Food for thought
Add another one to the list of reasons to prefer organic, seasonal food: A recent opinion piece in the New York Times, “Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird?” presents sobering information on the danger that our love of out-of-season fruits and vegetables poses for songbirds.
The author, biologist Bridget Stutchbury, makes the point that pesticide use in Latin America has increased fivefold since the 1980s, to feed the growing demand in North America and Europe for fresh produce during the winter. In too many cases, migratory birds are the victims - “A single application of a highly toxic pesticide to a field can kill seven to 25 songbirds per acre.” Declining populations of many birds may be linked to the use of pesticides in their winter homes.
But happily, there are steps consumers can take to make their shopping list more bird-friendly. Buying only organic coffee and bananas are important moves. And, “When it comes to nontraditional Latin American crops like melons, green beans, tomatoes, bell peppers and strawberries, it can be difficult to find any that are organically grown. We should buy these foods only if they are not imported from Latin America.”
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