Peace Resource Center presents "Bitter the Fruit"

This piece can be found online here.

SANTA CRUZ

Saturday, February 19, 8:00 pm & Sunday February 20, 3:00 pm (matinee), Friday, February 25, 8:00 pm & Saturday, February 26, 8:00 pm: Theater Play Tackles Green Issue: Methyl Bromide/Iodide
Current protests against the use of Methyl Iodide on strawberry fields had their origins in a similar battle versus Methyl Bromide in the 90's. A new theater play "Bitter the Fruit" tells the story of two brave women teachers who campaigned to get M.B. removed from fields adjacent to their classrooms. The Class One toxin menaced the health of students.

The play also relates the struggle of strawberry pickers to become a recognized workforce under the U.F.W. (United Farm Workers) banner. One young Latina emerges as a natural leader, gaining the respect of a local 'Anglo' journalist. Gradually admiration turns to affection between the earthy (also fiery) 'campesina' and the cool-minded ecologist. With touching humor and bold conflicts, "Bitter the Fruit" gives an accurate historic picture of a determined local movement that combined environmental and labor activists. To some degree the 'green' campaign did win safety improvements in the application of Methyl Bromide fumigant, and a large section of strawberry pickers did win a union contract.

Former Community TV host Nicholas Whitehead wrote the drama, based on his inside knowledge as a member of the dynamic campaigns. Drawn from interviews done

Mural: "Strawberry Fields" by Kathleen Croscetti

at the time, his characters of Ag. Commissioner and Big Grower get to say their piece in a realistic manner, defending the practice of synthetic chemical agriculture as the only means to feed an expanding world.

The production of "Bitter the Fruit" is a presentation of West Performing Arts done by Workers Theater.
Part of the proceeds help fund the health needs of farmworker children.
General admission $9.00 upwards ; Students and Low Income $5.00 ( at the door, or reserve: 831.234.2067 )
Broadway Playhouse ( Santa Cruz Art League ), Broadway at Ocean St., Santa Cruz. Blogsite: bitterthefruit.blogspot.com

Bitter the Fruit Playdates Announced

by Becky Johnson
Jan 17 2011

Santa Cruz, Ca. -- Producer, director, writer, Nicholas Whitehead's new play, Bitter the Fruit, which documents the struggle of two teachers, their students, and their worker parents against the use of the lethal and ozone-depleting fumigant, methyl bromide on area strawberry fields, will have its premier performance on February 19th, at 8:00PM at the Broadway Playhouse (formerly the Santa Cruz Art League) on Broadway, near Ocean St. Three more performances are planned.

Saturday Feb 19 -- 8PM -- Opening night
Sunday Feb 20 -- Afternoon matinee

Friday, Feb 25th at 8PM
Saturday, Feb 26th at 8 PM -- Final performance

Bitter the Fruit is being produced by the Workers' Theatre Company
in association with West Performing Arts

For more information call: (831) 475-2012 or e-mail nicosuz( @ ) yahoo.com

Did you know that....

by Becky Johnson

January 7 2011

Santa Cruz, Ca. -- Did you know that Methyl Bromide, the Class 1 nerve gas and toxic fumigant used to sterilize soil prior to commercial strawberry plantings...

-- causes less than 1% of the ozone-depleting potential in the upper atmosphere of the world?

According to the California Strawberry Commission

-- has a half life of two years

-- is "natural" since it can also be found in natural sources like the ocean, wetlands and many plants.

-- was identified as an ozone-depleting substance in 1992 under the Montreal Protocol (an international treaty created in 1987 to protect the world’s ozone layer). The Protocol passed, along with an added-provision, a plan to phase-out the production of methyl bromide by 2005 in developed countries and 2015 in developing countries.

-- can still be applied to crops provided the countries wishing to continue its use, opt out by applying for a Critical Use Exemption (CUE). A country is deemed eligible if the country has conducted sufficient alternative research but is still unable to find a viable, safe alternative to methyl bromide."

-- California strawberry fruit production has been identified by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol as having critical needs for methyl bromide due to the lack of suitable alternatives, according to the California Strawberry Commission, and has been granted this exemption every year since 2005.

-- Growers threaten that "without effective alternatives, the loss of methyl bromide could make production unprofitable for a significant number of growers, resulting in fewer strawberries available."

--May 16, 2002--The non-profit California Rural Legal Assistance settled its lawsuit suit against Monterey County and the state Department of Pesticide Regulation on behalf of a north Monterey County resident who alleged he was exposed to unsafe levels of the farm fumigant methyl bromide. The suit was filed last year after levels of the chemical were found to exceed state standards in air-quality tests taken near two schools- La Joya Elementary School in Salinas and Pajaro Middle School in northern Monterey County. Those tests found concentrations of 7.7 parts per billion far exceeding the state guideline for safe exposure for children.

-- is used primarily for profit? "Strawberry production is important to California's economy; the state leads the U.S. in strawberry production. In 2006, the fruit harvest yielded a value of $1.2 billion, and accounted for 79% of the total U.S. gross sales." --- from Science Daily Feb 9 2009

--According to the University of California, the loss of methyl bromide would cost direct losses to California business up to $346 million per year, with 9,894 full-time jobs lost annually. --- Trical Inc.--a distributor and applicator of soil fumigation products

New Play due out by Nicholas Whitehead in 2011

by Becky Johnson
Jan 7 2011

Santa Cruz, Ca. -- Watch for a new, original play written and produced by local playwright, Nicholas Whitehead sometime this February. Bitter the Fruit tells a story of two teachers who find their classrooms surrounded by class one nerve gas and agripolitics. Based on the courageous stand taken by two Pajaro Valley teachers in the late '90's against the poisoning of the fields near their classrooms with methyl bromide (a toxic favorite of commercial strawberry growers), Bitter the Fruit shows how little has changed in the world of strawberry production considering methyl bromide was banned in 2005.

Previously, Whitehead has written and produced "Home Sweet Homeless," "Can't Stop the Clock" and was a co-producer on Club Cruz which aired at Community Television of Santa Cruz County.

For more information, contact Nick at : (831) 475-2012 Or e-mail Susan at nicosuz@yahoo.com