[NatureNS] Questions

From: jen cooper <iffercooper@hotmail.com>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 02:43:33 +0000
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&gt;&gt; Stephen's Walmart brand sounds worth checki
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 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