North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["loneroc" <loneroc@mwt.net>]

Almost all dried spices are irradiated and have been so for many years.
There is no requirement that these be labeled.  I think that besides
eliminating mold and bacterial contamination, it allows the plant material
to avoid APHIS inspections and other related issues.  Doesn't bother me.
I've been irradiated during visits to the dentist and doctors' offices for
years.

I would not purchase irradiated foods in general, though.  Not because I'm
'afeared' of the radiation, but rather that such foods are inevitably
produced by industrial/non-sustainable agricultural practices.  I do not
purchase organic food because I'm afraid of 'chemicals', but because, living
in the country, I see how industrial agriculture has destroyed the fabric of
rural life by eliminating small farms.  Organic agriculture generally
requires its adherents to use a lot of human (often family) labor, rather
than relying on machinery and fossil fuel.  I believe that US agriculture
(you .know by the commercials: the most "efficient system of agriculture in
the world") now uses about 80 calories of energy for every calorie of food
produced.  We might as well drink the oil and huff the natural gas!  I
believe that "inefficient" third world agriculture nearly reverses these
numbers.

The US now has more prison inmates than farmers.  Rather than being a
Jeffersonian country of yeoman farmers, we now have a third world pattern of
agricultural land ownership:  a few wealthy industrial "family" and public
corporations now pay local serfs and migrant workers minimum wage, while the
folks at the top get bigger and richer---just like the rest of the US
economy.  Please continue to vote for politicians who pay lip service to
God, prevention of gay marriage, and other issues of "morality" about which
they care not a whit, while they and their, corporate/wealthy buddies
continue to siphon off most of the cream that the US produces.

Just my opinion.

Steve Herje, Lone Rock, WI   USDA zone 3


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Russell" <shaman@pennswoods.net>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 2:58 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Fruit Labels


> I've heard that tomatoes are irradiated to prolong shelf life. So is meat.
>
> Bill
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <list@ginda.us>
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>; "Bill
> Russell" <shaman@pennswoods.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 9:22 PM
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Fruit Labels
>
>
> > I don't think any "fresh produce" can be irradiated - that would kill
> > the cells, and it wouldn't keep.
> >
> > On Dec 18, 2003, at 2:58 AM, Bill Russell wrote:
> >
> > > Is there a code # for nuclear irradiated food?
> > >
> > > Bill
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "road's end farm" <organic101@linkny.com>
> > > To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > > Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 4:19 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Fruit Labels
> > >
> > >
> > >>
> > >> On Tuesday, December 16, 2003, at 01:17 PM, Doreen Howard wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> This is from the Chef's Collaborative newsletter, and it's handy
> > >>> information
> > >>> for growers, consumers and garden writers.
> > >>> Doreen Howard
> > >>>
> > >>> A SECRET ECO-LABEL
> > >>> If you find yourself with a sudden fruit craving with nary a
> > >>> farmstand
> > >>> in
> > >>> sight, duck into a supermarket and check out those annoying plastic
> > >>> stickers
> > >>> on the fruit. Conventional produce has a four-digit code starting
> > >>> with
> > >>> the
> > >>> number 4; organic produce has a five-digit code starting with the
> > >>> number 9.
> > >>> Genetically modified produce also has a five-digit code, which
starts
> > >>> with
> > >>> the number 8. Right now, papayas are the only genetically modified
> > >>> food
> > >>> available in the produce section. Be aware that PLU (price lookup)
> > >>> stickers
> > >>> are not mandatory and are not used in all stores.
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >> Are growers and wholesalers currently required to identify GMO
> > >> produce?
> > >> I didn't think they were; in which case, GMO's might easily be going
> > >> under a conventional label.
> > >>
> > >> There are GMO summer squash on the market, and there may be GMO
> > >> contamination in corn varieties that are not supposed to be GMO. I
> > >> think
> > >> the previous rounds of GMO potatoes and tomatoes were duds and are
not
> > >> currently being grown, but am not sure.
> > >>
> > >> -- Rivka
> > >>
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