TOXIC CROP = TOXIC YOU

Farming is no longer considered sustainable when it  requires heavy use of chemical fertilizers and importing water (from other states, regions and countries) to produce sufficiently, usually as result of over production and growing crops that strip the soil of its own nutrients,  such as growing corn. The environmental and physical dilemmas around excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers are numerous.

Consider the common apple, named the most pesticide contaminated food , but do you know what that pesticide is meant to do?  It is actually designed to split open the organs of living creatures! This pesticide, DPA, a very commonly used pesticide, is known by the EPA to cause liver and kidney disease, and is toxic to fish and aquatic organisms. This is just one! Keep in mind over 1 BILLION TONS of pesticides, chemicals and known toxins are injected, sprayed, spread, and dipped on your foods every year in the United States! And these are regulated to some degree, unlike many places in the world where greed wins.
Whenever synthetic and chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used they will always percolate out of the soil with rain and watering, now contaminating local water sources and oceans. This has many scientists concerned that it is very likely the reason for the rising rate of extinction of many species of frogs, honey bees, and many birds. The fertilizers being pumped into our ocean are the main source of “Red Tide” and highly productive algae that suffocates anything in its path.  Red Tide kills millions of fish and other marine organisms, makes toxic, inedible shellfish, decimates the food stock for other larger species such as whales and dolphins, damages coral reefs and overwhelming the oceans natural purification processes; this algae uses all stocks of oxygen in the waters. It is even dangerous to breathe the air near the harmful algae blooms! 
Of course, fertilizer and contaminants also reach our drinking water and riparian waters. Often these components are not/cannot be removed and end up stored in our liver and body fats.


SOLUTION- The Sustainable Table writes, “Many sustainable farms rely upon Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as an alternative to the heavy use of pesticides.  IPM is a growing movement amongst farms of all sizes that incorporates a variety of techniques to eliminate pests while minimizing damage to the environment.  For instance, an IPM farm will grow pest resistant crop varieties, use predatory insects to kill plant-eating pests,  employ mechanical pest traps, and eliminate nesting areas by plowing under harvested crops.  Chemical and natural pesticides are used only as a last resort.