Where fruits grow, bugs go

         Chemicals are bad, right? Not quite. Chemicals are a building block of life. All living organisms are usually built from these six chemicals: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous and sulfur. It is also true life produces chemicals, such as carbon dioxide.

           Plants also make their own
pesticides. These have adapted over time and allowed some plants to flourish
while others do not. Yes, plants have survival of the fittest. In order to beat
out bugs, fungi and weeds, plants have adapted over time.

         While it may seem ideal to grow food without the use of chemicals, it is
not realistic. Why? Where fruits grow, bugs flourish. The sugar in fruits acts
like an addictive drug for insects, who attack fruit in the form of worms, bugs
and larvae. And in the interest of food safety, there is little tolerance by
processors, retailers or consumers for buggy fruit.

         Case in point: cherries. Ben LaCross is a second generation cherry grower
and talks about the process needed to grow the perfect cherry. “It’s a lot
harder to grow a healthy cherry tree commercially than a tomato plant or any
garden. We can’t grow commercially viable cherry orchard without crop
protection products.”  Trees are attacked
by root worms and borers, leaves are destroyed by fungus, and the fruit is
infested by bugs.

         “Fungal diseases are a major problem with fruit crops because they have
no immune system to fight off pathogens.” Ben points to leaf spot as an
example.  “Trees have to be sprayed for
this fungus every seven days since the leaves are growing so quickly. If trees
aren’t sprayed, they lose their leaves. No leaves, no life.”

         Just as you would treat ringworm on your skin, fungal diseases on fruit
trees are treated with a mix of chemicals and copper-products, applied at
minimal rates by spraying the trees. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
label mandates the last spray is 7-14 days before harvest.

         Pests start attacking the cherries as soon as the tree puts out
fruit.  Plum Curculio is
an insect that uses green fruit to lay its eggs, which hatch into a worm at
harvest. Ben pointed to the zero tolerance processors have for this; if one
worm is found, all the cherries are wasted.

         Not only will the processor not accept a load of cherries if a worm is present – the entire orchard will have to be abandoned. In other words, all the time, labor and preparation costs are wasted – a very costly problem.

         How do cherry farmers like Ben be sure they deliver cherries with no
bugs? Spray pesticides. The alternative is no product for maraschino cherries,
cherry baked goods or cherry ice cream. The pesticides have been extensively
researched and are applied at the smallest amount possible – but they are
necessary in Ben’s cherry orchards.

         Keep in mind: without chemicals, cherries wouldn’t be readily
available to you.

Read more at   Food Truths from Farm to Table  to arm
yourself with 25 truths you urgently need to know about food so you can
shop without guilt, confusion, or judgment. A new book,  Food Bullying , releases November 5
to upend the way you think about eating choices.