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Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects At least two of the organisations listed on the bag are birdseed TRADE organizations, essentially. That is perfectly all right with me, and I don't see it as anything deceptive. I just think that consumers should understand. There does not seem to be any independent group which tests the purity of birdseed. It would very expensive, and there may not be a problem, anyway. Someone who was really worried about the issue has a very easy option: grow your own sunflowers. It takes room and is not time- efficient compared to simply buying huge sacks of the stuff in a store, but you can do it, if you really want to. Or you could set up a little home lab in the basement, and learn how to analyse samples for impurities. Let us know what you find. On 16 Feb 2008, at 5:51 PM, Stephen Shaw wrote: > 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 checki