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“DON’T BLOW IT – GOOD PLANETS ARE HARD TO FIND“
“DON’T BLOW IT – GOOD PLANETS ARE HARD TO FIND“Over the past decade the rise of information about the benefits of organic food has driven a lot of people to buying organic products for their homes. It is no surprise to know that farmers who also dedicate themselves to crops other than food are taking the effects of organic farming very seriously as well. It is reported that cotton crops are the 2nd largest user of agricultural pesticides in the world. Only second to coffee internationally and to corn here in the United States. This means that 25% of the world's insecticides and 10% of the world's pesticides are dedicated to cotton. Even scarier than this is the fact that at least four of the top nine pesticides used in treating this cotton is considered by the EPA to be highly carcinogenic. These are cyanide, dicofol, naled and propargite. The problem is that when the crops are sprayed it is estimated that only 25% of those chemicals actually get absorbed into the plant. The rest is drifting up to miles and settling on crops that we eat and into water that is a drinking source for humans and animals. On top of this, there is also the problem that in time the insects that these chemicals are supposed to repel are becoming immuned to these synthetics. This requires that more be dumped onto the plant in attempt to produce the highest yield possible. So, ironically all of these chemicals are doing nothing more that contaminating the human food chain and the wildlife that is ingesting them. Organic cotton is grown on land that is certified to be free from any pesticide, insecticide and defoliants for at least three years. The farmers maintain their crops using time-old methods of crop rotation, cover crops, beneficial insects and human labor (not to mention organic fertilizers) to care for their plants. This not only assures them safer working conditions but also safer products for those who enjoy them. The solution to the problems conventional cotton farming presents is to support organic practices. For the benefit of the workers. For the benefit for our environment. For the benefit of yourself and your family. I once read that, "you should never put anything on your skin that you would not put in your mouth," with all of these unsettling facts about toxic chemicals, I can definetely see where this person was coming from. e knew. The more we support these farmers by spending money on organically grown cotton, the lower the prices will get and the smaller the human foot print will be on the Earth.
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