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Just Asking: Are veggies grown on local farms safe for us to eat?

reporters@samoanews.com

A Samoa News reader pointed out that in all the articles and interviews reported by Samoa News, “I cannot find anywhere where it states the vegetables are not fit for consumption, yet the ban is widespread in order to protect our children and people.”

“What is very important to Agriculture is the ‘safety of food’ for our children in the school lunch program as well as the general public,” Acting Director of Department of Agriculture Peter Gurr stressed during an interview at his office, and a second one at the Samoa News office last week Wednesday.

The Samoa News reader said, “My worry is: Yes, there is a ban on. Yet the vegetables are still found on store shelves, they are being given away, and in some cases are now being sold in the villages as farmers go door-to-door to sell them.

“If the vegetables are not safe for human consumption, like Gurr seems to be saying, then why haven't the crops been destroyed?”

The Samoa News reader said a lot of people are panicking — saying ALL locally grown vegetables are ‘bad’.

Samoa News response:

Gurr did say some farmers have been certified to now sell to stores, roadside stalls, and other vendors — however the School Lunch Program was not mentioned. However, Gurr did not point out who these farmers are and how does the consumer know they are the ones selling to the stores or roadside stalls?

In the meantime, a landowner, who leases her land to farmers, took photos of the fertilizer and chemicals her farmers are using to make sure their produce grows healthy and free of disease — all have English language labels.

The landowner told Samoa News as of right now the farmers are just sitting around waiting for the Department of Agriculture inspectors to show up, because they are unable to sell their produce anywhere right now, and are even reluctant to give-it-away to villagers — because they are just not sure why they have been shut down. As a result, they have no money to pay bills, including the land lease.

Gurr himself, Samoa News should point out, said they chose to shut down ALL the farms even though only a few had been found to be using illegal fertilizers and chemicals. He noted, “Shut down for a couple of weeks, we back-track, clean it up and then come back and certify the innocent farms.”

However, Samoa News spoke with a government official who belongs to one of the agencies Gov. Lolo M. Moliga has directed to collaborate with the DOA to conduct site visits to all farms on island. The official said the problem he finds with the ban is the lack of clear evidence that farms are guilty of unregulated use of pesticides and fertilizers. There are no tests of vegetables or of the soil — so right now it’s all “maybe” — nothing solid.

The problem to date, Samoa News finds is there has been no schedule made public of farm inspections, nor has there been public notice of which ones have been certified or re-certified.