Biggest reason to turn Organic

Characters mentioned below are fiction.

Shiva was an avid fan of soft drinks until his neighbour sent him a whatsapp message informing him about the presence of neuro toxin chlorpyrifos.Surprisingly 200 times more than recommended level in drinks .He was not one to believe forwards from whatsapp and decided to do a background check.To his surprise he finds CSE (Centre for Science and Environment) studies confirming chemical traces of Malathion,Lindane & Chlorpyrifos.

He put a public litigation case against the company. Sachin an activist from a near by town joined in to support the case against the corporation .He shares data of cancer related cases increasing in the vicinity . Taking samples ,it was found that the river had high toxic chemicals. The soft drink company is asked to shut down temporarily.

Court orders a probe to check if there is a change in the toxicity of the river

Toxicity content of the water does not decrease even after a month and the residents of the town are still suffering .There are protests from the corporation to re-start manufacturing of the drink as recent evidence proved that the river was not polluted from the soda company.

An expert committee starts tracing the pollutants and finds the cause to be chemicals from industrial agriculture. Shiva and the representatives are very disturbed .The towns and cities are dependent on this belt to supply them with food ,

The committee after consulting with experts recommends the usage of organic manure , trap crops , crop rotation and multi-crop farm.

Over a period of time the toxicity levels of the water decreases..The people of the town become healthier and the soda company re-opens.Shiva is now able to take his sugary soft drink without the insecticides and pesticides.

Analysis

The story above is based on common challenges ,we as a community face .Constantly having to decide between environment, health and livelihood.We don't dwell on how these chemicals got into the drink . Do the pesticides/insecticide add more taste or is it simply a case of purposeful adulteration.

These pesticides are by no means cheap , it doesn’t make sense for a corporate to be using them as an adulterant. We can no longer afford to ignore pollution due to various industries and we shouldn’t exclude industrial agriculture out of this .

Industrial agriculture not only pollutes water, it consumes more water than its organic counterpart .It deeply affects the condition of the farmers and their families,who are exposed to constant sprays of chemical toxins .It affects supplies of the nearby towns and cities, with ever increasing surface runoff water, the chemicals find their way into the rivers and our drinking water systems.

Organic agriculture whether it is cotton or any other crop reduces water consumption.

Since most of organic cotton is rain fed , there is no separate irrigation.

Cleansing our way to Organic

2015 Organic cotton Stats :

• 62 % energy saved from production & transportation of chemical fertilizers.

• Energy saved from irrigation. It is estimated that the world potentially saved 92.5 million kgs of C02.Equivalent to a car running 13572 times around earth.

• 218 billion liters of water was saved by shifting to organic cotton.

• 70% reduction of emission due to fertilizer .This stops acidification of land & water.Our drinking water becomes safe.Land continues to be fertile.

Conclusion

The current rate of consumption and exploitation is not sustainable. Time to start living consciously.

If you want to start this journey,look out for food/products with low carbon footprint.

Preferably products which are locally made.

Don''t forget the 3 R's- Reduce,Reuse & Recycle

Do you believe this is positive way forward . Please share your views.