Sorry I am late with this week's post. We were taking motorcycle safety lessons with our daughter Heidi. One of Heidi's crusades is to expose us to new experiences in our old age. It was a blast, and it was fun to learn a new skill.
Meanwhile, back on the farm...
We laid by another cotton field this week. One more field and we can park the tractors for now. Speaking of tractors, we finally got our tractor back from John Deere late Friday. Ruben was so excited he said, 'Thank you' and shook my hand. He was glad to be back in his old tractor.
Below is an column I did years ago for the Fresno Bee. I still stand by it. I know people are concerned about pesticide use. I can assure you that the people who prepare and process your food are just as concerned. When I talk with restaurant owners about food their first concern is not flavors and recipes, but food safety. When people ask me if I think our food supply is safe my answer is, think about it- one child getting sick can make national head lines. Is our system perfect? Of course not. Should we remain on our toes? Of course. But, I still think we have the safest, most affordable and abundant food supply in the history of the world.
How this farmer learned the value of pesticides.
September 17, 1996.
No one could want to farm without chemicals more than I do. When I came to the Valley from San Diego in 1981 I had dreams of small-scale organic farming and all the city dweller's prejudice against pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
While I may not like them anymore than before I had learned that used properly, farm chemicals can be safe, effective and indeed one of the foundations of our modern society.
The 'fear industrial complex' of professional worriers has done a good job convincing the public that their food is poisoned and all farm chemicals cause cancer. No one stops to think, "If our food is poisoned, then why are we living longer, healthier lives than our ancestors?" The question each of us needs to ask ourselves is, "Are we better or worse off by the use of pesticides and the other tools of modern agriculture?"
Dr. Bruce Ames, a biochemist in Berkeley says, "I think pesticides lower the cancer rate." Ames bases his position on the fact that a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables will do more to prevent cancer than any risks from the chemicals used to produce that food.
Ames also notes that our food is full of naturally occurring carcinogens. A peanut butter sandwich is 100 times more carcinogenic than a fish full of DDT. A glass of cola, coffee or wine is a thousand times more carcinogenic than water form wells in the Silicon Valley that were shut down due to groundwater contamination. This doesn't mean we should ignore the health concerns from using pesticides. But, we must put our fears in perspective. As Dr. Ames says, "...the price you pay for living in a modern, industrial society is a few parts per billion of something in the water...Just eat a good diet and don't worry."
Real concerns about the use of pesticides are clouded by the nonsense of the fear mongers. It is appropriate that we assess farm chemicals for their safety to ensure public health.But, it is not reasonable to be prejudiced against or afraid of pesticide use.
The industry must continually show the public, its customers, that these chemicals can be used safely and that we take the public safety very seriously. The public must acknowledge that farm chemicals are one of the basic tools of modern society. As Dixie Lee Ray, the former Governor of Washington State says, "Sometime in the distant future, when the accomplishments of the 20th Century are recorded for posterity, it may finally be acknowledged that our greatest achievement, by far, has been the introduction of high-tech, high-yield agriculture."
High-tech, high-yield agriculture is at the foundation of our modern society. Those who believe we can have all the benefits of modern agriculture are wrong.
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