ORGANIC GROWERS FACT SHEET

"Sustainable Agriculture Systems and Organic growers avoid or limit the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides."

FACT: All pesticides have one thing in common in common - they are poisons designed to "KILL" things and they have the potential to kill humans if ingested in sufficient amounts.

FACT: Many chemicals, that are initially marketed as "TOTALLY SAFE" for humans, are later found to be "HARMFUL."

FACT: Since 1996 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has targeted a large group of older, riskier pesticides called organophosphates for review because they pose a potential risk to children.

QUESTION: How can products, that are designed to "KILL", be placed on the market without first undergoing proper tests to determine any potential health risks to the consumer?

MORE FACTS

• in the 1950s, DDT was hailed as a safe insect control. More than 30 years later it was found to be almost completely non-biodegradable. It remained in the soil and built up in the food chain and could be deposited in the fatty tissue of humans. DDT was eventually banned, but its off-spring lindane, dieldrin, chlordane and other chlorinated hydrocarbons, remained in use.

• EDB (Ethylene dibro-mide) was marketed in the 1950's as an insecticide and a post-harvest fumigant for fruits, vegetables and grains. In 1984, it was banned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to its carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and reproductive toxicity.

• In August of 1999, the EPA announced action against methyl parathion and azinphos methyl to protect children from pesticide residues in food.

• In 1999 the EPA reached an agreement whereby the manufacture of chlorpyrifos, or Dursban would be halted by December 2000.

• On December 5, 2000 the EPA announced the elimination of all indoor uses of the widely used pesticide DIAZINON. Diazinon is used by homeowners on lawns and gardens. More than 15 million pounds of this pesticide is applied annually in the US alone.

• An EPA study of 1200 "inert" ingredients in pesticides, many which remain un-tested, found 122 that could cause cancer, birth defects, neurological disorders or health problems.

• Toxicology and Industrial Health published a study showing that the natural mix of chemical pesticides and fertilizers – in concentrations mirroring levels found in groundwater – can significantly affect immune and endocrine systems as well as neurological health.

• The Canadian Institute for Child Health has found that children are increasingly at risk of serious diseases from pesticides. The study also found that "pesticides have NOT been evaluated for their potential to affect brain development." The study said cancer rates in children grew 25 percent since 1975.

• More than 38 million pounds of Roundup are used in the United States each year, the EPA estimates.

• The 1999 FDA pesticide residue monitoring program found pesticide residues on 38 percent of domestic grain products, 29 percent of fish/shellfish, 60 percent of fruits, and 29 percent of vegetables.

• Residues of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed under the brand name Roundup, have been found in lettuce, barley, and carrots that were planted 1 year after the soil was sprayed.

• Each day in the United States more than a million children age 5 and under who eat a normal diet ingest doses of organic phosphate pesticides that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s adult reference doses, according to a recent analysis of USDA and FDA data.

• Toxicology and Industrial Health has published a study showing the natural mix of chemical pesticides and fertilizers – in concentrations mirroring levels found in groundwater – can significantly affect immune and endocrine systems as well as neurological health.

• There has been a 25 percent increase in kids cancer in past 25 years.

• Twenty million American children age 5 and under eat an average of eight pesticides a day.

• There are now more than 7,000 types of pesticides on the market in Canada.

• In California, where 25 percent of all pesticides in the US are applied, agricultural pesticide use increased 151 percent between 1991 and 1998 while the amount of cropland remained constant.

• The average apple has four pesticides on it after it has been washed and cored; some apples have as many as 10.

• The Canadian Institute for Child Health has found that children are increasingly at risk of serious diseases from pesticides and other unwanted additives in food and water.

• California strawberries receive an average of 300 pounds of pesticide active ingredients per acre per year.

• An estimated 67 million birds die or pesticide exposure each year in the United States.

• It takes approximately 3,000 years for nature to produce 6 inches of topsoil. Every 28 years, 1 inch of topsoil is lost as a result of current farming practices.

• Organic biointensive farming can produce 6 inches of topsoil in as little as 50 years – 60 times faster than the rate in nature.

• Usage of conventional pesticides on farms in the US increased from about 400 million pounds in the mid-1960s to a peak of nearly 850 million pounds around 1980. Since then usage has dropped somewhat.

• In 1900, 39 percent of the US population lived on farms. By 1950 the figure had dropped to 16 percent, and by 1990 it was less than 2 percent.

• One teaspoon of compost rich organic soil hosts 600 million to 1 billion helpful bacteria from 15,000 species. One teaspoon of chemically treated soil can host as few as 100 bacteria.

• In US farming areas, 22 percent of wells contain nitrate levels that exceed federal safety standards.

• Nearly 40 percent of the world’s land used for agriculture is seriously degrade, including almost three-quarters in Central America and 20 percent of the grazing land in Africa. Erosion, nutrient depletion, and soil compaction are among contributing factors.

• Small-scale integrated farming systems (growing a variety of crops and animal products) are 200 to 1,000 percent more productive per unit area than larger farms growing a mono-culture of one or two crops. This holds true in an industrial country, such as the US, or any country in the Third World.

• Globally, the tripling of grain production over the past 50 years has been accompanied by a 20-fold increase in nitrogen fertilizer use.

• In 1910, American farmers received about 41 cents of the consumers’ food dollar. In 1992 they received only 9 cents.

http://ecochem.com/organic.html

Little Bit farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), April 27, 2002

Answers

And yet, with all this, the average life span of Americans continues to grow, the infant mortality rate world wide continues to fall.

-- abdul in FL. (nospam@no.spam), April 27, 2002.

Thank you Littlebit. Ignore Abdul, he sounds middle eastern to me. No offense to humane middle easterners.

-- Susan in Michigan (cobwoman@yahoo.com), April 28, 2002.

I have a little book called The Nuts Among the Berries, written about 1960. The author pokes fun at alternative medicine & health practices, such as accupuncture, vitimins, whole foods (as opposed to over-processed enriched foods), organic gardening & more. Much of what he dismissed is now conventional medicine.

Keep at it, Little Bit. It takes time, but eventually more people will understand the dangers.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), April 28, 2002.

You know, on every container of pesticide or herbicide is a label that says: WARNING--IT IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW TO USE THIS PRODUCT IN A WAY THAT IS INCONSISTANT WITH THE LABELED DIRECTIONS.

I have yet to see someone use this crap responsibly and yet, I have never seen anyone get busted for it. Where are the Federal Chem Cops?

-- Laura S. (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), April 28, 2002.

And yet, with all this, the average life span of Americans continues to grow, the infant mortality rate world wide continues to fall.

How's that Susan? Can that be considered a valid and interesting point now?

-- John Doe (USA1@aol.com), April 28, 2002.

The crazy thing is most chemicals used are not necessary such as the ones used on lawns and golf courses you'd think a yard could survive a few dandelions without applications of poison.And the worst use of all is useing them to produce grain crops that there is already hugh surpluses of now."Improved methods" of production only add to that surplus and drive down prices.Chemical companies get rich, the farmers go broke and we're all subjected to alot of poisons makes no sense to me.

-- Gary (burnett_gary@msn.com), April 28, 2002.

A lot of these FACTS are spun. They are like empty calories. The often imply cause and effect that is not there. Two examples:

1. "FACT: All pesticides have one thing in common in common - they are poisons designed to "KILL" things and they have the potential to kill humans if ingested in sufficient amounts".

Well Duh!? Absolutely ANYTHING, has the potential to kill humans if injested in sufficient amounts. Anything would easily include garden worms, compost, table salt, horse manure, herbal tea, herbal medicines, acetominophen, aspirin, goat milk, broccoli, spring water. There is a point here but its ruined by the broadside.

2. "And yet, with all this, the average life span of Americans continues to grow, the infant mortality rate world wide continues to fall".

Abdul has a point also and it should not have been dismissed. However, the use of pesticides, although they may be indirectly beneficial (and with a net gain result), may more directly decrease life spans and quality of life.

Granted, its more fun just to shout.

-- charles (cr@dixienet.com), April 28, 2002.

Susan, tsk tsk tsk...pick apart Abdul's point by mentioning that the added US longevity is due in part to the addition of hundreds of dollars worth of petro-pharmaceuticals ingested by the elderly each month, not to any positive effects of diet...but to come in with a racial slur at the beginning of what could have been an interesting debate is inexcusable! No matter what disclaimers you may tack onto the end of your statement. (How about this: "Just ignore Susan, she sounds like a woman to me...no offense to intelligent women!" Yeah, that makes it all better, right?)

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 28, 2002.

I'm with you, Little Bit. I believe some of the statistics on longevity and more babies living BECAUSE of petrochemicals are sometimes skewed for the convenience of whomever would make money from those statistics.

The bottom line for me is: Who's going to take away my hard-earned dollar for this statistic? For instance, when "scientists" said butter was "bad" for us, who stood to make money? Why, the producers of margarine and all the related products, of course! My first thought was, "How can something made by God (in a manner of speaking) be worse for humans than something made in a factory?" Same with eggs. I've never believed all the lies made up and told to us just to sell another product. I try to use my own particular brand of logic.

And to me, it's NOT logical that petrochemical POISON must be put on the earth in order to raise food. The media and the chemical companies can throw their "statistics" at me until they turn blue in the face, but I'll never believe them if they don't make sense to me - and if they're going to make more money from their "statistics".

Did you hear about the statistician that put his feet in a bucket of ice, and his head in a hot oven, and said, "I feel average"?

-- Bonnie (51940@aeroinc.net), April 28, 2002.

My sincere apologies to John Abdul Doe. My comment was racist, ignorant and self serving. I know better than that and have no idea what got into me. Please forgive me.

-- Susan in Michigan (cobwoman@yahoo.com), April 28, 2002.

Well done, Susan! (I figured you were just having a pre-coffee moment. ;^}~ )

As for Abdul's second argument, I don't see the correlary between excessive chemical use on agriculture and the decrease in infant mortality world-wide...please enlighten me on how these tie in together?

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 29, 2002.

Thanks for the fact sheet. I'm going to copy it.

The really scary thing is that the big commercial growers have access to chemicals that the homeowner doesn't. Even buying produce from the local farmer's markets (when you know a lot of them aren't really organic) is way better than buying at the grocery store.

-- HV (veggie@ourplace.com), April 29, 2002.