‘Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to blueberry fields. Nothing is real, and there is nothing to get hung about…’ Well, actually, there is!
There is nothing ‘real’ about these blue chemical fruit bombs that are changing the once pristine landscape of the Mid North Coast to a wasteland of dead soil, toxic water, and irate residents.
To raise awareness and voice their concerns, the Nambucca Environment Network (NEN) is lobbying hard and fast for immediate action to ensure these cowboy blueberry farmers are held to account and council policies ensure impeccable safety practices and regulations for people and the environment.
On November 22, 215 locals from the Nambucca Region (and other neighbouring regions) attended a Community Meeting held at the Macksville RSL. Residents whose properties border blueberry farms shared their horrors and nightmares: chemicals being sprayed so much residents have to leave their property for the day, native forest being felled faster than you can scream ‘blueberry pikelet’, residents forced to buy bottled water because tank water turned blue from spray drift, and stories of children developing cancer and some, even dying.
The battle against toxic herbicides, pesticides, and Roundup is nothing new for residents on the Mid North Coast. From 1984-1993, banana farmers out the back of Coffs Harbour allegedly sprayed their crops so heavily, children in the area developed serious health issues: cleft palate, spina bifida, heart and brain abnormalities, and reported birth defects six times the normal average. It has been reported that 331 children suffered from malabsorption, chronic diarrhoea, vomiting, weight loss and growth retardation. Let me take you down to Banana Fields Forever.
Following this horrific occurrence, at least 12 of the chemicals used during this time were banned, withdrawn, or heavily restricted in other parts of the world…yet here we are, coughing and spluttering down these Blueberry Fields.
Maurice Blackburn is currently leading a class action against Roundup/Monsanto on behalf of all people who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) due to using or being exposed to Roundup or other Monsanto-branded herbicides products that contain glyphosate (Roundup Products) within Australia.
You are eligible to register in the Roundup class action if you:
- Used or were exposed to Roundup Products within Australia between July 1976 and 4th July 2022; and
have been diagnosed with NHL. - Executors/administrators, beneficiaries of a deceased person or a dependent of a person who meets or previously met the above criteria is also able to participate. Please contact Morris Blackburn ASAP if you meet the criteria.
With over 200 members (and growing!) on the NEN Facebook Group, community support is booming. The next Community Meeting will be on Monday December 11. Dominic King, former Mayor of Bellingen, the ‘gold standard’ of environmentalism and sustainability, will be presenting. Residents are demanding the Nambucca Council act with great haste to ensure no more children develop health issues and solutions to amend farming practices and regulations are sealed tight. Calls for farmers to ditch the toxins (safely!), use buffer zones, regulate water use, remove plastics, submit DAs, develop with consent, stop felling native land, and embrace Regenerative Farming and/or organics are high on the priority list.
Prominent Re-Gen advocate and educator from the USA, Zach Bush MD, recently visited the Northern Rivers to a packed audience at the RE: Connection event. Australian thought-leaders and visionaries explored the dynamic interplay between health, food, culture, and how to weave a rich tapestry of knowledge, wisdom and harmony into how we live/work/farm. It’s not only what we eat; it’s how we grow it, how we care for it, how we tend to it that we are also ingest.
It’s time to open our eyes and see what is going on in the rolling hills of the Mid North Coast. These blueberry fields should not be forever; their impact must be sustainable, safe, and eco-friendly. Australians need be aware of the dangers of toxic chemicals and follow the other 33 countries who banned Roundup and glyphosate. It’s time to support organic, Re-Gen farmers who care more about the quality and standard of their product over the size of their hip pocket.
You can sign the petition here.
