Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 5 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
io the editor:
Although the recent publicity siiout Alar may have caused some people to react with too much fear of this particular chemical, it was very much needed to point up the tremendous problem that now exists in our environment, of which Alar is only a small part.
The history in the fruit and vegetable industry over the past 30 years has been one of pesticide after pesticide being approved for use by EPA and then banned after further research showed that they are dangerous to our health. It is not a simple problem, and the EPA is both helpless in one way, and part of the system in another.
Fruit and vegetable growing know-how has been dictated largely by the huge chemical industries, which have, through politics, money and power, managed to push their products both on the farmer and the consumer. I couldn’t agree more with Alex Sharp’s comments (Rapp. News 3-23) about not needing to use so many pesticides if customers were willing to accept less than perfect-looking apples. The question is, has the public ever had any real choice?
When was the last time you saw an organic foods section in your local supermarket?
In- spite of this, there has been a growing awareness by consumers that a shiny red apple is not necessarily a healthy one; and farmers have noticed they need to use more and more chemicals to produce an “acceptable” crop. Best of all, the USD A extension services are breaking away from complete control by the chemical companies by devoting research and education to “alternative,” “sustainable” or “organic” methods.
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