On Campus: When to eat grass
Dec 3rd, 2009 | By NewsEditor | Category: Blogs, On campus
Pesticides kill people like obesity kills people: overzealous, inappropriate indulgence.
Calgary city council recently shot down the proposed pesticide bylaw that has been under development for many long months. The aldermen who opposed the bylaw said it didn’t go far enough.
Ward 11 alderman Brian Pincott, who was tweeting during council (@bpincott), said “Discussing the proposed pesticide bylaw for #yyc. Not worth much.”
He said on Twitter that he’s been working towards restricting pesticides almost 10 years, but was deeply disappointed with the proposal they had come to.
“No pesticide bylaw…” he tweeted to another user. “The one before us was not worth it. At best, it entrenched the status quo, at worst, a step backwards.”
The proposed bylaw was like a half-built fence. Sure it was there, but it wouldn’t really stop anybody from doing what they were already doing. According to the Calgary Herald, the bylaw would have banned broadcast spraying, but allowed people to spot-treat their weed and insect problems.
Presently, people are allowed to spray their whole lawn to treat, for example, a dandelion problem. This means more herbicide gets into the ecosystem, and potentially into the mouths of children.
I spoke with the director of issue management at CropLife Canada – a “plant science” trade association – earlier this year while the bylaw was still in its developing stages. Nadine Sisk told me that people should pick their weeds when they have just a few on their lawn, and not immediately resort to pesticide use. But she also said that parents get overly worried about their kids playing in parks that have been sprayed, or people who are worried about eating non-organic produce because of pesticide residue.
Sisk said that a kid would have to eat an unreasonable amount of grass to get sick from pesticide residues. Health Canada is well aware that people will come into contact with pesticide-sprayed areas, and they set standards for the products that are allowed into the country, and allowed to be used in the country.
Of course, plenty of other groups disagree with that belief. Beyond Pesticides, an American coalition against the misuse of pesticides, released a fact sheet detailing plenty of information that suggests pesticides are causing many sicknesses in children. Asthma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia may all be related to exposure to pesticides in early childhood.
But wait! If we stop letting private citizens spray their lawns, then maybe property values will go down!
And what about golf courses? Nobody wants to play on a spotty, golden field when they could be playing on a lush, emerald park, right?
In the meantime, have fun in the snow, and when it melts, go visit one of the pesticide-free parks in town.
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