I am A BABY BOOMER. My generation is a product of the returning Veterans from WWII and the Korean War. I grew up during the Cold War and when the chemicals of choice to control weeds and insects were Atrazine, DDT,2-4-D. These chemicals take over 100 years to breakdown in the soil. A farmer has two choices to control weeds in his fields. He can hire people to walk the fields to hoe and pull the weeds through out the growing season. He can depend on the use of chemicals to kill weeds before they sprout and/or as they break through the ground. The current problem is weeds and insects have developed an evolving resistance to the chemicals. So the farmer has to rely on either stronger chemicals or Genetically Modified crops that can tolerate or create their own biological toxins to kill the insects that feed on them. If the chemicals can kill insects or weeds and the crops such as corn and soybeans absorb those chemicals ; how does that affect livestock and people who eat those foods and byproducts ? Does cancer or birth defects ring a bell ? We know for a fact that the bald eagles and other raptors such the Perigan Falcon nearly went extinct from the use of DDT. So what do we do ? The only people who are willing to walk the fields and pull weeds are undocumented immigrants so what do we do ?
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 11:46:09 +0000