A local group is calling on the nation’s largest berry grower to cease the use of pesticides on farm fields located near schools.
The Campaign for Organic & Regenerative Agriculture (CORA) will hold a press conference and community gathering on May 21 to ask Driscoll’s to change the way the company applies pesticides to its crops.
According to former farmer and CORA member Woody Rehanek, there are about 50 conventional and 15 organic farms within a quarter-mile miles of several local schools.
The event is scheduled for May 21 at 5:30pm at MacQuiddy Elementary School, located at 330 Martinelli St. in Watsonville. Look for the dirt road behind school entrance near 95 Wagner Ave.
There is parking in neighborhood or across East Lake Avenue by Franich Park.
Why would the school board decide to build a school directly next to a field that is regular sprayed with pesticides?
Strawberry farmers use just a trifle of the pesticides they formally used…
Should the schools scrutinize the highly processed foods in the schools or the plethora of vaccines they require the kids to get??
It’s like buying a house next to an airport and then whining about the noise. The farmers were here first and contribute to our local economy. The school district knowingly built right next to farmlands and now whine about it.
I’m with the farmers. I went to MacQuiddy school when it was brand new and the fields next to it were still using DDT. None of us got sick no did our parents whine about the school location.
When we were kids in the local school system in the 50’s and 60’s, we only were served hot dogs once a year. Now they feed the kids all kinds of food that’s bad and has preservatives in it.
I’d be more concerned with what they’re feeding the kids than attacking one of our biggest employers in our area that many of the kids parents work for.