North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Doreen Howard" <doreenh@ticon.net>]

mIEKAL wrote:

> Here in WI they scared up a bunch of grant money to give growers
> startup money to create small scale vinyards.  I attended a tour &
> meeting & lost interest pretty quickly when they kept talked about 2-4D
> drift.  There were a number of others there who were also doing the
> project organically which had the same reaction, so possibly all the
> organic folks may pool together
.
The 2-4D drift is really bad in suburban areas, too, in Wisconsin.  The lawn
care people have convinced local consumers that they need to have weed-free,
dandelion-free turf, and the applicators are spraying lawns locally every 4
to 6 weeks throughout the growing season.  Not only is 2-4D harmful to
plants, but it causes a variety of medical conditions in animals and people.
Personally, I break out in red, itchy rashes that usually turn into staph
infections.  A UW professor recently did a study on the effects of 2-4D on
animals and humans, and his results and acknowledgement of excellent work in
professional journals were written about in the Madison, WI newspaper.

Immediately, the lawn care industry called the NBC, CBS and ABC TV
affiliates and created a story worthy of the 6 p.m news.  They blasted the
professor, UW and the study, saying that not using 2-4D would destroy the
lungs of Wisconsin--the green grass of golf courses and manicured lawns that
pump plenty of oxygen into the atmosphere--that was their argument. The TV
guys bought it hook, line and sinker and make it their lead story on the
news that night and followed up the next day with more footage of manicured
golf courses.

Part of my grape vines (ones I got from Lon) suffered 2-4D damage this
summer, too.  I think it was because the neighbor emptied his spray canister
on the fence (which sits in my yard and supports the vines).

Thanks for letting me rant.  It's snowing here today and accumulating for
the first time this winter--very pretty.
Doreen Howard
WI--Zone 4b