There are land crabs around the cenotes of Yucatan which burrow in the mud, eating the mud actually. They’re bright blue and red. We don’t eat them because they taste like mud. It occurred to me today as I ate a naturally-grown apple, actively hoping to avoid a worm, that perhaps a worm growing in an apple might taste of apple.
If man has traditionally avoided worms, I’m not about to buck tradition. I wondered if eating raw produce in the days before pesticides involved the little ritual I was mindful to adopt between each bite. A blemish at the base suggested to me that something might already be eating this fruit. But it didn’t seem too difficult to plan to avoid the path already taken. I would simply take a bite, then check the corresponding area to see if a hole indicated a trail into the chunk in my mouth. If so, I could spit it out. If not I could chew with peace of mind.
What an unsettling experience, in retrospect, having to hold each morsel in escrow in my mouth until it was deduced to be safe. Thanks to modern chemistry we are accustomed to chowing down our food, without care, without pause, and without maybe that little bit more appreciation.
Bite the worm!
Beyond food being a target for pesticides, so are the backstreets of many U.S. cities.
Has your city been targeted for West Nile spraying?
Are they using Aqua-Reslin, a Permethrin-based pesticide?
Did you read that RISE (Responsible Industry For A Sound Environment) recommends Aquareslin, and feel safer? Are you aware that RISE is a national, not-for-profit trade association representing suppliers of specialty pesticides, and feel misinformed?
Are you concerned that a disease which largely affects the infirmed is being treated with a chemical that also affects the infirmed?
Do you miss honeybees, butterflies, certain bird species, and wonder what degree of interruption has been done to the food chain, including your own garden consumables?
Did you know that in 2003 the Center for Disease Control in Fort Collins determined that sprayed cities show no comparitive decrease in human deaths than unsprayed cities, yet Fort Collins City Government elected to spray. Boulder didn’t. Why?
WOULD YOU LIKE SOME MORE INFORMATION?
http://www.pesticide.org/Permethrin.pdf (info about the spray)
http://www.biconet.com/nospray/pdf/Council%20booklet.pdf (a good outline of the issue including info about alternative programs from the Nashville area)
Sorry to interupt the worm parable with a bug byte. Chew or eschew.