did your shopping list kill a songbird?

Please read the op-ed piece in the today's New York Times, Did your shopping list kill a songbird? by ornithologist Bridget J. Stutchbury.  In it, she discusses the high levels of pesticides used to grow produce in foreign countries to satisfy the skyrocketing demand for out-of-season fruits and vegetables. While she notes that these foods are three times as likely to violate standards for pesticide residues as the same foods grown in the U.S. (and therefore pose some risk to humans), she emphasizes the deadly toll this pesticide use has on North American breeding songbirds.

Stutchbury recommends organic produce; several months ago I linked to another NYT article that gave a list of the five most important foods to buy organic. Stutchbury also emphasizes two others: bananas and coffee. I am currently reading the book Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World and frankly, I'm damn glad I don't really like bananas!  As for coffee, everything you might want to know about eco-friendly, sustainable coffee is over at Coffee & Conservation.

Stutchbury is the author of the recent book, Silence of the Songbirds: How We Are Losing the World's Songbirds and What We Can Do to Save Them. In it, she discusses these issues and provides a lot of information from the scientific literature and her own field studies. At times it's a little wonky; if you like your facts and actions a little more straightforward and easy to digest, I recommend (again) Laura Erickson's 101 Ways to Help Birds, which I reviewed here.

Comments

[BirdingGirl]

You have been tagged by a fellow bird blogger. For details see my April 2nd post at: http://birdinggirl.blogspot.com

Good Luck!

Best,

BG