>Your offer of sharing nature's bounty sounds wonderful -- I hope there are
>folks out there who can reciprocate.  But I wonder what the prohibitions
>might be on shipping personally gathered and "unprocessed" (except for
>drying) foodstuffs (plant material, especially) out of the country, with an
>eye to concerns on pest distribution.  You probably should become very
>familiar with the regulations before attempting.  Within country is
probably
>just fine, tho.
>
To be able myself to importe food from out of CAnada i went to a government
agency and were so happy to have something to do that they looks in their
books to tell me what is the regulations about all the possible foods items
. It was very enlightnening for me to learn about all the scary treatments
done on foods so they can travel (fumigations, heat treatment...),and that
even organics produce were not so much organic once they cross the border,
and raw foods were not so raw anymore.
i will be careful if i could get the same types of informations from
somebody living in the states (may be the regulations are differents from
one state to another).
The considerations about pests propagations are presented to us as a concern
about protection of health of plants , but it seems to me they are basically
economics concerns.
NAture doesn't know boundaries, viruses bacterias and parasites travels
freely , they don't stop at customs , they just need an ecological niche to
prosper, and monocropping is just that ,a perfect ground for spreading
diseases.
IN my practice of Naturel way of farming, i learned to not be scared of
thoses little partners. In a well balance ecosystem all the diseases can be
there and not deeply affecting our favorites plants, but for sure
contribuate to the health of the whole. (health is not happening despite of
them but with them).
For my health i had to become concerned with the quality of my food and i
know it is more relevant for my health to eat plants that live in "diseases
ridden" environment but well established in their ecological niche than to
eat plants in a" pest free "( if only it was possible) environment.
The choice for me is : do i let agrobusiness decide what i should eat or do
i take care of myself and others by striving at reestablishing ecosystems
that can really sustain us.
I choose the second one and invite every body concerned by their health to
do the same and support each other.
Presently the agrobusiness is striving to fed us with Grains , milk, and
obese animals, in the main stream part of it , and soya , pulses and grains
in the organic or vegetarian part of it .
(note that when i talk about agrobusiness , i am not judging the peoples
caught in it , producers or consumers,  but the system that reflect our
disconnection with our environment)
IT is urgent  that we start to think overwise.
My proposition about harvesting from the wildest part of our environment is
an attempt in that direction.
Health doesn't start or stop at my body , i have to include all of you ,
living beings of the earth
jean-claude