WHY ARE WE GROWING OUR FOOD WITH POISONS?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1,000 types of pesticides are used around the world to ensure food is not damaged or destroyed by pests.

A UN Environment Programme report forecasts continued growth in pesticide use. As the world’s population is expected to reach 9.3 billion people by 2050, a 60% increase in the rate of food production is required. To sustain this demand, researchers believe farmers will need to use even more pesticides. (BBC, 2023)

Pesticides are toxic. Here’s how an article in Earth 911 describes it. “In general, when people use the term pesticide, they are referring to synthetically manufactured chemicals that were first developed around the middle of the 20th century. Some of them were originally used as chemical weapons during World War II, then repurposed for agriculture afterward.

“Many common pesticides are chemically related to nerve gas. The risk of using a pesticide depends on its level of toxicity and the level of exposure. Exposure to a small amount of a highly toxic pesticide can be fatal. But long-term exposure to large amounts of a less toxic pesticide can also have health impacts.”

The risks are acknowledged by the WHO, which says: “Pesticides are potentially toxic to humans and can have both acute and chronic health effects, depending on the quantity and ways in which a person is exposed.”

Yet we spray them on our crops in conventional farming. We are living in an age which world renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall describes as “the dark era of agriculture”.