Gnarly paradox: synthetically treated crops feed the world and may have adverse effects.
Remember when you were a senior in college and the full-time job post graduation was the ultimate reward? My job offering came by way of the Agricultural Chemical industry aka Crop Protection Sector. A fantastic opportunity for my field; a Generalist role in a start-up environment with Global presence in the market place and a need for a green HR rookie with skills (me). However, since day one I've suffered from some internal conflict surrounding my choice to work in the AgChem industry. So, I asked questions. I talked to the sales guys, I engaged in conversation with the company President, spoke with senior level engineers internally, and last year I sat across the table from the corporate CEO and asked him how he defends himself at dinner parties when environmental scientists and lawyers ask, Why? "Why spray herbicides to kill the weeds and unwanted plants on farms?" "Why spray fungicides on strawberries instead of letting them ripen to their natural form?" I get the same answer from everyone internally - we help feed the world. Once I was told, "Do you think I would conscientiously commit myself to selling products that harmed my grandchildren?" "Have you seen the labels on 'organic pesticides'?"
Then I sought education. I attended lectures, read studies and paid attention when AgChem made the news. Turns out we spray weeds because the alternative is hand weeding and our society is above that. The labor involved for manually extracting all unwanted grasses and plants from a hundred acre farm is unfathomable and in today's market we want it all, all year round, so unless you or your family is willing to hand pick weeds that cross pollinate with your delicious fruits and vegetables trust the industry to do its proper due diligence and research before the regulatory agencies release the product for sale.
Turns out, organic farming requires twice as many inputs to produce the same yield. When I learned that tillage is more rampant in organic farming due to the low efficacy levels of organic pesticides and requires loads of extra diesel and gasoline for the farming equipment and produces tons of carbon emissions, it made me wonder if the general consumer was aware of that. Or if the woman sitting across from me on the Sierra Club bus was aware of that. Therefore lies my personal strife.
Outside of work I interact with pro-environmentalists everyday. All of whom, only know one side of the story. So in a life where I tout others about not caring about what other people think, why do I let the finger pointing of others, who I think are ill-informed make me rethink my decision to work in AgChem? I'll tell you why, because I want everyone to like me, approve of my actions, and think I'm cool. I know there are some friends that behind my back think I'm a hypocrite for working where I do and when I am being all green and earthy in my personal life. Well, hopefully my true friends understand my commitment to making a personal difference. Which is what I said to the woman on the bus, so frustrated with the world we live in, where by offering GMO seeds to third world countries we might be able to save an entire culture, village, or civilization. I told her, well in this world - one person's decisions can make a difference. I reminded her that building houses with Habitat with her bare hands and spending time with children that need positive role models in their life is what she is doing to make a difference and neutralize the impact that technology is having on our evolving planet. Technology is what has impacted our agriculture industry today: formulations, patents, ideas, machines, products, and process improvements.
For me - I eat in, shop second-hand, bike to town, walk around, and instead of throwing this couch in the landfill and getting a new one, I just apply a little patch and when I see it I'm reminded that I'm not giving into the disposable society that we now live in where families shop every weekend and fill their houses with stuff and buy houses with huge closets to store their stuff and get PODS to keep their stuff after they've bought it, used it once or twice, and need a place to keep it safe and then make sure to talk about their new stuff the next day at work after they emerge from their big ass suburban and remove the organic label from their apple and take a bite.
