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]]>In November, the EPA released a report that concluded that, as it is currently used, chlorpyrifos contaminates water and is a dietary risk due to its above normal safety standard residues on food crops. Additionally, the pesticide poses a risk to farm workers that come into direct contact with it every day. However, according to scientists, this synthetic chemical is correlated with lower IQ, attention deficit disorders, and developmental delays, like the loss of working memory, delayed motor development and decreased cognitive functioning. It has even been linked to autism, increasing in risk when mothers are exposed during pregnancy.
How can we avoid this scary chemical that is poisoning our children? Very difficult – it is currently being used on the majority of crops: corn, strawberries wheat, citrus, apples, and many others! Even though the chemical was banned for residential use in 2000, it has continued to prevail as a major insecticide used on golf courses, turf, and in greenhouses.
Since chlorpyrifos was on track to being banned – the EPA reversed the move just before the federal court deadline to make the final decision – the agency cannot revisit the health risks of this health-damaging synthetic chemical until 2022. Dow Chemical has claimed that there is not enough science corroborating the claims made by the EPA, however other scientists have compared chlorpyrifos with the health risks associated with lead.
Instead of continuing to use a proven health-damaging chemical to produce our fruits and vegetables, there are a multitude of other, safer and natural alternatives. One solutions is to use sustainable, neem-based biopesticides and fertilizers. Neem is cost-effective and is non-toxic to pollinators, animals, humans, and the environment, meaning you and your loved ones can stay safe, while enjoying healthy, sustainably produced food! Demand change, demand safety for you, your loved ones, and farmers!
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]]>Native and wild bees are vital for the future of agriculture. Each year, $3 billion of the United States economy depends on native pollinators. Many of these pollinator-dependent crops are not only helped by managed colonies, but also by wild bees. The over 4,000 species of bees in the US complement new systems of managed pollinators, created in large part to protect and ensure our agricultural success in the future.
Even though these controlled pollinators are important to agriculture, wild bees pollinate many crops, in particular specialty crops such as almonds, blueberries, apples, peaches, and watermelons. On a global scale, pollinators support over 2/3 of the world’s crops. These crops either benefit or require pollination to grow, including important exportation crops like coffee and cacao!
In a map created by researchers from UVM, Franklin and Marshall College, the University of California at Davis, and Michigan State University, the bee habitats throughout the US were identified and marked. What they found is a frightening reality: in critical agricultural areas of the United States, 139 counties have worrisome falling wild bee populations, paired with rising crop pollination demand. One of the most sobering revelations is that California’s Central Valley – one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world where over 50% of the United States’ fruits, vegetables and nuts are grown – needs a large amount of bees in an area where bee populations are simply decreasing. If this area did not have bees, domestic food supply would decrease, raising food prices and hurting consumers and farmers!
How can we prevent this? By using pollinator-safe tactics in agriculture, like neem-based natural pesticides and fertilizers. Neem is a powerful tool to counteract the declining bee population trend, as neem’s compounds are non-toxic to pollinators since it is only effective against pests that consume the product. As bees do not eat the leaves of the plant, they stay safe and healthy, ready to pollinate plants and feed the world!
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