我知道有些读者会觉得我的标题令人惊讶或冒犯,但我希望你能继续读下去。我写这篇文章是因为我参与了一个“广泛的利益相关者过程”,这个过程试图定义“科学合理的指标”来衡量特色农业(水果和蔬菜作物……)的可持续性。这是一个非常雄心勃勃的努力,可能是最雄心勃勃的定义“可持续农药使用”的措施。
On one level it could seem simple. Pesticides have to be used (even in Organic) otherwise the yield of farming would be too low and the land, water, energy and labor invested in a crop would be compromised or lost. Not all pesticides are the same (They actually differ rather dramatically in terms of their particular risk factors or lack therof. All meet rigorous EPA-determined risk standards when used according to the detailed EPA label limitations, but that still does not mean they are the same).
So, the answer might seem simple. Just pick the option with theleast riskand you will be the most sustainable, right? From the perspective of an environmental organization, the key risk factors are for humans (workers, consumers) and for the environment (birds, bees, fish, earthworms…).
不幸的是,问题是事情并没有那么简单。当你深入了解每种特殊作物的种植细节时,在决定是否使用和使用哪种杀虫剂时,还有很多其他的风险(和好处)需要考虑。I’d like to give just a few specific examples of where sustainabilitydepends以意想不到的方式研究农药。
Pesticides that Protect Consumers from Far More Dangerous Toxins
There is a moth called theNavel Orange Worm(NOW) that attacks tree nut crops. The larvae eat their way into the developing nut while it is still in its green husk. If a grower was only concerned about yield of nuts, not many insecticide sprays would be needed to produce an economically viable crop. Unfortunately, these larvae not only injure the nut, they tend to inoculate it with the spores of a fungus calledAspergillus flavus. That fungus then produces a toxin calledaflatoxin这是已知的最强的天然致癌物。正如我在previous blog, the food system in the developed world does a remarkable job keeping this terrible toxin out of the human food supply.In the developing worldthis is one of the most frequent causes of death (liver cancer, immune-suppression).
以树坚果为例,防止黄曲霉毒素污染是通过喷洒比仅为保护产量所需更多的农药来实现的。The growers are also using other cultural and IPM methods, but this is definitely a case where using fewer or lower risk pesticides wouldNOTbe the right “metric”. We need the growers to continue to use what works to protect us.
Pesticides That Allow Non-Pesticidal Methods to Work
When I started graduate school in an agricultural field in 1977, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was a brand new field. Since that time it has gone a long way towards helping growers successfully grow their crops with minimum possible risk to the environment and us. One of the particularly cool methods that is used is called “pheromone mating disruption.”
Many male insects find their mates by following the “scent” of the pheromone chemicals that the females produce. One important IPM strategy is to put up a bunch of sources of the same pheromone chemicals throughout something like an apple orchard so that the males can’t find any real gradients leading to a female, and so little mating occurs because of this “disruption”. Little mating, fewer pests in the next generation. This method works great as long as the overall population of the pest in a given area is quite low.
IPM At Risk
Take the example of theCodling Moth(the most troublesome pest of apples – damage shown above). With this insect it is common for local population “hot spots” to develop that soon overwhelm the IPM method of “mating disruption”, not just in that spot but over a large area (these things fly).
The only way to prevent this is for the growers to do lots of trapping and scouting so that when a “hot spot” develops, they spray it withAzinphos-methyl, a seriously “old school” pesticide, but something that has been just about the only thing that can save the IPM approach on the surrounding acres (that may be changing soon).
30 years ago, Azinphos was what was routinely used every 21 days on all the apples. In recent years it has played only a minor, but critical role in making it possible to use the “soft” IPM approach. This is a higher risk pesticide that lowers the overall risk spanning multiple adjacent orchards. How do you count that in a sustainability metric? (by the way, the mycotoxinpatulincan occur in even minorcodling moth damage)
More Examples
I will follow-up with additional crop-specific cases where pesticide use decisions (and sustainability assessments) get complicated.
You are welcome to comment on this site (I approve all comments, I’m just now always at the computer) or you can email me directly at feedback.sdsavage@gmail.com)
Developing Almond Image fromStepheye’s Photostream
Yucky Apple Image fromWiki Commons
Gregsays
More industrial farming propaganda? At least you didn’t try and tell us pesticides are benign, like you did first time. You posted pesticide advertisements on this blog.
Steve Savagesays
Greg,
Then you will probably not like my next post which will be about the issues with the main fungicide used in Organic. I wouldn’t say this was an advertisement as much as a defense. The idea that there is a “no risk” option is simply a delusion. All options involve hazard and it all comes down to how you handle it. Electricity is an extremely hazardous thing, but we have ways that we manage the associated risk so that we can have the benefits.
Gregsays
I’m sure as a partner at “a leading agri-business consulting firm” you have all sorts of strange opinions on why pesticides aren’t poisonous.
However, the least you could do is not spam your commentors with unsolicited bulk emails from your work e-mail address.
russsays
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the note letting me know you are back in the saddle! The rant about the ‘bulk mail’ is a laugher!
Trying to educate people like Gregg (who seems to be a ‘true green’) is not possible. They already ‘know’ and have no need for further information. This seems to be true for virtually anyone with a strong bias toward either extreme.
好消息是,这些人(极端的人——支持或反对大多数事情)似乎只占人口的很小一部分。所谓的沉默的大多数是人口中真正重要的一部分。
The bad news is that the extremes are more vocal and try to convince the majority that their opinion is the only one that counts.
You (and others) have previously published how small a percentage of the food supply is organic. İf we want to eat we need to be aggressive in pest control.
What really strikes me as silly and sad is the apparent position of the true greens that the poor of the world should just go ahead and die off so they can have their perfect world. The poor are the segment of the population most seriously affected by the anti pesticide and anti GMO crowds propaganda and actions.
Looking forward to your next installment.
Chandellesays
I gave up the assumption that the “organic” label was inalienable and ideal a long time ago. The book ~Just Food~ changed a lot of my thinking on what it means for a food to be “organic.” I still buy organic food, but I don’t assume it’s always the safest or most sustainable option.
Steve Savagesays
Russ,
Glad to see you are still following this blog and contributing!
Chandelle,
I agree about Organic. Since it is based on the intuitive idea that “natural” is better, it really does not have the ability to adjust when that turns out not to be the case. The idea that it is such are superior and pure system really just comes from highly successful marketing. Organic apples from Washington State are possible in some large part because of the aggressive control of “hot spots” by conventional growers. Many experts in that area have told me that they don’t think the total percent of Organic could get too high (maybe 10%) before the whole industry would be at risk.
KRowesays
I think the real answer is that there is no one answer (nor should there ever be). Just as nature protects itself as a whole by diversifying, I believe we should keep our agricultural methods as diverse as is possible while still feeding everyone (for the exact same reason it works in nature). Not because any one system is necessarily the best, but because it ‘hedges’ our bets against unforeseen disasters.
Of course, that isn’t what a business analyst is going to want to hear because diversifying cuts down on the bottom line in the short term. It also isn’t exactly what you are describing (and I’m no expert) but your ideas do seem closer to my ‘Ideal’ that most others I’ve heard.
The danger I worry about has more to do with herbicides. By genetically splicing the same genes into almost all of our staple foods, doesn’t that make us MUCH more susceptible to catastrophe? Even if there is a problem with some of these pesticides most of us clean, skin, and look at nearly everything we eat so I can only imagine that we are mostly safe from even dangerous pesticides.
如果某种病毒或细菌能够利用大多数转基因食物上的共享基因所赋予它们的相同特性,理论上可能会导致前所未闻的大规模饥荒。即使我们停止使用这些转基因种子,我们仍然会有麻烦,因为我们将无法满足与以前几乎相同的需求。我不是在呼吁禁止使用除草剂,但我认为我会支持禁止转基因食品的长期商标(超过10年左右)。
I know it is a little off topic and I really don’t know that much about these topics but to me it just seems like common sense to avoid a ‘one size fits all’ approach here.
jeffsays
Greg – Where are you from, because you have no idea what your talking about lol!
And can you explain what you mean when you say “Industrial Farming” because it seems that people are now using it synonymously with conventional farming and there is a HUGE difference between a mega dairy farm and say a conventional apple grower. You might be using it because it is a buzzword, but don’t think your using it in the right context.
….
I fear that anything conventional (even fresh produce) is now being vilified and mistakenly being lumped into the GMO, dairy, corn, and soy industry (or industrial ag that sends is crop to processors) category when they are really worlds apart. The net result is that consumers are getting confused and could possibly be scared away from fresh produce altogether.
sarahsays
its great to see that someone actually understands that farmers need to use pesticides to remain sustainable. im so tired of hearing all the nonsense discouraging the consumption of the crops that have been sprayed with pesticides.
Steve Savagesays
Sarah,
thanks. Actually in two weeks I’ve been invited to give a talk at the Ontario Vegetable Growers Association meetings titled “Defending Pesticide Safety to a Skeptical Audience”