Green Revolution vs Synthetic Chemicals
We all know we should eat nutritious foods so our bodies may function at their best. We also know this diet should include lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts. And that eating these fresh products raw provides the most value.
Armed with this knowledge, it is so easy to go to our local grocery store, with their displays of beautiful looking produce, and get all the nutrients we need.
Or Is It?
It is if you don't mind the two big trade offs for making the produce look so good and last on the shelf so well. Take tomatoes for example, they all look perfect in shape and texture, color is a little pale and they last so much longer than they used to.
The first trade off is taste, which is pretty bland compared to those home grown varieties we used to have. The second trade off is the fact that you get trace amounts of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
Those who promote the advantages of using these synthetic chemicals, say that the trace amounts of these toxins are not harmful to humans and their use is the only way to produce enough to feed everyone cheaply on the smaller acreage available for farming.
There are a few problems with these claims.
First, the studies on the "harm" to humans, at least the ones I have seen, are preformed on each chemical individually. I am no chemist but I do know that when chemicals are combined, their properties and toxicity are altered.
Add this to the growing number of new "ailments and diseases" prevalent today and my faith in these studies diminishes quickly.
Even though the human body has remarkable abilities to isolate and remove toxins, it is not only possible but probable that constant and continued introduction of these toxins into the body, overwhelms it. This is especially true when you consider the fact that, along with the trace amounts ingested with the food itself, the concentrations of these chemicals in the environment only increases our exposure.
It seems that we have accepted the sacrifice of a percentage of us and the health of the environment for the benefit of cheaper, plentiful supply of food. Both of these factors seem to be increasing drastically every day.
This brings us to the 2nd problem, the theory that synthetic chemicals are our only option. We are finding that it is possible to produce the quantities and higher quality organically, without these synthetic chemicals. Even with the fact that organic methods have a higher initial cost, the nutritional value is higher, the environmental impact is lessened and health in general increases.
Just Think about the possibilities and the overall savings. Better health in the general public means less health care costs. This brings down the current run away health care crisis.
Bringing down and eventually eliminating the introduction of synthetic chemicals into the environment reduces the expense of massive cleanup projects in the future. For anyone not believing these costs are about to hit us right between the eyes, I would like to tell a story about a personal experience I had last year.
I enjoy camping in the Everglades National Park whenever I can. My last trip was in the spring of 2006. On the way to the Park you have to pass a large area of massive farms with their fields of beautiful produce. Normally when I get away from Miami area, I like to open the windows and breath the fresh air, unfortunately it was planting time on those farms and the smell of chemicals was so strong I had to roll the windows up and turn on the a/c.
I was concerned about my own health from just breathing these chemicals for the short time I was passing through. This brought to me an even stronger desire to switch to organic produce. At least I could eliminate a small part of the demand for these methods.
What really brought these thoughts home even more was something I saw when I was returning home. As I got to the farm area, I saw a crew mowing the grass on the side of the road. This is something you see all over the country. What was not usual was the fact that these two men were in full chemical suits with respirators. Just to mow the grass on the side of the road.
Unless we want to wear chemical suits just to survive on this planet, we have got to switch to a more sustainable method of production.
As more of us switch to Certified Organic Products, the demand will increase. Higher demand will increase the amount of research for finding better and more sustainable production methods which in turn will increase the supply thereby lowering the initial cost of these products.
Our health and the health of the environment will improve. These improvements can and will have a dramatic effect in lessening the associated health crisis and will certainly help reduce the looming environmental crisis. Each of us can help and do our part.
Go Green - Go Certified Organic - Save ourselves and this great planet.