CONSUMER FOOD ALERT!

Once again I read of those who continue to reap what they did not sow. This was reported by the Gleaner on January 6,2012,”Reports are that about 8.00 a.m. today, a farmer of Middlesex district in Guys Hill discovered that some 200 pounds of sweet pepper were stolen from his farm. These sweet peppers were recently sprayed with two dangerous substances.”

The lack of thought on the part of these ‘illegal’ reapers could result in serious harm to consumers. I also began thinking what we as consumers could do to protect ourselves from these unscrupulous persons.

Of course preventing predial larceny would be ideal solution. It would also be helpful to know where all the fruits and vegetables you are buying originated. The reality is that both these options have proven difficult to put into place. Hopefully situations like this will force those who are able to enforce policy to ensure that consumers are protected in the future.

Even after washing vegetables thoroughly some of the pesticides can be absorbed into the skin and cause illness in humans after they are consumed. So is the solution to use less harmful pesticides so that if they are stolen before the safe peroid consumers will be protected? I wonder if all those chemicals are good for us surely there are natural alternatives? It certainly merits discussion. What do you think?

In the meantime be careful about purchasing green peppers. Read the full article by clicking on this link.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=34375

Tags: farmers, Food, health, market