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Index of Subjects Come to think of it, there was a failure of endorsement-logic in my recent post. My bag of black oil sunflower seed wasn't a Walmart's-own bag or even re-labelled, it was an Essex Topcrop bag that Walmart was re-selling. Presumably it is Essex Topcrop that has contributed to the 3 bird organizations and thus received their endorsement, nothing to do with the Walmart organization, apart from them recognizing an externally-endorsed source of seed. So there would be nothing special about using Walmart as a source if you could find the same brand elsewhere, though I haven't come across it elsewhere, locally. Steve Quoting Eleanor Lindsay <az678@chebucto.ns.ca>: > Stephen Shaw wrote: >> Usually I buy my hulled seed supplies at the Wild Bird shop in >> Clayton Park, but >> the last lot of un-hulled Black Oil Sunflower in a manageable-sized bag >> actually came from Walmart in Halifax. Checking this out... >> ... on this 15 kg plastic bag is printed "made in Canada, Essex >> Topcrop Sales >> Ltd, Box 10, Essex, Ont., 1-800-265-4899, www.topcrop.ca". More to >> the point, >> the bag also bears logos (presumably seals of approval?) from "member" Wild >> Bird Feeding Institute, "supporting" National Bird-Feeding Society, and >> thirdly, Project Feeder Watch (Bird Studies Canada), www.bsc-eoc.org. The >> quotations "member" and "supporting" presumably mean that Walmart >> has supported >> these organizations financially, and that, accordingly, it has been >> permitted >> to use their logos. >> >> I mention all this because if anyone including me had concerns about this >> particular supply of BOS or others, presumably we could follow this up by >> contacting the three bird organizations above to see if they had checked the >> source of the BOS and were even aware of the Roundup story, or we >> could check >> with Essex Topcrop directly. The other correspondents concerned about this >> should check the inscriptions (if any) on their BOS bags to see if >> anyone has >> endorsed the source of their seeds. Walmart usually gets bad press >> and I'm not >> endorsing them here, but in this case at least it looks like three bird >> organizations have endorsed their BOS supplier. I'm sure that's >> what Walmart >> intends to convey to the public by printing their logos, and hope that's >> actually what it does mean. >> Steve (Halifax) >> **************************************** >> >> Quoting James Hirtle <jrhbirder@hotmail.com>: >>> Hi all: >>> I recieved this recently and was wondering if anyone has any >>> knowledge on this issue. If indeed there is any truth to the >>> following, I myself would find it somewhat disturbing. I would >>> like to send an answer to the individual, but I have no first hand >>> knowledge in regards to the topic. >>> >>> James R. Hirtle >>> Dublin Shore >>> >>> I am writing about sunflower seeds which I feed birds at my >>> property on Hidden Lake in the Labelle/Chelsea area. In October my >>> wife and I took a trip across Canada by train. On the outskirts of >>> Winnipeg we saw large fields packed with sunflower plants that were >>> brown and withered looking. I felt this to be somewhat odd >>> considering that the weather was still quite summer like and that I >>> had seen sunflower plants in Maniban gardens that still seemed >>> robustly upright and appealing to the sun. Whe I arrived at my >>> older son's place in Kelowna BC I happened to ask him whether he >>> knew about the sunflower crops around Winnipeg. He had spent some >>> time in Winnipeg and his girlfriend comes from a town out side of >>> that city. My son said that he was told that the sunflower plants >>> are sprayed with Round Up to facilitate the harvesting of the >>> plants and the gathering of their seeds. In January of this year I >>> purchased an 18 kg bag of sunflower seeds at Costco in Halifax. On >>> the bag was printed the name of the company, Keystone Grain Limited >>> (they have a website) that distribute the seed and I noticed it was >>> in Winnipeg. I looked on the bag for more infornmation and was >>> surprised to see no mention that the seed wasn't for human >>> consumption. So I wrote them an e-mail to find out if the seed was >>> fit for humans. I have had no reply. I was wondering whether you, >>> because of your area of expertise, would have any knowledge if in >>> fact this is a method used to harvest the seed and whether use of >>> such seed - possibly corrupted or contaminated with a herbicide - >>> would be detrimental to birds. I read and hear of the decimation >>> and reduction in the counts of some types of birds. Could this be a >>> factor to consider or at least make notice of? >>> >> >> >> > On further checking this morning, I have learned that both my > Tantallon supplier and Best Friends Pet Supplies get their seeds via > Armstrong in Ontario. Best Friends advised me that as far as they > understand all the seeds come from 'out west'. At this point > Stephen's Walmart brand sounds worth checking into. > > Eleanor Lindsay >
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