"When I was a boy, we had strawberries..."
Posted on 03/17/2007 8:43:04 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PARIS (AFP) - The World Wildlife Fund on Friday warned consumers against buying Spanish strawberries, whose cultivation is having a "catastrophic" impact on wetlands in the south of the country.
"By buying Spanish strawberries -- on sale in supermarkets from January to April -- you are supporting the destruction of the Iberian natural milieu because the impact of this cultivation on the environment is catastrophic," WWF's Paris office said.
Some 95 percent of Spanish strawberries are grown on an area of 5,000 hectares (12,300 acres) around the Coto Donana national park, which is on the UNESCO world heritage list, WWF said.
Irrigation of the farms has reduced flows of fresh water to the Donana marshes by 50 percent and is draining one of the European Union's most important wet zones, WWF said.
Some 40 percent of the farms and 50 percent of the bore holes that feed them have no authorisation, the organisation said.
"The production is also highly pollutant, resulting in 4,500 tonnes of plastic waste every year and still using a pesticide which is banned in the EU (bromomethane)," it said.
Some 330,000 tonnes of strawberries are produced in Spain every year, of which more than half are exported. Germany and France are the largest importers.
Well, I was going to have steaks, but PETA told me to have strawberries. So, PETA and WWF, please fight it out amongst yourselves and get back to me.
Note to self: Prepare strawberry shortcake desert all next week.
Can we get these in the US?
But, then again, I'd hate to be on the wrong side of the WWF. I'd hate to get the people's elbow.
Much more important that the swamp should be protected than that the Spaniards should have enough to eat.
They ain't never going to drain them wet europants. That's their most important wet zone.
Breaking news: Kids blowing raspberries at parents cited as primary cause for global warming, says Algore.
"When I was a boy, we had strawberries..."
I think it's great that we can get produce during all times of the year, but... I personally make a little bit of an effort to try to buy locally and in-season when I can. I'm not always overly successful (good luck with local bananas and oranges in the PNW), but I try.
Just think. If you eat a strawberry, a swamp somewhere in southern Spain is suffering!!
Pásame las fresas, por favor.
Wasn't it French engineers who drained the Iraqi wetlands where the marsh Arabs lived so that France could do constuction, refinery or powerplant buildings, for Saddam.....
Sorry marsh Arabs you were not on Heritage territory.
Buy California strawberries....shouldn't be much longer...
gosh, i was re-e-ally upsetted when i saw that on yahoo, our socialist website.
imagine that, on
"the UNESCO world heritage list"
I just bought some lucious strawberries --- and I have no idea where they were grown. :0)
Hey, globalism is a great thing. Besides strawberries it has broubht us polio, diptheria, leprosy, etc. Can't live w/o it. And alwayys remember, the illegals are here only for the jobs.
I hate Spain for what they did to us in Iraq and for caving to the terrorists...
but I hate enviro wackos more--bring on the strawberry shortcake.
vaudine
"But I proved by geometric logic that there must be another key to the wardroom."
Nothing like a good strawberry,,
here's a WWF link.
CAP subsidies worsening Spanish drought
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/freshwater/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=23477
21 Sep 2005
Madrid, Spain – A new study by WWF has revealed that the impacts of the severe drought that has afflicted Spain for the past several months are being exacerbated by the overproduction of irrigated crops. WWF is calling for changes in the CAP to ensure better use of water in agriculture.
Although the Common Agricultural Policy sets quotas for the production of crops, farmers regularly grow produce above and beyond these quotas. WWF Spain found that the excess production of just four irrigated crops (maize, cotton, rice and alfalfa) is using 1,000 hm3 water per year - equivalent to the annual domestic consumption of over 16 million people. To avoid flooding the market and thereby lowering the price of certain fruits and vegetables like strawberries, farmers routinely withdraw the excess from the market, and, for certain crops, receive subsidies from the CAP as compensation for the lost income.
The subsidies have also lead to many farmers irrigating crops which do not need watering, such as olives and vines; 200,000 ha of olives in the Guadalquivir river basin are now irrigated, turning the traditionally ‘dry’ crop into the main water user in the region. The water used often comes from illegally dug boreholes; WWF estimates that more than 500,000 hectares of farmland are illegally irrigated in Spain.
"The lack of water isn’t just bad for people – it’s bad for nature. Spain is home to some of Europe’s most important wetlands, including the Doñana National Park, home to numerous rare species of bird, as well as some of the world’s last remaining Iberian lynx." said Guido Schmidt, Freshwater Programme Coordinator at WWF Spain. "In recent years, water levels in the Park have dropped due to the overexploitation of groundwater by rice and strawberry farmers, and in consequence the water level in the rivers and lagoons is decreasing."
The report was launched to coincide with an EU-sponsored conference in London where a range of experts will discuss how the Common Agricultural Policy can contribute to achieving the aims of the Water Framework Directive. Currently the environmental rules which farmers must adhere to to receive CAP subsidies do not cover water use, giving farmers little incentive to curb their excess consumption. WWF would like to see greater regulation of water use in agriculture, for example by withdrawing subsidies from farmers who irrigate illegally, and preventing EU funds from being used for large-scale irrigation schemes.
That's were I had them, The Strawberries.
That's geometric logic.
Anyway, it sounds like Vince McMahon has a real interesting plot line going on.
No, but they look pretty darn good --- that is until you tell me they're in chocolate covered ants or something equally awful....lol.
Nope, all strawberry,, not cheap tho.
I could tell they were expensive at first glance.
70 smackers a dozen ,, but they melt in yur mouth. :-)
WOW! THAT is pricey!
Heck, Yeah,, and folks think 6 bucks for a big basket is bad. ;-)
LOL! Everything is a "catastrophy" to these people.
I love strawberries! I buy them by the flat. I don't need anything put on them either, although whipped cream is nice once and a while.
Soylent pink is socialists!
It's a win-win-win!
Feed the steer strawberries and then butcher it for steaks. That will piss off both PETA and WWF.
"Ahh but the Strawberries, that's where I had them..."
I don't enjoy strawberries that much and normally wouldn't plan to buy any, but this changes everything...
I've been yearning for strawberry shortcake. Looks like this is the perfect excuse to have some!
Germany and France are the largest importers.
A few headlines like this and the the article would be changed to:
The United States is now largest importer.
The wrong side of PETA is worse. Nikita is Section One's top assassin 
The world can be destroyed by strawberries ?
LOL. Some potent drugs these loons are on.....
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