Groups Up in Arms About Federal Grant

Environmental groups are furious about a federal grant designed to “correct the misconception that some fresh produce items contain excessive amounts of pesticide residues.”

The Alliance for Food and Farming, a Watsonville, California, trade association representing more than 50 large produce growers and marketers and pesticide and fertilizer suppliers, is slated to receive $180,000 administered through the The California Department of Food and Agriculture.

“This grant is a slap in the face of California’s rapidly-advancing organic agriculture sector,” said Ken Cook, president and founder of Environmental Working Group in this press release: http://www.ewg.org/release/pesticide-industry-to-use-tax-dollars-to-attack-critics. “While conventional produce has seen demand stagnate, organics are enjoying dynamic growth. The state should think twice about using U.S. taxpayers’ money to attempt to give chemical-dependent industrial farming a competitive edge over organics.”

We stuck our nose into this controversial issue last week during our weekly television segment for NBC news: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=128417.