Strawberries Home-Grown & Strawberries Farm-toxic

I used to walk past a strawberry farm on my way to middle school, just around the corner from my parents' house. I grew up in Garden Grove, a town in Orange County (but definitely not The OC land), where a Strawberry Festival is held every year.

Despite the strawberry farms I grew up around, I hadn't thought of strawberries as a plant for the garden, at least not until I saw an episode of Jamie At Home focused on them. My friend Mary Rose grew Alpine strawberries in her container garden last year and, a few months ago, gave me a plant that grew from runners. (Man, plants are so magical.)

I planted the little guy in my garden, and after a couple of weeks of hand-wringing that it might die, it began to grow new leaves and send off blossoms. Even though I grew up near strawberry farms, I didn't know that they sent up such pretty little white flowers. I suppose I hadn't paid much attention or thought to pay attention.


Last weekend I tasted my first home-grown strawberry. I waited as long as I possibly could for the little berry to reach ripeness and it was sweeter and more strawberry-y than any I've ever had. They're much smaller than the (unfortunately, sometimes flavorless) strawberries sold in grocery stores. The plant is now sending off more flowers, but I know that I'll never have a whole pint basket from one little plant. And that's okay. One of the pleasures of having a garden is being able to taste produce at the very peak of ripeness, even if it is just a taste.

So, I'll still be dependent on the grocery store or farm stand for strawberries-- which is why recent news about the use of powerful fumigant methyl iodide in California is alarming:

There is convincing evidence that the chemical could be harmful to farmworkers – and a less-than-compelling case that it is the only way for farmers to rid soil of diseases and pests such as nematodes. Given that, Brown and the Department of Pesticide Regulation should rescind methyl iodide's registration. 

Methyl iodide has been controversial ever since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under President George W. Bush, approved it for use as a pesticide. It was seen as an alternative for strawberry farmers and other growers to methyl bromide, which is being phased out under an international treaty because it damages the ozone layer. 

Yet methyl iodide is more toxic than its predecessor. The risk isn't to consumers, since the worm-killing chemical degrades before crops are planted. The threat is to farmworkers and others near treated fields, since methyl iodide vapors can travel long distances. 

- Editorial in The Sacramento Bee

I've signed the petition against the use of methyl iodide.

Is the problem with pesticides something we just have to deal with because we've moved so far from a subsistence-farming society? Perhaps, for a while, but I think that we're becoming more and more aware that our agricultural practices are not sustainable if we want a healthy populace or a healthy planet. I keep an eye on City Farmer News because it reminds me that things are shifting.

And the other eye, I'll keep on my strawberry plant. I think I'll get another taste in a couple of weeks.