In the pursuit of my dreams of international service and finding something better to do with my summer, I accepted an internship on an organic and sustainable farm on the campus of a small college in South Central Pennsylvania. I was not raised in any “extreme” kind of environment. My parents pick up more organic than not, but making sure that the label has a small green circle and the words “USDA Certified Organic” was never a deciding factor for the selection of our food before. Being at the tender age of 21 and learning to live on my own-- and feed myself-- this internship couldn't have been better, especially at this time in my life. I wake up at 6 a.m. every morning, make breakfast and then work on the farm until 5 or 6 p.m. This includes weeding, mowing, stringing tomatoes, harvesting, transplanting, seeding, covering and so much more.
The food is something my team works really hard to produce and share with the community. Something really key to this farm’s existence and prosperity is that it is part of an academic environment. We are a part of a college, which gives us resources for experimenting, researching and so much more. Loving my own college and generally higher education, I thought this model was the bomb dot com. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter if ALL the crops sold at market or the Colorado Potato beetles weren’t all squashed (we reluctantly have to do this by hand and we only kill these bugs because it would devastate our crops).
Recently though, there seems to be a disconnect between the institution and the farm. They gave notice that they will be spraying intense pesticides in the neighboring sports fields, mere yards from our certified organic soil. Where is the solidarity and mission for sustainable and organic practices? The whole team was really shocked. This was an incredibly teaching moment for me. My bosses copied the whole team in an email she sent to the head of grounds. This was the first time we seriously talked about the damage pesticides can do. It was always really obvious that organic practices are better for us and vaguely our environment. But this morning it really hit home how much pesticides can affect so much.
The insecticide, Aloft GC SC, is fatal to humans if swallowed and extremely harmful if inhaled. It is possible we might lose a day's worth of work, because--weird concept but--farmers have to work outside. Or we could work and run the chance of getting seriously affected. Even if we aren’t working, our housing is right off the fields and just as close to the sports fields. Should I maybe wear a mask while doing my morning yoga?
Even if it wasn’t harmful to breath, insecticides soak into the ground and run off with water into streams and waterways, like the creek that is just below the fields and farm. The MSDS states: “This product is extremely toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Drift and runoff may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in neighboring areas. Do not apply where runoff is likely to occur. Do not apply directly to water, or to water where surface water is present or to intertidal areas below the mean high water mark. Do not contaminate water when cleaning equipment or disposing of equipment wash waters or rinsate.” The college has to stock the creek with trout, and I have to wonder if maybe they didn’t spray, if they would have to repopulate the waters. This is also water that we clean and irrigate our crops with. Our CSA members and customers trust that we do not use chemicals in our process, but is that true if we are using water saturated with chemicals? Not to mention, our farmhouse subsides on a well. If the chemicals are able to seep into our water supply, what would happen to us? Is the baseball team going to bring us water from the cafeteria in return for greener grass?
Breathing in chemicals and polluted waterways are pretty obvious issues. These just scrape the surface though. This issue goes deeper than the crust. This is first and foremost an insecticide, and contrary to popular belief, most insects aren’t bad! Weird, I know, but food relies on a healthy ecosystem and bugs to grow and thrive. Much like most plagues, the Aloft GC SC does not discriminate. It will kill the grubs that the grounds crew is fighting, but it will also be carried by bees who will bring it back to their hives. The MSDS warns that it is fatal to hives. We are killing the bees that are pollinating our crops. We even invest in having beehives tended to just below our fields, but now we are spraying chemicals that would kill them? Makes a lot of sense. Much like the honeybees will fall, the earthworms will suffer. The MSDS also warns that this is deadly to them as well. This sounds a lot more like murder-suicide than field maintenance.
Much like the pioneer song, “Frankie and Johnny,” “This story has not moral, this story has not end,” it just has a lot of questions. For example, why is our first response to “imperfection” to change and alter? Why are we so obsessed with our grass being greener? Why are drastic measures, like deadly chemicals, so commonplace in our society?There are some organic options-- besides squishing bugs. Many organic farmers do spray pesticides, but there is a huge difference between the two types of chemicals. Organic sprays come from natural sources and are usually from pretty common plants or resources, like marigold oil and clay. Masks might be necessary to spray, but rarely do they have such extreme consequences, like the killing of so many beneficials.
