Song in my head:

What the fuck was that
It's unbelievable

EMF

What's more important to you? Spraying pesticides on your commercial orchard using a bureaucratic schedule that might not be ideal for the highest market rate for your fruit or children's cancer and asthma rates? My community is up in arms over a proposed bill that would prohibit aerial spraying within a mile of a school during the academic year. From the Hood River News....

Two Eugene legislators have introduced a bill in Salem that growers claim, if made into law, could shut down tree fruit production on about 6,000 acres in the Hood River Valley.

“They (politicians) want us to farm but they also want to over-regulate us. This bill could put many of us out of business,” said Hood River County Commission Chair Ron Rivers, a Parkdale grower.

Senate Bill 20 prohibits aerial spraying of pesticides within a one-mile radius of any school property during the academic year. A grower must also jump through a series of bureaucratic hoops in order to apply chemicals within a five-mile radius of a school.

These regulations require farmers to submit a spray plan to the Department of Agriculture. The agency then has 21 days to process that request and either approve or disapprove the use of chemicals.

Unbelievable. Lets see...do we want kids suffering with leukemia or cosmetically perfect fruit? I can't believe people's priorities. Maybe a week of service in a children's cancer ward would enlighten these farmers....but I would take a scabby apple over seeing a child suffer any day.