Organic farming represents not only an alternative but rather an evolution in the way human beings grow food while at the same time benefiting the environment and protecting the species that help maintain balance in our ecosystems. Research published in 2016 by the Journal Nature shows that three-quarters of the world species are threatened by agriculture, compared to 19% by climate change.

How Commercial Farming Threatens Wildlife

According to the World Animal Foundation, agriculture already occupies about 40% of Earth’s landmass and accounts for 75% of global deforestation. This rapid destruction is causing species to disappear, and is negatively impacting the biodiversity of native ecosystems and furthering our path into the 6th mass extinction of all species on Earth.

Wildlife habitats are constantly being cleared in order to make way for farmland, which leads to a competition for territory between humans and other species – one in which wildlife is often the losing side. In Indonesia the Tree Kangaroo has been brought to the brink of extinction due to the palm oil industry, which has rapidly destroyed most of its habitat and that of many other creatures such as elephants and jaguars.

Commercial agriculture has also led to the degradation of soil due to the use of toxic chemicals that destroy nutrients and render the land sterile.

According to researchers, the degradation of soil due to the continual ploughing of fields, combined with heavy use of fertilizers, has affected soils across the world, with erosion occurring at a pace of up to 100 times greater than the rate of soil formation. It takes around 500 years for just 2.5cm of topsoil to be created amid unimpeded ecological changes.

Organic Farming Respects Wildlife

The degradation of arable land under the hands of commercial farming is unsustainable and threatens to be the cause of a mass extinction. Follow efficient house cleaning tips from experienced Florida house cleaners. Organic farming protects every living organism in the environment, from pollinators like bees, whose numbers have been steadily decreasing over the last decades, all the way to the microorganisms living in the soil which guarantee that the soil remains fertile for many years.

One of the best tools in organic farming is neem. Azadirachta, an active substance within the neem tree, can be used as an organic pesticide and fertilizer. It protects crops against 600+ species of insects without harming pollinators, and it provides the soil with nutrients, helping guarantee the health of the land and benefiting yields.

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According to a new study by Newcastle University on organic versus conventional crops, organic farming methods have a positive impact on your health, as they lead to substantially higher levels of antioxidants and lower levels of pesticides in crops. Antioxidants have been linked to lower risk of cancer and other diseases in humans, and – because nature is wise – plants produce their own antioxidants to defend themselves from pests and diseases. However, whenever synthetic pesticides are applied, they cause plants to lose their ability to generate antioxidants for their own defenses.

How do organic foods benefit you?

• Organic crops contain an average of 17% more antioxidants than conventionally grown crops.
• Some organic crops, including fruits, vegetables, and grains, have as much as 60% higher concentrations of antioxidant compounds than conventional crops.
• The level of flavanones, which are associated with a lower risk of a stroke, were 69% higher in organic foods.
• Overall, levels of synthetic pesticides were found to be 10 to 100 times lower in organic foods than in conventional foods.

Does this mean that crops can’t be farmed with pesticides?

Organic farming consists of providing you, the consumer, with the freshest, most tasty and authentic foods while respecting natural life-cycle systems. This means no GMO’s, no synthetic pesticides and no unnatural solutions can be applied to crops. However, natural pesticides like neem, that do not harm the human body or kill beneficial insects, can be used. The neem tree has been used as an organic crop care solution for centuries! It has many medicinal and agricultural appliances, which is why foods produced using neem do not lead to harmful side effects. Neem’s main compound, Azadirachtin, works as a natural repellent for pests, that does not kill the insect on contact, but instead prevents them from feeding on the plant. Another plus for neem is that it is antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral, and also works as a completely natural fertilizer. Have you tried using neem for your garden or farm? Let us know in the comments below!

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It has been proven that consuming pesticides even in incredibly tiny doses could set a person up for health problems later in life, as synthetic pesticides can remain inside your body for decades. Here are just some ways how pesticides are harming your body:

Food Allergies

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City found that food allergies are related to pesticide ingestion. People with high levels of herbicide 24-D and chlorine used to disinfect tap water were more likely to suffer from milk, egg, seafood and peanut allergies.  This could be due to synthetic pesticide compounds acting as an antimicrobial inside your body and ridding you from your body’s natural immune reactions.

Memory loss

A review from University College London recently found that even low levels of exposure to pesticides cause significant damage to cognitive function, affecting your memory and the speed at which you process information.

Diabetes 

The Endocrine Society recently stated that tolyfluanid, a fungicide used on farm crops, creates insulin resistance in fat cells. Also, a study published by the Diabetes Care declares that overweight people with higher levels of pesticides in their body are the most suitable candidates for developing type 2 diabetes.

Cancer

Lymphona, leukemia, soft tissue sarcoma, brain, breast, prostate, bone, ladder, thyroid, colon, liver and lung cancers have been linked to pesticides in 260 studies.

Neurological Functioning

Many pesticides effectively kill bugs by throwing odd normal neurological functioning. The same effect seems to appear in children as well. In 2011 a Harvard study found an important link between kids with ADHD and the amount of organophosphate pesticide residue in their urine.

Obesity

Some synthetic pesticides act as hormone disruptors, or in other words, they act like fake versions of naturally occurring hormone in your body, disrupting  your hormonal balance and interfering with your body’s ability to regulate a healthy release of hormones. According to a study by the Environmental Health Perspectives, more than 50 pesticides are classified as hormone disruptors and some even promote metabolic failures and obesity as they accumulate in your cells.

Birth Defects

Spring and summer months are the time of the year when pesticides are used the most, therefore, higher synthetic pesticide levels turn up in surface waters, increasing the risk of exposure. Babies conceived during these months show a higher rate of birth defects like spina fibida, cleft lip, clubfoot and down syndrome.

The Solution to Pesticides’ Effects?

All of these risks are reason enough to try to find an alternative to synthetic pesticides. Luckily, it has been proven that neem can be used as a very effective natural pesticide which represents no risk when consumed and in fact has many health benefits. Protect your crops and produce only with neem pesticide and avoid suffering from any of these severe side effects. Neem doesn’t kill the bugs, it works as a repellent that is distasteful to bugs and will keep them away even from their favorite plants. Because nature knows best, choose neem as your primary natural pesticide!

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Last year, the hypoxic zone, an area with low to no oxygen that suffocates marine life, was around 6,000 square miles. The average of the past 32 years has been 5,309 square miles. Oceanographers from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium are predicting an even bigger area, one that covers more than 10,000 square miles.

In the Gulf of Mexico, these areas deprived of marine life and coral reefs are caused by synthetic agrochemicals run-off. The excess nutrients from fertilizers produce algae, which then sink and decompose in the water, reducing oxygen levels. Consequently, the low-oxygen environment is inhospitable for typical marine life and habitats. Not only are marine habitats destroyed, but also fish and other marine life are put at risk, ultimately lowering biodiversity and raising the cost of seafood.

The USGS estimated that 165,000 metric tons of nitrate and 22,6000 metric tons of phosphorus were deposited into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River this past year. These nutrients come mainly from conventional agricultural practices from land surrounding the Mississippi River. The excess nutrients then leach into the soil, then the Mississippi River and eventually winding up in the Gulf of Mexico.

In order to save marine life, and limit the expansion of aquatic dead-zones, better, more sustainable agricultural methods need to be taken. Neem-based pesticides and fertilizers are an innovative solution. Instead of relying on synthetically produced chemicals, neem offers a natural, effective crop care that will not cause heavy environmental damage. Neem even slows the release of nitrogen, allowing more to be absorbed by the plants and therefore less released into the environment. With neem, major environmental issues like the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico can be reduced, if not eliminated!

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By explaining concepts using large, hypothetical figures and percentages, people “yawn.” For example, saying that coal use in the United States has dropped by 20% in just two years, people immediately turn off and their eyes glaze over. How could we present this type of information in a sizeable, bitable chunk for people to understand? Perhaps by presenting it in a relatable way. You could say, “that drop in coal use will save 3,000 American lives this year by reducing air pollution” or that if you have glyphosate, the active synthetic ingredient in RoundUp, the most ubiquitous herbicide in the world, residue in your system while pregnant, your child is 30% more likely to have autism. Those are head-turners. One of those lives could be yours, or your children’s.

So, what does that mean for all of this talk about climate change? Instead of driving fear in far-off numbers, talk about progress and innovation that will drive the world forward. Conversations must shift from large-scale sweeping facts to digestible, personal conversations. Without personal conversations, you may feel like climate change won’t affect you. So, instead of focusing on large-scale, focus on how progress and innovation can improve lives.

For example, the push for renewable energy sources has driven over 100,000 new solar and wind jobs over the last year alone! And there are a total of 475,000 solar and wind jobs compared to only 175,000 coal jobs in the United States. Is the future sticking to the technology of the past, or relying on innovation across all sectors of the economy?

What does this shift in climate talk mean for agriculture? By having conversations about health, risks of synthetic pesticide exposure, and dangers to pollinators and other animals our planet relies on, we can strengthen our health by developing the way we produce and consume food. Without shifts in thinking, technology, and practices, climate change will affect each and every person on earth, so how will you talk about the future of our earth?

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For example, even though they have found that farmers typically have better health than the average population, they have higher instances of specific diseases, such as leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, soft tissue sarcoma, and skin, lip, stomach, brain, and prostate cancers. Even though there is still a lot to learn and many of the causes are difficult to pinpoint, synthetic pesticides are continually researched and evaluated to determine their health risks. One study showed that farmers exposed to atrazine, a popular herbicide used across the world today, led to increased risk of thyroid cancer.

Neem is beneficial in many regards in this situation, not only by reducing synthetic pesticide exposure because of its efficiency as a biopesticide and biofertilizer, but because it has been shown to be an effective cancer cell disabling agent.

The Georgia Regents University Cancer Center is offering fantastic research in this field! Gedunin, a compound in neem, is able to bind to a helper cell to inactivate the Hsp90 cancer cell. This works because the cell that gedunin binds to, p23, is a protein in charge of normal cellular functions and keeping the cancer cells alive. This research is the beginning of a potential cure for cancer using neem!

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