Ten reasons to abolish the LBA Moth program
Reader Opinion by Yannick A. Phillips with Paulina Borsook
For more than three years, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been warring against the Light Brown Apple Moth, an insect originally from Tasmania and first detected in California in 2007.
Here are the top 10 reasons to abolish the Light Brown Apple Moth program:
10. Wastes taxpayer money: almost $40 million so far by the state, at least $100 million by the feds. The Light Brown Apple Moth has caused no documented damage in California, but the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture evidently enjoy throwing money down a rat-hole.
9. It harms farmers and growers financially: because of quarantines and holds on harvest, Light Brown Apple Moth-quarantined produce can be left to rot in the fields and not be allowed to be sold or shipped.
8. Depresses real estate values. The Marin Board of Realtors has come out against the Light Brown Apple Moth program because home and farm buyers have worried about buying properties in Light Brown Apple Moth treatment-zones.
7. Violates property rights. The California Department of Food and Agriculture is prepared to go to court to get general warrants, so the agency can carry out its toxic treatment programs on private property, regardless of the wishes of the property owner.
6. Discriminates against domestic growers and places particularly onerous burdens on family farms. New Zealand’s and Australia’s farmers operate under much looser U.S. Department of Agriculture’s export protocols than what our local California farmers are forced to comply with. The bureaucratic demands and capricious enforcement of Light Brown Apple Moth-related regulation is particularly burdensome for smaller, independent growers.
5. Prevents farmers from doing what they know best. By their actions, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. the Department of Agriculture have been implying farmers are foolish, self-destructive, and blind, because farmers don’t want the Light Brown Apple Moth program. More than 100 farmers – large operations and small, conventional and organic – recently signed a letter asking that the program be ended.
4. Inflicts double jeopardy. In addition to having their fields subjected to quarantines and holds, some farmers have had to pay to either douse their entire fields with pesticides or plow under the entire contents of their fields if a single Light Brown Apple Moth is found. Some farmers now in some areas must pay to have their fields certified Light Brown Apple Moth-free.
3. Engages in pseudo-science. The California Department of Food and Agriculture and U.S. Department of Agriculture ignore the most current research by University of California professors as well as the findings of the National Academy of Science and that of Sonoma’s own University of California cooperative extension agent, Dr. Lucia Varela. They all say Light Brown Apple Moth is at worst a minor nuisance, and presents only as a potential crop-quality issue that farmers can manage just fine in their fields.
2. Makes the state and federal government enemies of the people. Two agencies whose mission is to support farmers have become entities that are feared by farmers. The California Department of Food and Agriculture and U.S. Department of Agriculutre have come to symbolize everything that can be wrong with government: dictatorial, untrustworthy, unresponsive, illogical, unjust, intellectually dishonest, wasteful, and stuck in the past.
1. Taxes without representation. In spite of constant pressure applied to political appointees California Secretary of Agriculture A.G. Kawamura and U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, these agency heads are unrelenting in their determination to squander taxpayer money on a program no one wants: not farmers, not restaurant owners, not business people, not anyone.
Yannick A. Phillips is a third-generation resident of California whose grandparents farmed citrus in San Diego County; she presently lives in Sonoma County with her family. Paulina Borsook has been working to end the Light Brown Apple Moth program since August 2007.
Hats off to hospital staff
Editor: A big thank you goes to the doctors and medical staff that attended to our son at the emergency department of Sonoma Valley Hospital on Saturday.
Dr. Cohen, not only did you display great care, you also have impeccable bedside manners and make a lovely cup of tea.
Dr. Burchett, you made a spinal tap seem like a walk in the park.
If we had to spend eight hours in the emergency room, we couldn’t have wished to spend it with a more competent and caring team.
Sonoma Valley Hospital demonstrates once again its importance and convenience to the community.
Thank you,
Jette & Michael Franks
Sonoma
Popo’s not clowning around
Editor: I am POPO the Clown. This has been an incredible month. It goes to show you win some and loose some – but I’m the winner. Just to know you have given this much love and energy for POPO – in this time of my rejection to be in the Sonoma Tuesday night Farmers Market. The e-mails, letters in the paper, the hugs, the attention, and the success of my popular and fun radio show. We have been able to have so many children who want to be on the radio, keep tuning-in to “After School With POPO” at SunFM, 91.3 sun at 4 p.m. every Monday.
I have work to do. I’m not giving up on getting into the Farmers Market. If I give up it means I give up on all the children’s organizations I promised to let promote events through me and I can’t do that. I am hopeful that my energy will see me through this. I paint faces at markets which are a lot smaller and I paint next to a church that also paints faces side-by-side and have so much fun. There isn’t any “competition.” At the Sonoma Farmers Market, I’d say it would take a week to paint all those children in the park on Tuesdays with two painters! I’m trying to share my beautiful painted faces as art. Also, a big shout out for everyone who voted POPO as the best entertainer, as a runner-up to my good friends, The Whiskey Thieves. We are both in the business of having a party, and giving back.
Penny Byrd, POPO the Clown
Sonoma
A Farmers Market vendor speaks out
Editor: It would be nice to have everyone who applies be able to get into the Tuesday Night Farmers Market. We can’t always get what we want. While many people may think the only criterion is being a local resident, other factors come into play. The board has to look what is best on the whole.
First of all, there is a limited amount of space, and the farmers come first. There are strict guidelines from the state which govern what percent farmers to processed foods to crafts may be allowed. With this in mind, space will change due to seasonal produce.
Second, in respect to processed foods and crafts, who is applying versus who has already been accepted. In such a limited space you want to have variety, not competition. In the case of the Rocket Café, while having locally-grown and -made salads is wonderful; what does the board do when you already have a vendor serving salads? We need to have something for the children. If someone wasn’t already doing face painting and balloons, Popo the Clown would certainly have a place in the market. The only recourse is to offer to put those applicants not accepted on a waiting list.
I’m currently a vendor and I was turned down the first year I applied. The next year I reapplied and got in on Friday mornings. It took a season of both rainy days and very hot days, which aren’t much fun, before I was able to be on Tuesday Nights, space permitting.
I understand it can be frustrating to have people we know and want to see at the market not be able to get in at this time, but to be fair, everyone must follow the procedures. Most vendors have had to weather a season through the Friday market to get on to Tuesday Nights. This has shown their commitment. As a community, we can’t just drop someone who’s been loyal and committed because someone else has come along and now decides they want to be at the market.
I moved to Sonoma because it is a community where people care about one another, and not just their own immediate needs. If we can’t show respect for the process and for those who are working hard to make it a success, what does that say about each of us?
Enough is enough.
Emily Fitzpatrick
Sonoma