The Present State of Affairs
Plants draw minerals and other nourishment from the soil up through their roots,
and these minerals are deposited in the body, fruit, and seeds of the plant. Plants then
use these nutrients to manufacture the vitamins and nutrients humans consume from
plants. Historically, farmers carefully tended and fed the soil through a variety of nat-
ural methods to keep it vital and healthy and to replenish the nutrients used by each
crop. This rich soil in turn produced vital, healthy, nutrient-rich plants. With the
advent of pesticides, natural soil feeding and tending declined markedly, and, as a
result, there is little nourishment left in soil for plants to absorb. This has led to a
marked reduction in the nutrient content of our food.
Pesticides kill not only insects that are regarded as a nuisance, but also beneficial
insects that eat crop-destroying insects, as well as insect-eating birds and fish. Addi-
tionally, pesticides destroy the beneficial bacteria, insects, and worms that live in soil.
These important organisms keep the soil vibrant and alive and enable strong, healthy
plants to grow and flourish. Compromised soil leads to weak, unhealthy plants that
have poor resistances to insects and diseases. The 1992 Earth Summit reported that
the United States now has the worst soil on the planet. Eighty-five percent of our soil
has been depleted to the point that it can no longer nourish healthy plants, and this
has led to the problem of vanishing nutrients.^60
Insects are extremely adaptable. Unlike humans, insects have brief life spans and
reproduce prolifically, allowing them to quickly accommodate changes in their exter-
nal environment though genetic mutations. As a result, insects have successfully sur-
vived numerous catastrophic planetary changes that wiped out other species. Our
actions have also given them a competitive edge.
Notes
- Terry Shafer, ‘‘If You Are Sprayed with Pesticides,’’ Mother Earth News,
May–June 1983. - David Brancaccio, ‘‘New Suburbs and Pesticides,’’ PBS’s NOW,August 19,
3.Spray Drift of Pesticides(Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency,
Office of Pesticide Programs, December 1999).
- D. Koch et al., ‘‘Temporal Association of Children’s Pesticide Exposure and
Agricultural Spraying: Report of a Longitudinal Biological Monitoring Study,’’Envi-
ronmental Health Perspectives110 (8) (2002): 829–833. - Philip Brasher, ‘‘EPA Seeks to Crack Down on Spray Drift from Farm Pesti-
cides,’’ Associated Press, April 6, 2002. - Francesca Lyman, ‘‘Does Pesticide Drift Pose Risks for Home Gardens?’’
MSNBC (May 8, 2002). - Robert Gunier et al., ‘‘Community Exposures to Airborne Agricultural Pesti-
cides in California: Ranking of Inhalation Risks,’’Environmental Health Perspectives
110 (12) (December 2002): 1,178–1,184.
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