We
all eat some sort of fruits and vegetables, but what we are eating might not be
as good for us, or the environment, as we believe.
I
never really gave much thought to the fruits and vegetables I ate until I saw
the documentary “The Vanishing Bees”. And then, a few months later I took a Nutrition
class that took the subject to yet another level.
Pesticides are literally destroying
the world, but there are some things we can do to avoid this dark fate.
I’m
going to tell you about the cause of these problems, it’s effects, and what we
can do differently to avoid the problem.
Now that I’ve told you a little about
the cause of the problem, I’m going to tell you a little about the effects. Bees all around the world are disappearing
by the millions due to colony collapse disorder, otherwise known as “mad bee
disease” according to the documentary “Vanishing of the Bees”. When this
happens, only the queen and some young bees are left in the hive. All of the
other bees simply disappear. This phenomenon was later found to be caused by
pesticides. If this continues the costs of foods would increase exponentially until
there just isn’t anything left to sell.
In
addition, pesticide and fertilizer runoff makes its way into our waterways.
Time Magazine says that “[they work their way into the] Mississippi River and down into the Gulf of
Mexico, where they will help kill fish for miles and miles around”. These
pesticides aren’t just bad for the environment. They are really bad for us too.
Time Magazine goes on to say “Food is increasingly bad for us, even dangerous”.
Frances Sizer and Ellie Whitney say “High doses cause birth defects, sterility,
tumors, organ damage, and central nervous system [impairment]. Children and the
elderly have lower tolerances.” in their text book “Nutrition: Concepts and
Controversies”
Now that you know the
problem, and the effects, I’m going to tell you about a couple solutions. What can we do
differently? It’s
actually pretty easy. Eat Organic. Nutrition:
Concepts and Controversies says that organic foods are fertilized with
composted animal manure or vegetable matter instead of synthetic fertilizers.
Crop rotation, predatory insects, natural bacterial peptide toxin is used for
pest management.
The
British Columbian Ministry of Agriculture offers another solution called Integrated
Pest Control (IPC). In this method, you only use chemicals when there is no
other option and sufficient damages are unavoidable without it. They should
only be used if the costs of the pesticides are more than offset by the amount
of damages you avoid. Instead they say you should use cultural methods like
crop rotation, use resistant plant strains, practice good sanitation, and use mechanical
controls to fight pests.
The
fact is that pesticides
are very destructive, and there are safer ways of growing our food. I have told you about
the pesticides causing these problems, the effects they have on us and the
environment, and that we can choose to eat organic or use Integrated Pest
Control to minimize the problem.
I
hope you will take this information into consideration when you are buying
groceries or working in your garden. Thank you for your time.
References:
Environmental
Fate of Pesticides. British Columbia’s
Ministry of Agriculture. Retrieved April 18th, 2012, from http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm
Langworthy,
G., Henein, M. (Producers) Langworthy, G. (Director). (2009). Vanishing of the Bees [Motion Picture].
UK: True Mind Studios.
Sizer, F.S.,
& Whitney, E.N. (2011). Nutrition:
Concepts & Controversies. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Walsh, B.
(Aug. 21, 2009). Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food. Time Magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2012,
from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1917726,00.html
