OCR Text |
Show People concerned about the food their family Oakland Oakl-and the prices they have to pay for it are calling, writing writ-ing and wiring their legislators legisla-tors protesting recently proposed pro-posed regulations that could affect how much food is available and affordable. America enjoys an abundance abun-dance of food, thanks, at least in part, to crop protection pro-tection chemicals, and a lot of people are writing their legislators to help make sure things stay that way. The average American family eats about 694 pounds of meat and fish, 598 pounds of fruit, 1,1 3G pounds of dairy products, 1,154 pounds of vegetables, 592 pounds of grain products pro-ducts and 349 pounds of poultry every year, and does not want to see America's abundance severely curtailed. cur-tailed. Nevertheless, a lot of lawmakers law-makers are trying to increase in-crease and complicate the regulations regarding when, where, and even if food growers can apply crop protection pro-tection chemicals on their own lands. Many growers may have to cut back on production or increase prices to stay in business. That could be reflected on the supermarket shelves -and cash registers. As some scientists point out, if not for crop protection chemicals, chem-icals, up to half the food grown everv year could be lost. Crop protection chemicals make it possible for the average American consumer to enjoy, at fair prices, a year-round flow of fresh, frozen and canned vegetables vege-tables and fruits of a quality unsurpassed anywhere in the world. Many consumers are telling tell-ing their legislators they consider any law that keeps growers from operating at peak efficiency to be strictly from hunger. |