Appreciates column

Shawn Dell Joyce in her "Sustainable Living" column and feature articles is quickly becoming our very own "voice in the wilderness; pointing straight the way." On the subject of our locally and globally threatened environment, she is helping us to take a harder look at the ultimate price we will pay for so-called "comfort" and "convenience."

Moreover, she is doing so in a way that is without judgment, political rancor or condemnation. We have a lot to learn from not only her message, but also her warm and practical method of conveying that message. She has provided many simple and doable solutions that can really make a difference in how we see our world and in living more mindfully.

I applaud Dell Joyce for being a positive force in an important issue that too often becomes obscured to our peril by the rhetoric of acrimony, blame and denial.

Patricia Dunn

Sparrowbush

Appreciates writer

What a national treasure you have found in Shawn Dell Joyce.

Her article in Sunday's paper about buying locally truly inspired me to do just that. The suggestion about what stores and shops to look at was one of the most helpful directives I have ever seen in your paper.

She not only makes complete sense about sharing the wealth, but she also gives a glimpse into stores that many of us never knew existed.

Celebrate her unique efforts. Heed her call.

Maureen Morrissey

Montgomery

 

Attack on organic farming was misleading

June 26, 2006

I'm writing in response to Doris Bialas' "My View" "The only thing better about organic is the publicity."

While I appreciate the benefits that any family farm brings to the local economy and the world, her claims in the piece are spurious and untrue. She attacks the pieces by Shawn Dell Joyce with claims that are misleading and pure hearsay.

Emory University recently released the results of a study showing the quantities of two common fertilizers (malathion and chlorpyrifos) used by conventional farmers were practically untraceable in the urine of children from ages 3-11 who ate only organically farmed foods. Once those same children resumed eating conventionally grown foods, the levels of those dangerous chemicals quickly rose in their bodies.

A 2003 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry concluded that the antioxidant content of organically grown fruits and vegetables was "significantly" higher than conventionally grown foods.

The British Soil Association examined more than 400 nutritional research studies and concluded that organically grown foods had significantly more vitamins and minerals than conventionally raised foods.

More recently, a report stated that the nutritional values in conventionally grown fruits and vegetables was in some cases a full 39 percent lower than in organic foods.

It's laughable to claim that "we in New York have never had a death from pesticides." It may be true that no farmworker in New York has ever collapsed and died in a field from exposure, but there are thousands of studies linking pesticides to cancer and other diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. You take your chances when these things are permanently present in your bloodstream.

The tip to wash organic food in running water is pointless. Wash all food, organic or conventionally raised. Do you not wash your dioxin-laden Chilean grapes, Ms. Bialas? As it is, simply because you wash your conventionally grown broccoli, don't think the pesticides are no longer present. Those sprayed chemicals soak into the ground, only to be drunk in by the plants through their roots. You can't wash the pesticides out of conventionally grown food.

Any of this information and these studies are easily found on the Internet. I hope people reading this will be interested enough to seek the truth. It could save your life.

Ms. Bialas does a disservice to the world with statements that have been disproved over and over again. If she's not worried about potentially dangerous levels of pesticides in her children's blood, I'm happy for her.

My kids eat only organic foods.

Working family farms are indeed a huge asset. Organic family farms moreso.

Brendan Tween lives in Beacon.
 

Film a must-see