A widely cited claim that Santa Cruz County’s childhood cancer rate is 38% above the state average is muddling the debate about pesticide reform, writes Watsonville activist and retired nurse Kathleen Kilpatrick. The number doesn’t prove pesticides cause cancer and shouldn’t be used that way, she writes. But correcting that statistic doesn’t change the broader body of evidence linking pesticide exposure to childhood cancer and other serious health harms. Driscoll’s, the largest berry marketer in the world, has the resources to reduce its use of the most hazardous pesticides and should publicly show its progress, not debate cancer numbers, she writes.
Driscoll’s
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Driscoll’s patent battle over strawberry varieties stalls in federal court
A federal court has effectively ended a Driscoll’s lawsuit against a rival strawberry breeder, rejecting the Watsonville giant’s claims that California Berry Cultivars infringed on its proprietary fruit varieties.
