SAMA HOOLE: Chloropicrin is a soil sterilant. You inject it into the ground to kill everything: fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects, so the soil is chemically dead before you plant into it. You then grow strawberries in a sterile medium using synthetic inputs, because the natural soil ecosystem that would otherwise support the plant has been eliminated.

California grows 90% of American strawberries.

To do it, they fumigate the soil with chloropicrin before every single planting. Not occasionally. Every planting cycle, every year, in 99% of California strawberry fields.

Chloropicrin is a soil sterilant. You inject it into the… pic.twitter.com/cWDPoqNQjh

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) February 26, 2026

California grows 90% of American strawberries. To do it, they fumigate the soil with chloropicrin before every single planting. Not occasionally. Every planting cycle, every year, in 99% of California strawberry fields. Chloropicrin is a soil sterilant. You inject it into the ground to kill everything: fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects, so the soil is chemically dead before you plant into it. You then grow strawberries in a sterile medium using synthetic inputs, because the natural soil ecosystem that would otherwise support the plant has been eliminated. It was also first used as a chemical weapon in World War One. The fumigation applicators are farmworkers, predominantly undocumented migrants. Exposure causes eye damage, respiratory damage, and neurological symptoms. California's Department of Pesticide Regulation lists it as one of the most common causes of agricultural pesticide illness. Residential areas near strawberry fields in Monterey County have recorded fumigation drift events serious enough to send children home from school. The strawberry is marketed as a heart-healthy, antioxidant-rich, plant-based superfood.

The soil it grew in was chemically sterilised with a WWI weapon. The person who planted it probably doesn't have health insurance.