A Strathroy area vegetable farmer is sounding the alarm about a type of organic waste-based product being spread on some fields in parts of Middlesex County.
Doug Skinner says the composted product contains human waste, paper, as well as fine pieces of glass and plastic
That means some 1,700 acres near Strathroy cannot be used for ground root crops for fear of end-of-product contamination, although the spread is good for ginseng crops.
"The majority of commercial crops are not ground harvest so it may not be an issue," he says. "But as you well know, glass and plastic take a tremendous amount of time to break down. I don't know if glass ever will break down. The issue with peas or carrots or other crops that are ground harvested is that the harvester pulls the plant up and in some soil conditions can pull soil and roots up with it. We simply cannot take the risk of having glass in any of our vegetable crops that eventually end up on store shelves."
Although the organic waste-based product is approved by the Environment Ministry, there is no record of where it is spread so Skinner advises ground-root farmers thinking of expanding to seek legal advise.
He'd like to see producers discontinue allowing glass and plastic to be included in the compressed waste that predominately comes from the Toronto area and Lambton County.
