most dangerous chemicals as a pesticide on strawberry plants.

http://helpyourselftohealth.posterous.com/dangerous-new-pesticide-coming-to-the-produce

It's called methyl iodide, and even some chemists won't go near it. It's such a powerful and reliable carcinogen that researchers use it to induce cancer in lab animals.

But go ahead, take a bite. California says it's OK -- and never mind the five Nobel-winning chemists and dozens of other experts who've written a letter begging the EPA to keep this poison out of strawberry fields, forever.

Who do you believe -- a roomful of Nobel winners and their trusted colleagues, or a bunch of politically motivated bureaucrats?

This toxic monster has been linked to thyroid tumors, nerve damage, and brain and lung problems. It's also been known to cause miscarriages in lab animals -- when it's not being used to give them cancer.

No wonder it's such a great pesticide -- it can destroy just about anything. The pests don't stand a chance... and neither do you if you get too close to this poison.

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California pesticide regulators plan to approve a new agricultural chemical called methyl iodide for the state's coastal strawberry fields, allowing levels of exposure that the state's own experts say will put farmworkers and bystanders at risk.

The Department of Pesticide Regulation has set acceptable exposure levels for methyl iodide that are 120 times higher than recommended by its own scientists and an eight-person panel the department commissioned to peer-review its work.

The decision to increase exposure levels has caused a rift within the DPR, a little-known but powerful agency that oversees a major segment of the state's multibillion-dollar farming industry. In interviews, all eight peer-review scientists said their warnings and scientific analysis of the health risks of methyl iodide appear to have been disregarded.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/07/methyl-iodide-controversy_n_602904.html

Thanks for the heads up mic. Luckily it's local strawberry picking time here and I always wait for these local ones.

Same here Deb. In the winter though we quite often get strawberries from Cal and Fla.

We might not want the ones from Fla next year either with the gulf crap,

Time to get a deep freezer and pick a year's supply of those local ones. My mom used to do this and we had delicious strawberries year round.

how sad....I eat a lot less strawberries as they are supposed to loaded with toxins. What about organic? Much more expensive, but a treat once in a while. And yes local are best!!

We are known for our local organic produce in this area, it might even be a crime not to be organic (just kidding). It's a hippie turned yuppie community...OMG that sounded bad.

I just ate some a few days ago. I'm glad I always pray before I eat. I don't know if they were from California or not, but they sure tasted good.

Gabriel wrote:

I just ate some a few days ago. I'm glad I always pray before I eat. I don't know if they were from California or not, but they sure tasted good.

You are ok for now Gabe. They haven't yet approved the chemical but it looks like it will. So something to check in the future.