Can I Eat These Fruit?
October 4, 2021 1:05 PM Subscribe
Fruit growing on trees right by a stream that is also a storm sewer. Yea or Nay?
On my way to work I go along a recreational trail that is parallel to a stream (Google Maps link for the approximate location). The stream also doubles as a storm sewer (ie where the water goes when it rains, but also where the runoff from whatever else everyone is doing goes if they don't properly contain and dispose of it). If I eat the occasional apple, mulberry, or walnut from the trees at the side of the stream am I going to be poisoning or otherwise harming myself?
On my way to work I go along a recreational trail that is parallel to a stream (Google Maps link for the approximate location). The stream also doubles as a storm sewer (ie where the water goes when it rains, but also where the runoff from whatever else everyone is doing goes if they don't properly contain and dispose of it). If I eat the occasional apple, mulberry, or walnut from the trees at the side of the stream am I going to be poisoning or otherwise harming myself?
I would wash the fruit, but otherwise, fine.
posted by theora55 at 1:24 PM on October 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 1:24 PM on October 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
I would wash the fruit, but otherwise, fine.
I think the issue isn't so much "is the fruit dirty" as "are the plants picking up toxic things that get into the flesh of the fruit itself" similar to how a lot of recommendations for people starting gardens have the first step of getting the soil tested. So, like, is storm water picking up particulate/pollution matter and depositing it in the earth where the trees grow, and are the trees then picking some of that up.
posted by LionIndex at 2:38 PM on October 4, 2021 [5 favorites]
I think the issue isn't so much "is the fruit dirty" as "are the plants picking up toxic things that get into the flesh of the fruit itself" similar to how a lot of recommendations for people starting gardens have the first step of getting the soil tested. So, like, is storm water picking up particulate/pollution matter and depositing it in the earth where the trees grow, and are the trees then picking some of that up.
posted by LionIndex at 2:38 PM on October 4, 2021 [5 favorites]
Best answer: The wikipedia page for Highland Creek and tributaries says it supports salmonids, which suggests that the water quality is decent. The "issues and challenges" page doesn't list anything truly scary other than the usual city runoff. I wouldn't drink the water in the creek (especially after a rainstorm) but I really doubt that there is contamination to the level where you would be worried about the amount that a tree could take up into an apple. I can guarantee that people are eating fish caught in the creek (whether or not they should...), which is a much more direct way of ingesting whatever is in the water.
I found an old "state of the watershed" report which also didn't list anything too scary, but it was ~20 years old so conditions may have changed.
posted by Dip Flash at 2:48 PM on October 4, 2021 [6 favorites]
I found an old "state of the watershed" report which also didn't list anything too scary, but it was ~20 years old so conditions may have changed.
posted by Dip Flash at 2:48 PM on October 4, 2021 [6 favorites]
Response by poster: Dip Flash, I'm retroactively feeling better about all the mulberries I ate during the summer! I'll give in to temptation now and try one of the apples on my way to work tomorrow.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:57 PM on October 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:57 PM on October 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bbqturtle at 1:23 PM on October 4, 2021