Letters and Emails

Students dispute column

I APPRECIATE ASHLEY Ritchie's concern that people should know the facts when it comes to discussing social justice topics. However, her article did not contain any of the facts that are crucial to understanding and debating the serious concerns relating to the food served at Benson. She attempted to dismiss important issues like fair trade and organic farming by telling us some personal stories, which clearly did not address the complexity of the issues for which people on campus are fighting.

Fair trade is about questioning ways of global trading that keep people in developing countries poor and paying them a fair price for their work. It has absolutely nothing to do with her father's farm.

Also, Ritchie accepts the assumption that pesticides are entirely safe. We, as the consumers, may not die from them tomorrow, but that does not automatically mean that they are completely harmless. I urge Ritchie to look at the data of how pesticides can affect the Earth's soil, air, water and ecosystems instead of adopting such an anthropocentric view of the world.

Ritchie thinks that her "words get twisted around every week", but this is not my intention. I'm sure that her father is indeed a very nice man and that I will not keel over from ingesting the pesticides on the food that he grows. However, I would just like to alert Ritchie to the fact that social and environmental justice issues are very complex, and encourage her to first make a visit to the library to investigate the depth of these issues to acquire at least a basic understanding of the arguments that she wishes to oppose. Everyone has the right to an opinion, but in a university newspaper, lets at least try to keep our opinions based on fact instead of anecdotal evidence.

Charlotte Vallaeys,

religious studies/psychology/German, '02

I AM WRITING in response to Ashley Ritchie's article in the Feb. 28 issue of The Santa Clara about farming. You claim that farming is not a crime and that students on the Santa Clara campus unjustly challenge your means of living. Farming is not a crime; I respect your father's job and am pleased to hear about how your father treats his workers. Sadly, the treatment they receive is an exception to farms all over the country, in which dignity and respect are not what the farm workers receive. You state that you are an "advocate on educating people in hopes of helping them get their facts straight" and that you want to "crawl out of your skin" when you hear people talking about how poorly farm workers are treated in California. Precisely because your family is involved in the farming industry, you should be informed of the general trends affecting the farm workers. It is not enough for you to state your father's good and honest work; you should use your father as an example of how things should be.

Regarding fair trade and organic food, you state that students on campus "scream for fair trade coffee and organic food to be served in Benson without real knowledge of what they are talking about or who they are harming." I admit I am not an expert in the subject, but I do know the basics of fair trade coffee, and I was quite surprised in reading your opinion that students have no real knowledge. The real knowledge is the following: Fair trade coffee ensures that the grower will be paid $1.26 a pound. This allows the coffee grower to save a little more so as not to scrape by on a daily basis. In addition, we the consumers will share the responsibility we all have in creating a more equal and just society for us to live in.

You also state that pesticides used on the crops are not harmful to the person who eats them. There is a lot of scientific research that points out that pesticides can have a harmful effect on the consumers. Organically grown food not only decreases negative effects on humans and the environment, but it does so in a way that production does not decrease.

I understand your support of your father, but you should understand that his situation is not prevalent in most farms. There are more issues in the farming industry, concerning social justice and equality, than what you see at your farm. I hope that by learning more about it will increase your understanding of what we are denouncing when asking for fair trade coffee and organic food.

Jelena Radovic,

anthropology/environmental studies, '04

Author responds to letters to editor

I AM WRITING in response to my article printed in the Feb. 28 issue entitled, "Farmers life is not what it is cracked up to be." Considering the responses I have received, I feel as if my words, once again, were misinterpreted and I was made out to look uneducated on the realities of society.

I feel people missed the sentence where I said that I was not talking about every farm across California. I know very certainly that there are injustices in the world. As a matter of fact, there are injustices in every occupation you might come across, farming being no different. However, this idea of farming, being full of wicked practices, is foolish and a complete over-generalization. Not all farms are like this. Therefore, argue what you will, but I know from first hand experience that the farms in the largest farming area of the world are not like this.

When it comes to the issue of organic foods on campus, all I have to say is go to the store and glance at the produce department. If you compare an organic fruit to one that was not organically grown, you will see a major difference in quality and quantity. Food that is grown organically is not bought even half as much by the consumer as non-organic food. Most of the time, the only reason that people buy organic food is if they have the intentions of doing so before they enter the store.

I also need to say something about the pesticides. A farmer's biggest expense is pesticides. If he did not use these, he would be a millionaire because he would not have to pay for the chemicals, the labor, or the equipment. Therefore, it is because of public demand that they have to use them. There are also those who claim that farmers ruin the land with pesticides and other practices. You will never find someone who loves the land more than a farmer. The land is their livelihood and without it, their family does not eat. Also, the notion that pesticides are incredibly harmful to the consumer has yet to be proven. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's website "Before a company can sell or distribute any pesticide in the United States of America, EPA must review studies on the pesticide to determine that it will not pose unreasonable risks to human health or the environment." Clearly, they would not allow harmful products on the market. Take me for example, I have eaten the food my father's farm has produced for my entire life and I am fine. My 75-year-old grandfather has also eaten this food as well as worked in a time when protective masks were not even worn when dealing with chemicals. He is as healthy as he could be. If someone who has been around these chemicals 75 percent of the time more than the average person, even in a time when they were much more dangerous, is healthy, I highly doubt that there are people around the globe suffering from simply eating the food.

I hope this has cleared up some of the misconceptions that were formed after my column last week. I know that no matter what, I will never have everyone agreeing with me. In fact, being that I am in a largely liberal place, I am sure that I will always be the minority. But, please understand that I have had more experience in this area than almost every individual here.

Ashley Ritchie,

TSC Opinion Editor