It was interesting to see Dennis T Avery from The Hudson Institute, USA, attempting to stem the flow of farmers moving towards organic certified production.

A firm friend of the chemical fertiliser and pharmaceutical industries Avery’s article in the Straight Furrow, August 18 2009, is yet another attempt to ridicule naturally produced chemical free food.

There is a huge change happening in the market as consumers become sick and tired of mineral deficient NPK produced food.  Because NPK fertilisers lack a full array of minerals the plants grown on this system require toxic chemical sprays to keep them growing and then the animals and humans consuming the produce require pharmaceutical assistance to stay on their feet. 

As the consumer demand for safe, nutritious certified food continues to rise, chemical production will fall.  Chemical fertilisers destroy the soil biology, which in turn decreases production and nutrition. Avery’s claim that “if the world went all-organic, half the humans would die of starvation,” is nothing more than scare mongering in the hope of keeping toxic chemical production going. The Hudson Institute is supported by the chemical industry!

World health figures in 1999 showed that 83% of the world’s population did not have enough food and were dying of starvation at a rate of one person every three seconds, while chemical fertiliser production was at an all time high!

Is chemical farming really saving the life of the planet?  I think NOT!  Chemical farming is touted as the saviour of the planet, whereby, in fact in a mere 60 years, it has proven to be destroying the very environment that we all depend upon.

With new advances in natural production and topsoil building techniques, chemical production is looking more and more the ‘low yield’ option.