11/21/05 One voice

It always amazes me how one person can impact many. In the following case, one young woman could make life difficult for many farmers. A 16 year old girl in my community testified before the department of ag that she became extremely ill as a 6th grader after exposure to pesticide spray used in the orchard next to her Jr. High. Now all my three boys attended that very same school and by virtue of playing football and baseball, spent many more hours exposed to pesticide residue than this girl. They never become ill, interestingly neither did the rest of the 600 plus student body every year since. Yet this one girls testimony could be the deciding factor that implements a law requiring a 48 hour notification prior to applying pesticides if farms border schools, hospitals, nursing homes or day care centers. It is nearly impossible for a farmer to project climate conditions two days prior to application thus many farms that adjoin these properties will be taken out of production. Source: Wenatchee World