A Dirty Little Secret: Your “Organic” Strawberries Aren’t Really Organic
While organic strawberries are much more expensive than non-organic ones it turns out they’re not actually organic. They are fumigated with toxic chemicals including methyl bromide in the early stages of their lives.
Methyl bromide is used to sterilize the soil right before the strawberries are planted while it is not sprayed directly on the fruit it is a soil fumigant that is known for killing just about everything that it touched. The seeds used have been hybridized in order to be able to grow only in sterile soil. Soil is generally full of life with tons of organisms living in it but in modern agriculture, it is used as a medium rather than a habitat. Soil in the minds of some is something simply used to transfer synthetic nutrients from factories to crops.
Right before the fruit bearing stage all strawberries are treated with toxic chemical fumigants and other pesticides regardless if they are going to be conventional berries or organic. California is responsible for almost eighty percent of the fresh and processed strawberries exported literally about ninety percent of the United States grown fresh strawberries come from California. There is not one single organic nursery there.
Back in 2010 as part of the U.S. agreement to the Montreal Protocol Methyl bromide commercial use was banned but somehow California is exempt from this ban. This chemical has also been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in farm workers. Literally over nine million pounds of pesticides are used annually in order to keep strawberries pest free.
The only way to really get organic strawberries is to buy locally sometimes you can find growers who sell during specific seasons. Ask if they use organic heirloom seeds and if they did you should be good to go, or you could always grow your own. for more information on methyl bromine please watch the video below.