Wow, that's terrible and its still being used in agriculture. I'm going to be really careful about the nuts I buy now too.

It's a pity not more organisations don't pass comments like this. I know it strengthens the need to drink products like Mona Vie, but for goodness sake, why is not more done on the whole drug company scene. I tried publishing an article in a business network on what drug companies are up to, and they refused to publish it, saying 'we have many readers who support the NHS, and would be offended by your apparent criticism.’ Well done Food Matters... expose and be dammed!!! Anyone want a free copy of my article...

It's is nothing more than Greed! This is a sin that will end the world as we know it.

One of the biggest reasons we eat local and organic..!

Hi carol
Have you ever heard of Dr. Simoncini cancer therapy - treat cancer with Sodium Bicarbonate he is having great success treating cancer
www.cancerisafungus.com there is also a book called rich man poor man’s cancer treatment
www.winningcancer.com/sodium/about-the-book thought might be worth having a look at it seeing you’re in oncology
I saw this episode of 60 mins and I am the same wont buy strawberries for my son at Woolworths’ anymore or anything else for that matter
I used to always try and buy Australian fruit and veggies but now
I would love a copy of your article Geoff
Cheryl

Bravo, Food Matters! Awareness is the first step to change and solutions. For me, nutritional cleansing is the best balancing solution I know of...besides speaking out and educating ourselves and our fellow earthlings.

Its good to see that the main stream media is looking at these issues with Pesticides and fungicides. organic home grown seasonal produce is the way to go!!!!

MonaVie is just good marketing of bad denatured juice

I saw the show the other night and was equally as disturbed. The other side of the story was never presented however, as the governing body for pesticide and chemical control refused to comment. It turns out that they have been investigating the fishery concerned in the story and the final report is not yet ready. They then go on to say that there are very tight controls in Australia on use of the two chemicals in question and their usage is very small in comparison to other, 'safer', pesticides. However, the question of why, like many other countries, they are not banned outright does not seem to be addressed on their website.

Chemicals, Endosulfan and carbendazim, are constanly under review , apparently, and circa 2007 stricter measures were instigated on the use of Endosulfan due to concerns about public health. They look at things such as ADI - Acceptable daily Intake to determine safety for consumers. These chemicals are also used in food storage processes as well, so not only through to harvest but for transportation too!! Now that is scary.

My concern with this response is, when is there ever an 'acceptable' daily intake of a chemical\poison? You can bet that this is a similar argument put forward when asbestos was suspected of causing fatal illnesses back in the 70s ! In 20 years time, if scientists or a governing body comes out and says we got the ADI all wrong and yes, we should have banned these things years ago, it's too little too late!

Food production is a big and ever expanding business struggling to keep up with consumerism and a rising world population. In the last 7 years, we have not been able to keep the supply of grain consistent with demand. The pressure on farmers to produce more with less and less arable land is immense. Cue the pest control...

The bigger picture is not about climate change per se, though that is important, it is about food security for an ever expanding global population. When energy costs, i.e. oil, spiralled out of control 18 month ago, there were food riots in many countries around the world.

Unless we find a solution for sustainable, cost effective, agriculture practices there will be serious consequences in the years to come.

I live in Malaysia and have always thought Australia's farming was one of the cleanest, sophisticated and of course strongly regulated. This has made me think twice about buying Australian mass produced veggies and fruits like avocados and carrots. A shame, because as the lady said in the video above, it is really a beautiful country

I am a farmer that produces fruit and vegetables . I can guarantee that there is not one farmer in Australia that enjoys or looks forward to having to spray there crops we are very careful of how we use all chemicals their will always be some that do not do the right thing but not many .

Perhaps the nut farmer spraying the chemical will die soon and she will not have to worry. I hate to wish that on anyone but it is the only way some people learn.

Did any of you bother to look into the story behind the 60 minutes piece? Just curious. I took a few minutes and found quite a bit from the APVMA about this issue. Apparently their final report isn't out until April, and as such did not want to comment yet. But you would not be led to believe that based on the way it is presented. Look, I'm not saying the Noosa facility hasn't suffered from the effects of endosulfan, and I'm not saying that it has, and neither is the Australian government just yet. To be honest, it seems like a bit of a hit piece by 60 minutes, playing on your emotions. As a science teacher, I always tell my students to believe nothing of what they hear and only half of what they see with their own eyes - start there, be skeptical, do your own research. In the end, endosulfan may be as bad as it is portrayed, or it may be a case of misapplication gone horribly wrong. The 60 minutes piece gives us the Noosa situation, and then hits on a few other situations where chemicals have apparently had detrimental and devastating effects on individuals. But did you notice that they had to go to a remote corner of India to find those stories? Ever wonder about that? And even then, they say that the use of the chemicals in question has stopped. I'm no expert on Indian environmental regulations, but my guess is they don't have very stringent regulations, and those using the chemicals are doing so in a manner that is criminal. But that is not the fault of the chemical, it is the fault of the user. Place the blame where it is due.
I'm sure I'll get a lot of flack for this post, and folks will think I'm some anti-environmental right-wing greedmonster. Alas, such is the problem with this medium. Excuse me now while I go to finish my 2 quarts of green smoothie, tuck my two beautiful daughters in, and then off to bed to rest and read awhile before I must get up and face another day of hormone-riddled 8th graders.

We are looking at buying acreage to build our own house on and I have said no to a couple of fantastic properties mainly because it was close or next to a conventional produce farm. When the farmers spay their crops the toxins go into the air and the water and even if we eat the best organic veggies ourselves we are still slowly being poisoned...not an environment I want to be bringing my kids up in!!! So everyone please beware!! Thank you for sharing this video.

To Geoff, who mentioned Mona Vie. You might want to take a look at the Wikipedia article on this drink for unbiased information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MonaVie

It wasn't something I had heard of, but I think I will be avoiding it having read the article :)

How can this beautiful planets population remain ignorant to and continue staying passive to this obvious "genocide" going on in the name of profit? And for what? To avoid having to do the daily toil of nurturing their harvests like every organic farmer has to do? Are these cynical people really willing to kill and cripple other beings for these two reasons alone - and with governmental blessing!!! Ask yourself this: 1. How many more years do we have left to live until the chemical industry has finished us off? 2. When are we going to join hands across the world and stand up united as one against political systems that allows any use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and medicines that has been proven to either harm cripple or kill us and our beloved pets? I really wish someone would take the initiative to get such a movement up and going. They would definitively get my vote. But it's going to be a long, hard battle - not so much against the existing political systems and the businesses producing these "killer products" but to reach out to the vast planetary population with indisputable evidence, indisputable information and ways to join to march in hordes against the ruling elite around the world. One ore two million people worldwide won't even stir up a whiff against these cynical money mongers. Less than a billion will probably fail. Suggestions, anyone? Anyway, let's make the first steps necessary to make a change for the better possible for all of us. With love and empathy to all victims of these killers-for-profit persons. Bjorn

I purchase mainly all organic foods and local when able. Usually nuts are the one food that I felt was fairly safe to purchase that were not organic. After viewing these videos I will be avoiding non organic nuts. Gwen, I had tears for you, your dear animals/pets, and your plight against a dirty industry next door to you. We can purchase organic, support these healthy farming practices and find ways to cleanse our bodies of impurities as a lifestyle. If you would like to know what I use please visit my web site.

Thank you Food Matters and thanks to the media for starting to dip their toes in the wells of Truth. Too late for many but as the walls of the instituitions that have been put there to protect us, crumble, let's hope we have placed our focus on developing something to replace them. You are awesome Food Matters

Thank you Food Matters

Thanks for trying to get the word out on some of the dangers of pesticide use. We should all be aware that any poisons sprayed into the air can cause damage far from the point of origin. The chemicals easily find their way into soil and then, of course , ground water, and can eventually contaminate wells and lakes - streams - rivers - oceans. "Scientists estimate that every person has within their body, approximately 700 chemical contaminants at any given time!
* (Onstot) * (www.bodyburden.org)"
We also should be aware that 'GMO' crops can 'cross-pollinate' and contaminate "Organic" crops if they are in the vicinity. Monsanto is in the business of genetically engineering super-crops and splicing genes from bacteria and viruses to produce a corn crop (among others) that will produce it's own insecticide. When we ingest these types of things , we must be cognizant of the fact that there are no long-term studies to see the ultimate effect. Viruses that produce bacteria inhibiting growth are sprayed on deli and luncheon meats. Ammonia is sprayed on beef to retard spoilage. Ammonia laced goop called 'Pink Slime' is put into 70% of the ground beef in the US today , and that includes the school lunch program. Vegetables are grown with the intention of being transported long distances and must be engineered to withstand the trip and are routinely irradiated to retard spoilage. People today are living on the edge of a slippery slope. It doesn't take much to tip the scales and devastate one's health. More of us need to get the word out and shake up - wake up people to what's going on right under our noses. Please take a look at my website for a healthy living plan with over 50 years of experience and practical use behind it. This plan was developed over a period of many years by a good friend of mine , who is an RN . She and I collaborated and have made a concerted effort to help an educate. See the "No List" of Unhealthy foods and check out some of the useful links on that page, including "The Environmental Working Group" who have a list of the fruits and veggies with the worst levels of pesticide content and residue. You don't have to agree with us, that's your option, but agree or not , hundreds have been helped and I'm one of them ! Here's to your health!

I have always been taught to look at both sides of an argument and look into the author's reasons for writing what they do. I apprecitate the people who question everything and look into things for themselves to form thier own opinion. When it comes to food and pesticide use I have read alot and I have found more and more overwhelming evidence over the years that when it comes to profits, the general publics health and well being are grossly overlooked. I have gotten alot of flack over the years for insisting on eating organic and spending more on produce that dose not always look as shiny and perfect as sprayed and GM produce dose, but I continue to find more and more evidence to support my personal decision. I think it is unfair that most people are not even aware of what they are eating and the effects it is having on them. Most people think that if they are buying apperantly fresh vegatables and fruits that they are eating healthy, sadly this is no longer true of the world we live in today.
I feel really bad for Gwen and her animals and farm and I am glad that this story has been put out there so that people can question and see that what they are being told is not always true. The more awarness of this issue the better.
I will now avoid nuts and avocados that are not organic as well. Thank you FOOD MATTERS.

Take a hard look at pesticides approved for organic use. They can be harmful to people also. Many times a conventional farmer might make to applications of a pesticide while an organic farmer makes 7 or 8. Also very little is know about the organic pesticides compared to conventional.

How many peasant farm workers are exploited to harvest the crops that produce the organic pesticides in places such as Kenya? Why did the many of the organic pesticides fail safety test in the EU? What about soil problem associated with adding large amounts of sulphur to control insects, too much of one nutrient will affect how well others are utilized by the plant. Organic isn't quite as perfect as it's being painted by it's advocates.

Love your work food matters
Thank-you

I fail to see the relevance of Monavie to the topic - Monavie is NOT certified organic.

2se of the two chemicals in question and their usage is very small in comparison to other, 'safer', pesticides. However, the question of why, like many other countries, they are not banned outright does not seem to be addressed

Now it's dangerous to eat fruits and vegetable because you really don't know what chemicals were used in it's growing.