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Page added on May 4, 2016
Consumers Are Underestimating Just How Dependent We Are on Pesticides
The time may be upon us to get real about pesticides. While railing against the likes of Monsanto for using chemicals deemed “probably carcinogenic” may be tempting, it appears that many consumers do not practice, or at least fully understand, what they preach.
A new report released by the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) found some pretty jarringly contradictory attitudes when it comes the use of pesticides.
For starters, the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization has already stated that global food production must increase by 60 percent by 2050, as there will be almost “a third more mouths to feed” by then. Yet, only 4 percent of those surveyed by the ECPA were able to correctly estimate the magnitude of this looming problem.
The report, undertaken by internet-based market research firm YouGov Plc, also found that consumers appear to have underestimated just how dependent the current world food supply is on pesticides. Only 31 percent of the 5,631 adult Europeans questioned thought that crop disease and infestation were linked to the global rise of food costs.
For some, this is a dangerous assumption. “If farmers cannot protect their crops, cost will inevitably increase,” Graeme Taylor, a spokesperson for the pesticides industry, said in a press release. “Consumers expect—and deserve—to have access to safe and affordable food of good quality. To continue to be able to produce sufficient quantities of quality crops requires sustainable use of pesticides. This research shows however that consumers do not appreciate the magnitude of what is at stake if farmers don’t have access to innovative solutions like pesticides to protect their crops.”
In other words, we’re already very reliant on pesticides and phasing them, which is the last thing consumers want. All of which begs the question of what consumers really want; affordable food or pesticides on their food? The answer, at least as framed by the ECPA, is both.
Trace amounts of potentially harmful weed killers like glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, have already been found in British bread and German beer, leading for calls to ban it.
And as a well-intentioned as these calls are, the ECPA’s report, combined with the ticking timebomb of a rapidly growing world population, are a stark reminder that, like it or not, we are already on the hook.
24 Comments on "Consumers Are Underestimating Just How Dependent We Are on Pesticides"
PracticalMaina on Wed, 4th May 2016 2:11 pm
When they say dependent they should put dependent and poisoned, glycophosphate is terrible for you, but in the complete formula in round up it is even worst. I put up a link recently about a study showing a correlation between the distance from where aerial mosquito spraying takes place, to an increase in autism in the area in children who were in the womb during spraying.
Last year saw a slight decline in acres planted with GMO crops. Monsanto is trying to jump into coating seeds with beneficial microbes, it seems that their customers are starting to figure out dead soil doesnt produce quantity without huge chemical inputs, and it can never produce good quality. Our current industrial ag setup is not resilient to drought which is the ultimate crop killer and will continue to be.
makati1 on Wed, 4th May 2016 6:26 pm
Death by starvation or death by corporate poison. Take your choice.
Davy on Wed, 4th May 2016 6:56 pm
For starters I see little likelihood this statement from the article will happen “For starters, the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization has already stated that global food production must increase by 60 percent by 2050” The negative dynamics in oil, climate, economy, and population will conspire in a converging killer fog of agricultural decline. This will surely mean we will not make a 60% increase and will very likely mean we will not even produce what we are currently. My prediction is food production will fall by 10% in 5 years. This will be driven by peak oil dynamics and economic decline.
It takes pesticides and more so herbicides to produce food in huge monocultures. There is no way around this. There is no way around monocultures to feed 7BIL people. So get used to chemicals in your food or starve. You can grow some of your own as an option if chemicals bother you. They bother me and that is why I grow some of my food.
I love when people bitch about glyphosate because they don’t remember the previous far more toxic chemicals that was used before glyphosate.
makati1 on Wed, 4th May 2016 7:31 pm
Sign of the times:
“License To Steal: Italy’s Highest Court Rules “Theft Not A Crime If Hungry”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-03/license-steal-italy%E2%80%99s-highest-court-rules-%E2%80%9Ctheft-not-crime-if-hungry%E2%80%9D
And the run on food begins…
JuanP on Wed, 4th May 2016 7:46 pm
Mak, In Uruguay it has always been legal to steal to feed yourself or your family. In the countryside, you can take a chicken, fruits, veggies, or a lamb from a farm and eat it without fearing any consequences if you are hungry, but you must leave the skin hanging from a fence, eat the whole animal, and do it in the open. You can’t do this with cattle, though, they are considered too much food and too expensive. You have to be poor, hungry, and steal only the food you need to survive, though, otherwise it’s a crime. This is an old Uruguayan tradition, and it is still practiced
JuanP on Wed, 4th May 2016 8:16 pm
Growing food without pesticides or herbicides is much harder than using them. I try to avoid using any products, but will occasionally use a Neem oil, soap, or baking soda solution spray on a plant by plant basis as needed.
While it would be very hard, but theoretically possible, IMHO, to grow food for everyone in the world like this, you can definitely grow enough food for yourself, your family, and your neighbors without using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides
makati1 on Wed, 4th May 2016 9:04 pm
JuanP, those cattle will become the target eventually. And the rustlers will not give a damn about laws. It is good to know that some countries are still civilized and not capitalized. Pun intended.
makati1 on Wed, 4th May 2016 9:07 pm
JuanP, our farm has seen no pesticides and never will. There are so many ways to accomplish much the same results in a safe way. Sometimes as simple as planting marigolds among your veggies. And marigold seeds are so easy to collect and save, a child can do it.
JuanP on Wed, 4th May 2016 10:14 pm
Yes, Mak. I have Marigolds in all my plots and they self seed and grow like weeds, and I have to pull them all the time; they are my numero uno weed in my plots. I use them to attract beneficial insects and fight pests like Root Knot Nematodes.
Gowing the right plants in the right place at the right time is also important as is watering properly. Companion planting and other organic, traditional, and permaculture techniques help, too. In a farm there are more possibilities than in a small plot, though. And those of us that are lucky to live in the tropics can grow food year round which also makes things easier.
I just had a Katuk, kale, tomato, and cucumber salad with a mango and sweet pepper dressing for dinner. Every single ingredient except the olive oil was from our gardens. Everything was fresh except the mango, which was our last frozen mango from last year. Check out Katuk bushes for your farm if you haven’t yet.
I expect to start harvesting mangoes again next week from the Manila mango tree in the garden, an early bloomer here in Florida. I don’t know how they call these mangoes down there, but in Miami we call them Manila mangoes. They are a very strong orange inside, absolutely delicious, and they rippen from green to red to yellow on the skin. They are my and my wife’s favorite fruit in the world.
JuanP on Wed, 4th May 2016 10:25 pm
By the way, I highly recommend blending equal parts of mango and sweet pepper to make a very simple, absolutely delicious and nutritious salad dressing. It takes all of one minute to make and wash after regardless of the amount. Great for parties. This is my favorite salad dressing.
makati1 on Wed, 4th May 2016 10:37 pm
JuanP, sounds delicious. I’ll try it. Mangoes are everywhere here. I like like them, but grew up on peaches and apples which do not grow in the tropics. I am adjusting.
We are trying to get some olive trees to grow here, but I doubt that it will work out. The climate may be too different from what they need and it would be years before we would see any fruit anyway, but it is fun to try. The coffee and cocoa trees are growing well though.
Go Speed Racer on Thu, 5th May 2016 12:32 am
Makita, that ‘License to steal’ (you can steal the food if you are hungry).
Shouldn’t it be a law in the country of Hungary?
makati1 on Thu, 5th May 2016 12:37 am
LOL. Well, the elite have had a license to steal for hundreds of years. Maybe it’s time the serfs had one also. In Hungary and everywhere. Not that they will need one when the SHTF.
makati1 on Thu, 5th May 2016 12:38 am
BTW: I like being called the name of the best made tools in the world. I own a few of them and have used them for decades.
Davy on Thu, 5th May 2016 6:35 am
Makati Bill, I find that hard to believe Makati Corporation of America is an American company how could they make the best made tools in the world? You have made it clear nothing good comes out of America. I know just another slip up in the anti-American agenda like so many others. You thought they were made in Makati, P’s.
peakyeast on Thu, 5th May 2016 6:57 am
An article about over population – which is why we are dependent on poisoning ourselves and everything else.
A prime example of how stupid it is to be so many people.
peakyeast on Thu, 5th May 2016 7:04 am
@the link about italy: I think that minimal food and minimal shelter should be provided by law – especially if you call your country civilised.
Oh – and dont forget the 1 child per woman policy
Letting people lie and die of hunger or easily prevented diseases is certainly not a sign of civilised behavior. Its a sign of poverty of the soul and mind – and/or overpopulation.
Davy on Thu, 5th May 2016 7:14 am
Italy does not have a food issue. This is naturally just sensationalism. Italy has better quality food than most places in the world and plenty of it. The country has a good social welfare system both public and non-public.
ghung on Thu, 5th May 2016 8:05 am
PracticalMaina: “…glycophosphate is terrible for you, but in the complete formula in round up it is even worst. I put up a link recently about a study showing a correlation between the distance from where aerial mosquito spraying takes place, to an increase in autism in the area in children who were in the womb during spraying.”
Color me confused. Glyphosate is an herbicide, not a pesticide. The primary issue with glyphostate (“Roundup”) is that many weeds are becoming resistant and extremely invasive. See “super pig weed” (Palmer’s Amaranth). Anyway, the article is about pesticides.
Anyone who has grown crops at any scale can understand the difficulty of success without some form of pest control. Like those who want society to get completely off of fossil fuels, most folks don’t understand the predicaments we’ve grown ourselves into. Of course, having cheap foods in abundance requires the use of chemicals. Even growing on a small scale requires some form of pest management. I suggest folks come to my place and spend their days manually picking pests and their eggs of of individual plants and see if they think this could scale up to millions of acres.
Last year, when I first planted my high tunnel, I was astounded at how quickly nature crept in on the attack. I had some success using row covers, traps, etc., but did fog certain crops at night with neem oil, Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), insecticidal soaps, even pyrethrins. Everything I use is OMRI listed for organic gardening. It’s a war out there, and the pests don’t care what you pay for food, or if you starve. Using beneficial insects and “Surround” also helps, but industrial Big Ag isn’t going to fool around much with most of these methods. Spray’em and kill’em. That’s the nature of non-organic agriculture these days.
PracticalMaina on Thu, 5th May 2016 8:53 am
Ghung, my mistake, the article mentioned it making its way into Europe’s food. Also the whole mosquito fogging issue is going to be a very big deal soon IMHO. There are always organic methods that work as well as poison, mosquito dunks or mosquito traps work great and can be extremely effective if someone is diligent. I would not say roundup resistant weeds are the biggest problem with glycophosphate use. The poison being in our food in the first place is the largest issue I see. You have bad weed issues? Your crops aren’t close enough together IMHO. I usually plant a combination of from seed and small transplants, anything that will be able to overcome weeds on its own I plant from seed, other more delicate plants I will sprout in a window first. Squash is great ground cover and when grown from seed in good soil it will quickly smother anything you don’t keep it from covering. Spray em and kill em is the attitude that is going to destroy most of our current farmland.
Kenz300 on Thu, 5th May 2016 9:18 am
Too many people demand too many resources……yet the worlds population grows by 80 million every year…..
How many charities are dealing with the same problems they were dealing with 10 or 20 years ago with no end in sight. Every problem is made worse by the worlds growing population. IF you can not provide for yourself you can not provide for a child.
Rescuing Homeless Children From the Streets of India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpaR_pTVeBk
Poverty in the Philippines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M5PAS8Lr10
ghung on Thu, 5th May 2016 9:30 am
While even strict studies in the EU have had a problem establishing toxicity levels from glyphosate, I avoid using it except when absolutely necessary (mainly using it to kill off invasive multi-flora rose).
In my high tunnel I’m using black paper mulch as bed covers; never let weeds get established in the first place. A 4 foot by 440 foot roll is about $50 and lasts me a couple of years. It gets composted after use. Hard to use in open fields due to winds, but works great in the high tunnel. I use a lot of other mulch as well. I’m using a rolled fabric mulch around my blueberries and between rows in the high tunnel, covered with a thick layer of cypress mulch; lasts years. In our area, weeds rule; very lush here and over 65″ of rain, annually. I use my electric tiller/cultivator to attack weeds between my outdoor row crops.
Using row covers on new plantings, especially from seed; does a lot to control both pests and weeds. I use this stuff: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5456-agribon-ag-15-insect-barrier-118-x-250.aspx# and, if used carefully, I can reuse it for a couple of years. I use 1/2″ PVC pipe for hoops over rows and fix the row cover over those. For low crops like cabbages, carrots, potatoes, etc, the covers can be left in place for the full season. Huge help in the high tunnel, but will blow away out in the open if not well staked.
Controlling other “pests”: Birds – using netting on hoops; Racoons – low electric fence; Deer – using fences with a visual barrier up high.
It’s a war out here.
peakyeast on Thu, 5th May 2016 10:08 am
@Davy: It was probably a response to my comment – but it wasnt what I meant. I meant in general – not italy specifically concerning letting people die…
Rob on Thu, 5th May 2016 11:14 am
I grow a bunch of different types of stonefruit. The fact is, if i don’t use pesticide (usually permethrin), i don’t get to eat anything because of a pest called Plum Curculio. One female can lays 70 eggs…i’ve seen egg laying in every plum on mature plum trees. There is the option to use “Surround” spray, but that too isn’t a sure thing (its a clay product that needs to be reapplied and turns your tree white).