Remember the good old days when we used DDT (and all kinds of other pesticides), which killed everything – including people– until it finally was banned?

We smoked until it was recognized as a serious health hazard. Now there are more non-smokers than smokers.

It was common for people to drink and drive.

Inhumane treatment of animals was more common on farms and in our society.

Institutionalizing our mentally challenged children was very common.

Radiating newborns in the Vancouver General Hospital was also an accepted practice because of some insane idea that it would prevent cancers.

We have polluted our streams, rivers, and oceans without any thought to the environment. I no longer hear the frogs in the spring.

All of these were, at one time, very acceptable practices in our society.

Noise pollution can have a negative impact. Perhaps the most serious problem created by noise pollution is the impact it has on our health.

Because sound pollution triggers the body’s stress response, one of the major health effects is chronic stress.

As a result, noise pollution has been linked with health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

It has also been linked with musculoskeletal problems.

Noise impacts sleep quality and disrupts sleep cycles.

Most significantly, chronic stress can lower your immunity to all disease.

Children exposed to noise have reduced reading ability and long-term memory impairment. In fact, children from noisy homes suffer ill effects that include less cognitive growth, delayed language skills, increased anxiety and impaired resilience.

Think of what the cannons would be doing to a newborn baby. Quite simply, noise pollution has a negative impact on your health and productivity.

Using cannons as a method to scare the birds is outdated. You can be assured that the farmers who use this type of method don’t live on these farms and, if they do, they are in all probability suffering from hearing loss.

The worst of all is the lack of caring for others, which is highly disturbing.

These farmers care more about the millions of dollars than they do about the health of individuals who suffer from the ill effects of this type of noise pollution. Do they realize the impact this has on our health care system? Shame on them!

Most blueberry farmers do not use cannons. The ones who do are lazy and uncaring.

Another fact is the blueberry farmers came after the neighbourhoods were built, not before.

Watch for future blueberry farms where none exists today. Maybe you will be lucky and one will be next door to you and blast you out of your home for two months out of the year. Those two months can feel like forever.

C. Evens