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>> Stephen's Walmart brand sounds worth checki --_888e786f-b6d1-4eda-b9a1-bafc6228354c_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable does anyone know anyone who sells locally grown sunflower seeds? growing your own sunflowers is actually a really good idea. i doubt it woul= d carry one all year but it would be nice to use your own seed for a while,= plus sunflowers do rock out in a garden.=20 jen > Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:15:02 -0500 > From: psboyer@eastlink.ca > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Questions > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >=20 > At least two of the organisations listed on the bag are birdseed =20 > TRADE organizations, essentially. That is perfectly all right with =20 > me, and I don't see it as anything deceptive. I just think that =20 > consumers should understand. >=20 > There does not seem to be any independent group which tests the =20 > purity of birdseed. It would very expensive, and there may not be a =20 > problem, anyway. >=20 > Someone who was really worried about the issue has a very easy =20 > option: grow your own sunflowers. It takes room and is not time-=20 > efficient compared to simply buying huge sacks of the stuff in a =20 > store, but you can do it, if you really want to. >=20 > Or you could set up a little home lab in the basement, and learn how =20 > to analyse samples for impurities. Let us know what you find. >=20 >=20 > On 16 Feb 2008, at 5:51 PM, Stephen Shaw wrote: >=20 > > Come to think of it, there was a failure of endorsement-logic in my =20 > > 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-=20 > > selling. Presumably it is Essex Topcrop that has contributed to the =20 > > 3 bird organizations > > and thus received their endorsement, nothing to do with the Walmart > > organization, apart from them recognizing an externally-endorsed =20 > > source of > > seed. So there would be nothing special about using Walmart as a =20 > > source if you > > could find the same brand elsewhere, though I haven't come across =20 > > 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 =20 > >>> Clayton Park, but > >>> the last lot of un-hulled Black Oil Sunflower in a manageable-=20 > >>> sized bag > >>> actually came from Walmart in Halifax. Checking this out... > >>> ... on this 15 kg plastic bag is printed "made in Canada, Essex =20 > >>> Topcrop Sales > >>> Ltd, Box 10, Essex, Ont., 1-800-265-4899, www.topcrop.ca". More =20 > >>> to the point, > >>> the bag also bears logos (presumably seals of approval?) from =20 > >>> "member" Wild > >>> Bird Feeding Institute, "supporting" National Bird-Feeding =20 > >>> Society, and > >>> thirdly, Project Feeder Watch (Bird Studies Canada), www.bsc-=20 > >>> eoc.org. The > >>> quotations "member" and "supporting" presumably mean that Walmart =20 > >>> has supported > >>> these organizations financially, and that, accordingly, it has =20 > >>> been permitted > >>> to use their logos. > >>> > >>> I mention all this because if anyone including me had concerns =20 > >>> about this > >>> particular supply of BOS or others, presumably we could follow =20 > >>> this up by > >>> contacting the three bird organizations above to see if they had =20 > >>> checked the > >>> source of the BOS and were even aware of the Roundup story, or we =20 > >>> could check > >>> with Essex Topcrop directly. The other correspondents concerned =20 > >>> about this > >>> should check the inscriptions (if any) on their BOS bags to see =20 > >>> if anyone has > >>> endorsed the source of their seeds. Walmart usually gets bad =20 > >>> press and I'm not > >>> endorsing them here, but in this case at least it looks like =20 > >>> three bird > >>> organizations have endorsed their BOS supplier. I'm sure that's =20 > >>> what Walmart > >>> intends to convey to the public by printing their logos, and hope =20 > >>> 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 =20 > >>>> knowledge on this issue. If indeed there is any truth to the =20 > >>>> following, I myself would find it somewhat disturbing. I would =20 > >>>> like to send an answer to the individual, but I have no first =20 > >>>> hand knowledge in regards to the topic. > >>>> > >>>> James R. Hirtle > >>>> Dublin Shore > >>>> > >>>> I am writing about sunflower seeds which I feed birds at my =20 > >>>> property on Hidden Lake in the Labelle/Chelsea area. In October =20 > >>>> my wife and I took a trip across Canada by train. On the =20 > >>>> outskirts of Winnipeg we saw large fields packed with sunflower =20 > >>>> plants that were brown and withered looking. I felt this to be =20 > >>>> somewhat odd considering that the weather was still quite summer =20 > >>>> like and that I had seen sunflower plants in Maniban gardens =20 > >>>> that still seemed robustly upright and appealing to the sun. Whe =20 > >>>> I arrived at my older son's place in Kelowna BC I happened to =20 > >>>> ask him whether he knew about the sunflower crops around =20 > >>>> Winnipeg. He had spent some time in Winnipeg and his girlfriend =20 > >>>> comes from a town out side of that city. My son said that he was =20 > >>>> told that the sunflower plants are sprayed with Round Up to =20 > >>>> facilitate the harvesting of the plants and the gathering of =20 > >>>> their seeds. In January of this year I purchased an 18 kg bag of =20 > >>>> sunflower seeds at Costco in Halifax. On the bag was printed the =20 > >>>> name of the company, Keystone Grain Limited (they have a =20 > >>>> website) that dist