Consuming medicated plants isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a far cry from avoiding as many additives as possible. Each time we eat plants grown with pesticides we consume a little of their ‘medicine.’
Bob Hale in THE OTHER SIDE OF PESTICIDES [FIRST PERSON, May] implies that medicine is a normal thing that people consume. However, this is an age where some people are trying to avoid taking medication whenever possible. Consuming medicated plants isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a far cry from avoiding as many additives as possible. Each time we eat plants grown with pesticides we consume a little of their “medicine.” I think that people should reflect on the added “plant medicine” that they receive from produce that is not grown organically. If we can have organic produce, it is a better choice. This is a distinction that Hale doesn’t make.
Elisabeth McMillon
Portland
THE OTHER SIDE OF PESTICIDES [FIRST PERSON, May] is an excellent article. Like all of the other tools we use, pesticides simply need to be carefully managed and it sounds like Bob Hale does a conscientious job of that. It is unfortunate
that the environmental industry has created such fear in urban dwellers.
Kenneth M. Brooks
Owner, Aquatic Environmental Sciences
Port Townsend, WA.
