Conventional Cotton

Conventional is defined as conforming or adhering to accepted standards. What’s scary about that statement in regards to cotton is that acceptable standards are dangerous. The way cotton is currently grown and harvested endangers lives. Workers are exposed to pesticides on a regular basis, as are people living in close proximity to cotton fields. The main pest that affects cotton is the boll weevil. Great name, bad consequences. Tons of pesticides are sprayed on cotton fields every year to eradicate this wily bug. The problem with using poison to kill one bug is that it kills are the other beneficial insects that keep nature in check.

In third world countries, pesticides are still being sprayed without regard to human safety. Children play in fields that have been sprayed. What we thought ended in the US with the banning of DDT is still occurring in other countries where they don’t have the safety enforcements we have in the US. That’s not to say that life in the US is peaches and cream. Every year new chemicals and pesticides are being developed and brought to market. The EPA approves the products before they are tested for safety on humans. Pesticides reach the public while studies are still being done on the product. If down the line, we realize they cause cancer or growth defects, then we pull the product, or more likely phase it out for several years then ship it to third world countries. You might think we’re kidding. We’re not.

In cotton’s natural habitat, the shrub is drought-resistant. It originally grew in dry parts of the world and was able to cope with those climates. Because of our consumption of cotton, the plant has been brought into environments that it is not equipped to deal with. The result is more natural predators that the plants can’t fight.

Even in the US cotton farm workers are exposed to pesticides during spraying, or shortly after. The effects translate into long-term illnesses and effects we aren’t even aware of.

Cotton is trouble. Sorry, make that Trouble with a capital T. Everything about this crop that was once naturally harvested is now a contaminated product. A quarter of the world’s pesticides are used to grow cotton. In order to make cotton safer, Monsanto Corporation developed a genetically modified cotton seed that had a built in pesticide that was lethal to the boll weevil. They sold the product to farmers who were looking to save money on their crops and make a better profit. But the well-intentioned seed had the opposite effect.

Genetically modified seeds haven’t eliminated the need for pesticides, but increased it. Because the plant is only poisonous to the boll weevil, secondary insects have been feasting on the cotton, forcing farmers to use pesticides on top of the built-in pesticides already in the cotton. Not only that, but the seeds grow “retarded” roots that aren’t able to absorb water readily. Thus, this crop that already takes a lot of water resources to grow is taking up even more of the world’s precious water.

Some of the popular chemicals sprayed on cotton are organophosphates, pyrethroids, carbamates and organochlorines. These guys might be at the head of the class in terms of usage, but they aren’t the kinds of friends you might want. Among some of their side effects are cancer, birth defects and interference with reproductive abilities. Think low sperm counts, less babies, which might actually help with our rates of consumption, but not something most men want to worry about. Some other others are acephate, dichloropropene, diuron, fluometuron, pendimethalin, tribufos, and trifluralin. They are the bad-boys of the pesticide industry and have been classified by the EPA as known, possible or probable human carcinogens.

One name that keeps popping up is methyl parathion. Farm workers exposed to it suffer long-term health effects. In California, which by the way is doing great things to limit carbon emissions and taking steps to clean up the air, is not doing so well when it comes to pesticides. Cotton farmers are dying because of their exposure to pesticides. 20,000 – 40,000 deaths worldwide are year are caused by pesticide poisonings. Millions suffer the effects of minor poisoning.

Leukemia in children is increased in families that used pesticides in their houses. Across the world, over 90 % of people exposed to pesticides all day suffer illness. Symptoms can range from vision disorders to cell death.

Chemicals sprayed by air drift. There are no government regulations set up to protect the families, farmers or babies that live and work in adjacent areas. If a crop plane dumps a load of pesticides for one field and they get carried into the next field over and sicken or cause illness to the people there, they have no recourse. Winds carry pesticides to fields, trees and into the water we all drink from.

Birds have been the canary in the mines for pesticide exposure. They are what triggered Rachel Carson to write Silent Spring and brought environmental politics to the forefront of American society. But how quickly we forget. Each year 67 million birds die in the US from pesticide poisoning. What are we doing to save our lives? Each choice we make matters.

The furies from the dark clouds that hang in the skies are also a culprit in pesticide poisonings. With a good heavy rain, pesticides that have been recently applied to cotton fields can be carried into lakes and streams. In 1995, one storm ended the lives of a quarter of a million fish in Alabama.

To make a cotton product, over 8,000 chemicals are involved. And unfortunately, cotton fulfills half the world’s needs for fiber. That’s a lot of cotton and a lot of pesticides and a lot of people.

Cotton isn’t just what we wear, it’s also what we eat. Cottonseed oil, used in crackers, potato chips, cookies, salad dressings and processed food carries all the pesticides it was treated with as it was growing. Cottonseed oil feeds cows. The pesticides get into the bloodstream and don’t leave. We end up carrying the pesticides in us, consuming them in food, all compiling into a toxic stew in our bodies.

The shift to organic cotton by consumers is just beginning but taking off quickly. There has been a 22% increase in organic consumption in the US and Canada over the last five years. Each time you buy organic, you encourage more organic farming practices. The higher the demand for organic, the more cotton farms will be converted and our dependence on toxic chemicals will slowly fade away like a bad dream. In a lot of ways, buying organic really saves lives. Not only your own, but the lives of those involved in the growing and developing processes.