Jane: You sound like the kid who refused to do his homework because 'the universe is expanding'.
Yep, there is all sorts of bad stuff out there, the 'gummint' is into it up to its armpits, etc, etc. It is still the case that compost tea can be made well, not so well, and downright badly. It is less obvious than originally put forward how easy it is to do it badly. In trying to tell whether Brinton or Ingham is right about the risk, it is necessary to look at their arguments and data. The Bess experiments at least show it is possible to grow E. coli from stuff that looks like compost (and had passed through the regulatory requirements for 'properly made compost' as far as process is concerned) in something that looks like a compost tea brewer, using recommended nutrients at recommended amounts. >From the regulators POV this means 'compost tea' as an unrestricted practice is not acceptable. The restriction of no added nutrients first proposed by the Compost Task Force would eliminate the potential of magnifying foodweb populations through feeding; the other possibility of requiring testing either of the compost or the resulting teas preserves that potential, while imposing other costs. In my opinion, the NOSB was correct in not accepting unrestricted use of compost teas. What needs to happen next is to determine what the necessary safeguards are to permit amplified foodweb culture use for fresh produce growing. It is certainly premature to say 'oh of course it is the evil gummint placing its jackboot on the neck of conscientious compost tea proponents, whose inherent holiness suppresses all pathogen growth of any kind within a 50 meter radius of their passage through the time space continuum.' The science of all this is very far from being settled. I find it remarkable how easily the BD crowd dismisses their own compost scientist's viewpoint and research on this subject. It may be time to take a closer look at this, and be a bit more rigorous and skeptical. Frank Teuton---true, he doesn't lock his doors, but his garage is full of savage attack trained watch worms.....which eat E. coli as if it were candy.... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane Sherry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "BdNow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 10:03 AM Subject: Re: Search for results of Elaine's testing of bd preps > Oh, well is not at all my response. I am not a scientist, but I bet if you > looked up the numbers for those killed or sickened by pathogens in > government approved meat (listeria, e coli, etc etc) you'd understand my > perspective. I maintain, that this government is NOT to be trusted with my > health. It is only a start to certify food is supposedly safe. This > government approves all kinds of chemicals are 'safe' to allow industry to > dump into my groundwater, earth, air and food. So if you're going to argue > that we need government certification, I would argue we need local > certification which would be much more meaningful to me. I simply don't > trust this government to tell me what is and is not good for me. Shall I go > on? What about mercury in children's vaccines? Take your pick. > > I understand the main intention here is to protect the people from > pathogens. But that ain't going to happen. Like our friend down under said, > what about the jerk who eats salad after going to the bathroom & doesn't > have enough sense to wash his hands. This country is lawsuit crazy. This is > another good way to make lawyers rich and people poor. > > Nothing in me is going "oh well" and "shrug" about certification. It 's more > like oh shit, they're co-opting another good thing to make themselves rich. > > Jane > > > From: "Frank Teuton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 09:49:39 -0500 > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Subject: Re: Search for results of Elaine's testing of bd preps > > > > > > Jane wrote: > > > > > >>> Certainly, there is going to be bad compost tea along with the good > > stuff. > > > > Uh huh. And, if the bad compost tea is used on the fresh produce, that means > > there will be a food poisoning outbreak, and dead kids and old people, and > > that is just, well, tough luck? > > > > Or, B, farmers should only make and use compost tea on fresh produce if it > > is tested and thus known to be pathogen free? > > > > Please forgive my lack of 'spiritual evolution' but, in my view, the effort > > required to use known compost entities is small and the benefit of assurance > > of tea quality is large, given the potential risks. > > > > Somehow, "Oh well" and "Shrug" seem to me unacceptable as a response to this > > possibility. > > > > Frank Teuton > > >
