Tuesday, August 20, 2002

 

Why Things Suck

The following is all too typical of how the world works in these enlightened times. As the popularity of wine has soared, the county where I've lived the past 16+ years has been inundated with wineries. Grapes are growing everywhere. Apple orchards that were operating for three or more generations were destroyed to plant grapes. While the neatly planted rows of various types of grapes are beautiful to look at, recalling scenes of southern France, ecologicaly it's a disaster. They strip the land of any living organisim, so they can start from scratch. They spray all kinds of crap on them.

But I just want to focus on one aspect of the situation that effects all of our rights as human beings. A couple of years ago, an insect called the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter was discovered in southern California, about 600 miles away. This insect is detrementel to grapes. Since wine and the tourists it brings are now the major source of revenue here, this is a very big deal.

The first line of defense was inspection of all plants coming up from southern Ca. A good start, but surely just a delaying methood. So their follow up plan involves spraying the county with pesticides. If a Sharpshooter is found on or near your property, they want to spray it. Regardless of the health of the people that live there. Asthmatics, cancer patients, the aged, ....doesn't matter. The grapes come first.

There are many farms here that produce organic goods. Most of them have been here much longer than the wineries. If they're subjected to this treatment they are no longer organic farms. They're out of business for a minimum of three years! Apparently, we don't need clean food, but let there be wine!

The Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter is not harmful to humans or animals. The West Nile Virus is not a factor here. It only kills grapes and I think maybe avocados and something else that I can't remember. Realize that they aren't just talking about spraying the vineyards....they mean wherever it is found.....backyards, gardens, parks....anywhere. But these are the problems you can expect when you plant a monoculture. Every organic gardner knows that the solution is diversity and the introduction of predator insects. Another good step would be to ban all nursery plants from So. Ca. But that's a big industry too, so of course, it's out of the question!

When corprate interests take precedence over people and their health and livelyhood, (which is nothing new...) what kind of world have we created? This is just one story from a small piece of the planet. This type of problem solving is running rampant everywhere. What's going on where YOU live?

posted by ~Brahma 12:25 AM