Merchants Of Death:

Watch Video: Pesticide & Produce -  courtesy ABC news

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When a baby is born, the first source of nutrition the baby receives is the mother’s milk. When we talk about nutrition we think of fresh green vegetables, fruits. We personally initiate ourselves going to markets so that we can pick fresh vegetables and fruits, quality check on the products that we consume. So the bottom line is “nutrition is the source to healthy life”.

When we visit a produce market, its human tendency to get attracted to shapes, sizes and colours of the fruits and fresh vegetables displayed in front of us, but the truth is “All that glitters is not gold”. Today so called “commercial farming” where fruits and vegetables are treated with pesticides, insecticides, toxic chemicals for better production, and as a result, we consumers unknowingly have to consume pesticide contaminated produce. Eventually who suffers? - “The consumers”.

“The Center for Disease Control in 2009 conducted test on 5000 Americans over 6 years old and found pesticides on 96% of them and more than 60% had 7 or more pesticides in their body”. “Pesticides found on 90% of 8 most popular fruits and vegetables - reports The Federal Government”. “According to a consumer publication - the fruits and vegetables are sprayed with defoliating chemicals before they are transported to the store to extend shelf life”.

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Pesticide is a poisonous substance used for pest control and the pesticide residues in produce have dangerous impacts on the human body. Scientific studies have linked certain pesticides to disease like cancer, damaged nervous system, weaken immune system. Organochlorine insecticides like DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), Benzene Hexachloride are linked to the rising cases in breast cancer since 1950. Recent studies have shown that women who are exposed to pesticides during early pregnancy endanger themselves giving birth to baby with birth defects and low IQ.

“Dr Rashmi Sanghi a research scientist at IIT - found traces of Endosulfan (organochlorine insecticide) and Chlorpyrifos (organphosphate insecticide) from the milk samples taken from breast feeding mothers”.

Just imagine, what were the sources of these toxins? The answer is: the pesticide residues in produce which the mothers consumed unknowingly.

Endosulfan and Chlorpyrifos are linked to neurological defects and development disorders. Many pesticides were banned on health and environmental grounds, but the persistence level of those pesticides are so high that it has readily absorbed the environment.

“Cocktail of pesticides have engulfed the entire food chain says - Kavita Kuruganti, a member of Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture”.

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Now let me ask, “Who are the real Merchants of Death?” the farmers or the manufacturers. This question still remains controversial.

We certainly cannot blame the farmers because they did not invent pesticides, instead they were brainwashed, the more you use, the more you yield. Even the farmers have faced the dreadful health hazards to pesticide exposure.

“There are higher rates of different kinds of cancer found in farming communities – reports the National Cancer Institute”.

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Considering these facts we cannot stop consuming fruits and vegetables, we all know the nutritional benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.  So, how to find the nutritional benefits without welcoming these toxins in our body? The answer would be: “the choice that we make”. Organic produce could be the best alternative for eating the Mother Nature’s finest without getting scared. The organic farmers do not use conventional methods to fertilize and control disease instead they use manure to fertilize crops, do complex crop rotation, instead of pesticides and chemicals they use techniques like pheromone trapping, lights, bugs and birds to control pest.

“The USDA defines the term Organic as - foods without synthetic fertilizers and chemicals”. “Reports suggest that organic produces are way safer than conventional produce”.

The only major drawback of organic produce over conventional produce is the price; organic produce is bit expensive compared to convectional produce. But let’s look at it this way – Isn't precaution is better than cure!

Personally, I think one of the best solutions would be our own organic kitchen garden or terrace garden. There are many people around the globe who really are enjoying the natures best produced by their own hands and after all building a garden is not a rocket science. As I have mentioned before: “It’s the choice that we make”.

Our mother earth provides us “Micronutrient”, the ultimate source to all nutrients which a human body requires and today conventional farming methods are sweeping it away. The use of pesticides, insecticides, chemicals can be linked to a time-clicking bomb which will explode sooner or later with numerous life taking diseases.

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