This month is the 50th anniversary of the publication of "Silent Spring," Rachel Carson's landmark book calling attention to the harmful effects of chemical pesticides, specifically DDT. She charged that pesticides caused food contamination, cancer, genetic defects and the elimination of entire species. In a CBS documentary, Carson said, "Man's attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself."
I know there are plenty of people who believe it is naive to imagine a world without pesticides and genetically modified crops engineered to withstand applications of chemicals that kill weeds and insects. But I have to agree with Carson, and for the holy, living life of me, I don't understand why our society believes it is OK to sacrifice the health and well-being of our children and our children's children through increased use of chemicals. Mankind farmed successfully for thousands of years without the use of toxic poisons.
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune, 16 September 2012
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/sep/16/chemicals-use-sacrifice…
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