{"id":17669,"date":"2013-06-21T17:17:43","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T17:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/?p=17669"},"modified":"2017-01-19T03:09:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T03:09:39","slug":"chemicals-on-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/chemicals-on-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Chemicals On Food Slow Poison Or Necessity?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Humans have been farming for more than 10,000 years without chemicals on food being a consideration.<\/strong> There were no chemical fertilizers or pesticides in the time that the majority of people grew their own food.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-17673\" src=\"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/oldfarmers-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"oldfarmers\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Not until after World War II, some 60 plus years ago, did we start to industrialize farming practices.<\/strong> This type of agriculture has a goal of feeding thousands of people. The farm acts like a factory, with raw commodities turned into finished product. The factory creates items that look new, shiny and attractive to the purchaser.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not all items created in a factory are what they represent themselves to be. <\/strong> Have you ever bought a product that looked better in the catalogue than when it actually arrived in your home? This interpretation of the photo by you, or the factory\u2019s deceptive advertising made you buy a product that isn\u2019t 100 percent what was promised.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-17675\" src=\"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/tomatosyringe-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"tomatosyringe\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><strong>Chemicals on food accomplish the same result. <\/strong> They often make the end-product very attractive for sale, but without fulfilling the promise of what benefits it\u2019s supposed to provide. The two sides on this debate both seek the benefits of their individual perspective, it\u2019s quality versus quantity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The modern industrialized farming technique presents a trade off to the public of large food production and availability versus human health.<\/strong> It seems that most people have chosen abundance over substance.<\/p>\n<p><strong> There are four main chemicals added to factory farm food products:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Herbicides \u2013 to prevent weed growth.<\/li>\n<li>Pesticides \u2013 to prevent insect and parasite infestation<\/li>\n<li>Growth Promoters \u2013 to reduce time between planting and harvest<\/li>\n<li>Fungicides \u2013 to prevent the growth of fungi or molds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>There can then be even more treatment for shipment. <\/strong> Most produce items are picked before they are ripe and exposed to ethylene gas to promote a red color. That\u2019s why your strawberries and tomatoes are red on the outside but white in the middle. Food items can be waxed or sprayed with a chemical to prevent it from sprouting, a natural occurrence otherwise.<\/p>\n<h3>It\u2019s such a simple concept that a 9 year old can explain it to us in 2:30<\/h3>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/exBEFCiWyW0\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>Even if chemicals on food that eventually wind up in your body don\u2019t bother you<\/strong>, perhaps you\u2019re concerned about the planet you leave for your grandchildren. The chemical dependence that farmers have become comfortable with can impact our world by:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Polluting Soil and Water<\/strong> &#8211; Industrial agriculture uses up to 70% of the world\u2019s fresh water supply. Chemicals that run off plants find their way into the water supply. The US EPA estimates that nearly 75% of all water quality problems in the US rivers and streams are caused by chemical or sewage runoff from industrial farms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Climate Change<\/strong> \u2013 The current food system is responsible for 1\/3 of global greenhouse emissions. Factory farms depend on pesticides, herbicides, and oil for transport of the food.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bees and Biodiversity<\/strong> &#8211; Many biologists believe that the over use of pesticides have led to dramatic decline in bee populations. Simply, without bees we lose many of our produce items that are pollinated by them. No bees, no food.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Human Health<\/strong> \u2013 We carry pesticides in our bodies. They are not quickly flushed out like vitamins. Pesticide exposure has been linked to risks of cancer, diabetes, lupus, arthritis, asthma, Parkinson\u2019s disease and more.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-17676\" src=\"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/lifewithoutchemicals-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"lifewithoutchemicals\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><strong>Supporters of our current factory farm system would argue that they are preventing starvation.<\/strong> They are the providers of food to a growing world. Without chemicals on food to prevent pests and promote growth, there would be a lot less food. It\u2019s not reasonable to assume every person can grow their own food as if we all still lived on \u201cthe frontier\u201d. Large farms must grow for those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I don\u2019t subscribe to the 100 percent organic movement,<\/strong> but I am cautious about the food choices I make for myself. This is a discussion you should have in your own head or with your family to find your position and abide by it. This is your new, or continued, way of choosing your food products.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nChemicals on food: a poison or necessary? Please leave your opinion in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Humans have been farming for more than 10,000 years without chemicals on food being a consideration. There were no chemical fertilizers or pesticides in the time that the majority of people grew their own food. Not until after World War II, some 60 plus years ago, did we start to industrialize farming practices. This type<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[44],"tags":[96],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17669"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webcookingclasses.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=17669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}