Aerial pheromone pesticide spraying and LBAM (the light brown apple moth) in the San Francisco area has been a big topic lately…

What in the world has the big deal been all about?

Here’s the scoop.  The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) had planned an aerial spray campaign of a chemical formula to address the light brown apple moth.  The formula itself is made up of tiny capsules containing synthetic moth pheromone and other chemical ingredients.

The original plan was to spray urban areas.  But after much outcry from StopTheSpray.org and other organizations, the public, celebrities and scientists about the safety and lack of actual need for such a plan, the CDFA has now decided to  change the plan as of June 19. This video from our friends at the Hippy Gourmet over at Organic Living TV is just one example of the activism that has taken place!

So it’s now, urban spraying out.  Sterile moth release in.

So everything is better now.  Right?

Not exactly.

I’d like to present the broader view here.  To put it simply, we are living in a world full of toxins and they are making us sick.  We don’t need any more of them.  We can’t even tolerate the ones we have!  That includes all sorts of pesticides and chemicals.  Ahem…the ones you put on your lawns and gardens too.

Our bodies have ways of dealing with toxins…to an extent…and some people do better than others.  It’s partly a matter of genetics.  The bottom line is that folks that happen to be less adept at dealing with toxins can bear the brunt of more illness (especially infants, kids, the elderly and people who are already sick).  Things like asthma, heart disease, chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, Parkinsons disease…and the list seems to be growing by the day.  You get the picture.

The amount of toxicity we are exposed to everyday exceeds what many of us can cope with.  And it’s not just a person here or there.  Some of the enzymes we all use to help detoxify chemicals of all sorts are less efficient in up to half of us. So we can’t really say it’s just a few weak outliers.

Getting back to the spray campaign issue, Dr. Haiden did her bit by writing up a paper about some of the chemicals in the spray and the capsules and what other scientists had discovered about the possible health effects.  She was not reassured.  Not about that particular spray, or any other pesticides.  Because, you see, the same kinds of detoxification and inflammatory processes that apply to the moth spray apply to all sorts of different chemicals.

The LBAM eradication campaign still includes ground spraying of chemicals and application of chemicals to utility poles and nurseries.  And it still includes spraying over rural forested areas and agriculture.

How sick to we have to get before we get it?

In this particular case the question at hand is a moth.  But some very reputable entomologists and organic farming experts say the moth is no more a pest than many other insects.  If it is this moth today, what will the pest of the day be tomorrow?  Complicating the issue in this case are trade and commerce issues.

It’s time to move beyond the “spray of the day for the pest of the day” mentality.  It’s time for large scale integrated pest management.  It’s time to start working with nature instead of trying to overpower nature.

Because we are part of nature.  And we will only end up overpowering ourselves.

We can do better than that.

What do you think?