Samantha Atkins wrote:
>
> Barbara Lamar wrote:
> > I've had the experience of using manure from horses who'd been fed hay
> > cut from pastures sprayed with 2,4-D. The herbicide residue in the manure
> > killed all my broad leaf plants. Even the county ag extension agent here,
> > who was educated at a university which advocated the liberal use of
> > pesticides in agriculture now questions whether it is, afterall, a good
> > thing.
> >
>
> Exactly. Old style pesticide use is much more dangerous. However, some
> kind of pesticides must be used to have effective crop yields. So you
> do what is most controllable.
>
> > I doubt that it's any worse to eat Starlink corn itself than it would be
> > to eat animals who'd been fed on it.
>
> Actually it should be much better to eat animals fed this corn and the
> corn itself than corn that had been massively sprayed the old-fashioned
> way. The pesticide is in the plant but not necessarily as concentrated
> in the actual corn. But I would need to see studies on that idea.
I was under the impression that the pesticide was only present in the pollen and
tassels of the plant. Is it in fact present throughout the corn plant (cows
typically are fed the whole plant chopped up as 'silage')? Moreover, if the
pesticide is present in the meat (or in the consumer corn products being sold),
what is its 'safe' level? How many tacos does couch potato Jose have to eat
during a football game in order to receive a harmful dose?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:19 MDT