Posted on 04/15/2008 3:30:31 PM PDT by my_pointy_head_is_sharp
The vision of airplanes rumbling slowly over San Francisco, spraying a pesticide mist on parks and playgrounds, has now mobilized one of the most effective lobbying groups in the world.
Moms.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture's plan to eradicate the light brown apple moth with aerial spraying over the city this summer was already in an uphill fight. But when 100 or so mothers and kids showed up at City Hall on Monday afternoon with signs like "Keep Your Spray Off My Baby," it was clear that the battle had entered a new phase.
"Nothing gets people more irate than a government institution spraying their kids from a plane," said Jared Blumenfeld, director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. "It's a bad movie. And nobody wants to be in that movie."
Lynn Murphy, a mother of two, was at Monday's rally, somewhat surprised to be chanting "Stop the Spray" along with everyone else.
"I don't consider myself an activist," said Murphy, who lives a few blocks from Golden Gate Park, where the most moths have been found so far in the city. "But when it comes down to your children and protecting your family, it seems so much more urgent. I never thought I would be talking to my 4-year-old and telling her that we are going up to the state Capitol to talk to politicians."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Without pesticides half the world would be dead.
Look, I understand your concern. Keep your kids in....or move. You live in an agricultural area. I fought my father in law (on the above mentioned commercial orchard) about pesticides, because he was spraying them about every week! And, more than the rest of the commercial orchards in the area. You wouldn't believe the stuff they used in the 50's....still have a can in the Orchard shop, with a BIG BLACK X on it......or maybe they finally dumped it....in the back 40, where they dumped EVERYTHING 40 years ago!
It’s best to whack introduced species, if you wait until the do damage it’s usually too late because the damage they usually do is the eradication of a native species. And it’s a species known to do a lot of damage to crops, our economy has enough issues right now with out letting some introduced species at the CA fruit crop.
Mmm, yummy.
Actually, I try to buy only organic fruits and vegetables. You're welcome to continue consuming your pesticide-laced fruits and veggies, though.
You obviously don’t even know what the word luddite means.
San Francisco is not an agricultural area! It's a city.
Enlighten me, wise one. Explain the meaning in the context of this thread and your opposition to pesticides, pheromones, and modern technology.
You consider pesticides and pheromones to be modern technology? OK!
Then you do belong in San Francisco, you just don't belong on FreeRepublic.
If you are wealthy then of course you have every right to throw away your extra money on symbolism. If you are not wealthy and you have a family, you are doing a disservice to your children wasting money that might better be tucked away in a college fund or savings for their future.
Your choice. Good luck and be sure to park your Prius in a safe place at night.
DDT ... Oh how many lives it would have saved ... in Africa and other places ... vs ... the deaths with out it!
No, my friend, it's YOU who don't belong on FreeRepublic. I'm a Conservative. I have no idea what you are.
“You consider pesticides and pheromones to be modern technology? OK!”
WTF? Are you serious?
Are you mrely against pesticides and pheromones or does your hatred of technology extend to airplanes too? What about the Internet?
I run into that a lot these days. Kooky envirowhackos who wandered into the wrong party. How about you kick your hacky sack around for a while and we'll all ping our lists and ask Freepers to weigh-in on who is the conservative, you and your organic food fetish and pesticide phobia, or me.
Can I get some pings please?
We're not talking about Africa and its monumental problems, we're talking about the United States. And spraying over an urban area.
So now I'm a kooky envirowhacko because I oppose the spraying of an entire city (every month for 10 years)?
mrely = merely
Getting your cohorts lined up in opposition against me?
“You’re welcome to continue consuming your pesticide-laced fruits and veggies, though.”
I’m not a religious person, nor am I superstitious. I’ll continue consuming my tasty pesticide-laced food.
Cheers for science, technology, and capitalism!
I really thought there would be some people here who would be as concerned about this as I am. Silly me. Instead I am labeled a luddite, an envirowhacko, and whatever.
Yes. Apparently you have no idea how many times San Francisco has been sprayed in the past. I lived in the bay area for 15 years, and I saw it many times.
And yes, San Francisco is smack dab in the middle of one of the largest, most productive agricultural areas in the world. They spray the entire region, or they may as well not spray at all.
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