Dr. Renee Prasad in the Vancouver Sun! Is it safe to eat food grown after BC fields flooded?

Is it safe to eat food grown after B.C. fields flooded?

Soil tests show “the integrity of the agricultural food supply production for (Sumas Prairie) remains strong.”

Article written by Glenda Luymes

Rachel Barth and Renee Prasad associate professor of agriculture at University of Fraser Valley. PHOTO BY FRANCIS GEORGIAN /PNG

Renee Prasad spends hours on her hands and knees in the dirt, looking at bugs.

As floodwater saturated the Sumas Prairie in November, the agrologist worried about the ladybugs, bees and spiders in the fields she studies, season after season. The insects, which help crops flourish by providing pollination and pest control, are integral and indicative of the health of some of Canada’s best farmland.

“I’ve been in these fields for a long time,” said Prasad, an associate professor in the agriculture technology department at the University of the Fraser Valley. “I’d notice if there was something amiss.”