BANGALORE, India — · The fresh vegetables that you pick off the shelf in any supermarket store or elsewhere also contain pesticides like DDT, Endosulphan, Methyl Parathion, Phorate (to mention just a few) · Toxic pesticides like DDT and Hexacyclohexane add to the weight of the milk packet you pick up every morning. And when this milk gets concentrated on churning, the concentration of pesticides only increases… think about the butter you spread on your toast every morning! · The bottled water that you gulp down after a hot sweltering afternoon of shopping has dissolved deadly chemicals like Malathion, DDT, Chlorpyriphos in it.
Look who's poisoning your food
The consequences could be scary, with pesticides nibbling away
at your immunity and possibly wreaking havoc - causing irreversible
damage to nerves, spinal cord disorders, behavioural changes,
hormonal disruptions, cancer, lowered sperm count, increased
infertility and more.
In fact, studies on Indians have shown that they carry the
highest levels of "body burden" - the highest amount of chemicals
can be found in an average Indian's blood and fat tissues, even as
per the government's own studies, compared to citizens of other
countries.
Today we have reached a point where due to a massive resistance
of pests to the pesticides, farmers are forced to use more and more
potent cocktails of these pesticides. The fruits and vegetables we
consume are soaked in pesticides. The excessive leaching of
pesticides into the soil and water results in us finding traces of
pesticide everywhere including in the so-called safe and "pure"
bottled water.
It is important for us, as consumers, to be concerned about not
just what we eat but the people and processes that bring that dal
and roti to our plates. The contamination in the food we eat
depends on many factors, the first being the farmer's choice of
seed and inputs (fertilizers and pesticides) and the various
factors that determine this choice. These factors are dependent on
government policies, aggressive marketing and promotion of
technologies by corporations, the farmer's own socio-economic
situation etc. And YOU can, in turn determine these factors, as a
powerful citizen of this country.
What can you and I do? · Demand an immediate ban on atleast
those pesticides that have been banned in other countries. Demand
an eventual phasing out of pesticides from Indian agriculture. · GO
ORGANIC. It is in the interest of your own health and the health of
the people for whom you care. In turn you would also be giving much
needed support to those farmers who have resisted the use of
pesticides and chosen the difficult path.
REMEMBER, PESTICIDES ARE POISONS: FOR THE FARMERS, AND FOR
YOU.
Click here for more information on Genetic Engineering in
agriculture the latest threat to Indian agriculture and possibly to
your food. Remember, organic means No Chemicals, No GMOs!
Also view The Chemical Home a Greenpeace feature on chemical
products in your home and in your bodies.
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Organic outlets in Bangalore