Rio Mesa High School located in the middle of strawberry fields
I recently came across this article by the Center of Investigative Reporting. It highlighted the high usage of soil fumigants in strawberry fields that were close in proximity to Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, CA. According to reports of Telone-II usage (1,3-dichloropropene), a soil fumigant used to control fungal diseases and plant parasitic nematodes, over 750,000 lbs of fumigant was used in a township in which the school resides. This is an area of high fumigant usage, and if applications are timed improperly, the children at the school would be exposed – so the concerns have merit.
In seeing this, my first questions was: “Why did they build a school in the middle of a field in the first place?” Most of the time it is due to land being cheaper than trying to build one within city limits. Many farmers feel, however, that this is done with intention of “bullying” farmers out of the area. Once a school is built, it is considered a sensitive area which reduces the use of pesticides, impacting farm profitability, eventually forcing the farmer to move operations – which is exactly what the above linked article highlights. This forces a sell to developers, who make millions of dollars developing cheap farm ground into hastily constructed houses.
Another question that comes to mind is “why aren’t they building schools within city limits?” Most of this has to to due with how money is raised through city bonds. It is easier to fund new building projects, which require a majority vote, than it is to raise taxes – which requires a 2/3rds majority vote. Add that to the increasing pressure for school administrators to build a new project, and next thing you know, schools are being built in the middle of nowhere. Once these schools are further from residential centers, fossil fuel usage/car exhaust to deliver children to school is increased. Auto exhaust, by the way, has been linked to all kinds of childhood medical issues such as asthma, diabetes, and cancer (Where is Jenny McCarthy on this one?). The Rio Mesa school which is cited in the report is over a mile away from residential housing.
It is difficult to farm in areas of urban-agricultural interface due to perception of farming practices, regulations, and traffic. I have been asked multiple times if pesticides were being sprayed when we were applying a foliar nutrient spray. All pesticides that are applied are sprayed at night – which has worker safety concerns of its own. Regulations prevent the use of some pesticides that could increase crop productivity or manage invasive pests. There are always children, adults, and pets running through the field, creating liability and food safety concerns. Citing these reasons, it is no surprise when a highly productive field next to houses eventually becomes houses.
We can develop better land use within California to protect all parties involved. This will protect farm ground and lead to smarter designed cities. Finally, we need to place schools in areas of high population so they can be the center of the community, not in the middle of a field because it is cheap, easy, and benefits home builders, while sacrificing the ability to farm the land.
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