Spring 1986 RAIN Page 49 intensive cultivation. But it may convert you to lessening your impact on earth's resources. —Madeline Dalrymple Madeline Dalrymple, former RAIN intern, is completing a Master's degree in agricultural ecology. Pesticides in Food: What the Public Needs to Know, 1984, 123 pp., $7.50 from: Natural Resources Defense Council 25 Kearny Street San Francisco, CA 94108 The results of this Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study on pesticide residues in food are frightening. The guardians of our food supply (EPA, FDA, and state regulators) lack adequate funding and legal power needed for enforcement of residue standards. As consumers, we must take unnecessary and uninformed risks when we buy supermarket food. After giving the results of scientific and policy studies, this report details what can be done to reform state and federal systems for monitoring and regulating residues. Public awareness of the problem has been heightened by the well-publicized discovery of EDB in citrus fruits and more recently, Temik in watermelon. EDB had been exempted from tolerance requirements due to faulty assumptions. Such assumptions are common, endangering us all. In fact, very little is known about the effects of pesticides on our health. DDT is a good example of the unknowns in pesticide research. Though it was banned over a decade ago, DDT is still the most frequently detected residue in produce. There is considerable debate about what this means and very little research to find out. The setting of tolerance levels is an example of questionable assumptions that have been made. They have been based on consumption patterns of 15 years ago. Ironically, a renewed interest in “healthy diets” has led to an increase of vegetable, and hence, pesticide consumption. Pesticide use has increased ten-fold in the past 30 years. Although commercially grown produce may be prettier and usually cheaper than organic produce, it contains hidden costs in terms of personal and planetary health. This report highlights the need for reform in regulation and monitoring, but at a deeper level, it raises questions about the methods of modem agriculture as a whole. —Jenny Holmes Jenny Holmes has a degree in Environmental Science from The Evergreen State College. Common Sense Pest Control Quarterly, $35/yeaT family, $50/year institutional memberships from: Bio-Integral Resource Center (BIRC) PO Box 7414 Berkeley, CA 94707 Growers Newsletter, quarterly, inquire for price from: Peaceful Valley Farm Supply 11173 Peaceful Valley Road Nevada City, CA 95959 These quarterlies supply the everyday information for integrated pest management and ecological farming and gardening. Growers Newsletter is a catalog of plants, fertilizers, and equipment, with lots of tips and reminders. It concentrates on biodynamic and organic gardening techniques for lawn, garden, and crop farming The writing style and item selection is pleasing. However, no information is provided about crop climate preferences, suggesting that Peaceful Valley Farm Supply caters primarily to the Nevada City region. The company also offers “wholistic consulting” and organic gardening classes. Check them out if you're in the area. Common Sense Pest Control Quarterly is well-named. Feature articles and smaller tidbits are very informative. Basic details on the pest, the plant, preventative plant care, and biological and chemical pest management methods give the reader a thorough understanding of pest control as a whole system. Articles on the management of pests of structures (termites, carpenter ants, bees, etc.) conclude with summaries of the “least toxic program” from preventative maintenance to careful chemical prescription. Members of BIRC receive this excellent quarterly, a 10 percent discount on other BIRC publications, plus one written consultation on an individual pest problem with each year of membership. —Madeline Dalrymple A Better Mousetrap; Improving Pest Management for Agriculture, World Resources Institute Study 4, by Michael J. Dover, 1985, 84 pp., $5 from: World Resources Institute 1735 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20006 This brief, concise introduction to integrated pest management (IPM) is not a reference book for farmers. It is a persuasive paper that overviews IPM and IPM support systems for policy-makers. The study is part of the World Resources Institute series providing industry, agriculture, and government with perspectives on the latest scientific information. Dover asserts that pest control methods themselves are not inherently safe or risky, it's the application that determines the risk. The novelty of IPM is its sys- tems-oriented management. All aspects of the crops and pests are studied. IPM incorporates chemical pesticides, biological pest control, host resistance, and agroecology. Each of these concepts is discussed with enough documentation and graphics to clarify the concepts presented. “1PM is not a technology but a design and decision-making process.” Dover argues that the key to effective 1PM is a solid public sector-support structure for design, monitoring, and advice. He uses the airline and health care industries as models for 1PM infrastructure. Airlines depend on publicly supported weather monitoring and forecasting, air traffic control, safety research, and regulation. And as the health care system has national and regional monitoring programs and funding for research, so too must IPM for its application. Market forces alone will not bring IPM into common use. IPM is a long-term strategy requiring trained professionals to advise users, design and conduct monitoring programs, and develop new technology. Researchers and policymakers must be closely linked to IPM professionals as they are in the health care industry. —Madeline Dalrymple You Can Can With Honey, Third Edition, by Nancy Cosper, 1986, 24 pp.. $2.95 from: Sahalie Publishing Company 958 East 21st Street Eugene, OR 97405 The third edition of this self-published booklet, fresh with new illustrations, keeps the art and science of canning with honey alive. Written by Nancy Cosper, former RAIN editor who died in March, 1984, this gem contains thirty homegrown recipes (the art), and a thorough and simply-written description of the chemistry of honey and how it differs from sugar (the science). Lots of hints and encouragements for canning with honey are intertwined. Proceeds from this edition will go to publishing a manuscript that Nancy left for us: You Can Bake With Honey. —Mimi Maduro Mimi Maduro is part of the RAIN Reading and Dining Salon.
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