4 Avoid pesticides
Mass food production might be efficient but also requires keeping away natural predators. Pesticides are an effective way of doing that. They also tend to leech into soil and water tables. And people aren’t thrilled about insecticide-coated lettuce heads either.
“No one really knows the full effects of the casual and widespread use of chemicals during the last 100 years. Chemicals from cleaning products have been discovered in previously pristine Antarctic snow, for instance. It is hard to ever imagine that the addition of chemicals in our bodies would be a good thing, though,” says Chehimi.
Barghout believes pesticides merit a strict no, saying: “Some studies have linked pesticides in our food to headaches, cancer and birth defects. Even low amounts of pesticides in our crops can be significantly more toxic for foetuses and children.
| Advertisement |
“It is hence very important to cut down on the consumption of foods injected with pesticides and try to opt for organic products.”
Gleeson offers a more pragmatic take, noting that lack of pesticides would deplete food, and price it out of the range of a vast number of people. But he says the side effects aren’t evident until far too late, citing the depletion of the European honeybee as a case in point. “We always find out just how bad these things are for us when it’s too late.”
Article continues on next page ...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
