Chemicals and Food Growing

 If you only knew how much is treated with chemicals all vegetables and fruit you are buying on market or in shops, you would start growing your own food. I used to grow food on my farm for about 8 years, mostly in greenhouses. Watching what all and how other farmers use, made me realize that no one really cares how much pesticide and herbicide is used, when food can be sold after treatment, what are options to skip using such chemicals. Believe it or not, most of them grow food for their own use separated from the food they are going to sell on the market.

Farmers are in a race to catch up with big corporations, new more resistant diseases, to somehow cover cost of production and survive. Almost 90% farmers in this country using hormones for tomato and zucchini because they don’t want to rely on bees and get maybe 60% of what they could have. Why they are doing it? It is mostly done for early production when bees don’t visit tomato and zucchini enough because a number of trees blossoming during that time. It is also used for winter production when bees are not around. How to know is tomato flower treated with hormone? When you cut tomato in half and seed is not there, do not eat. That tomato did not grow naturally and is treated with hormone.

 If you have any option, any space where you can grow vegetables for your family, do it. And if you are not able, then try to find organic. And remember, wash fruit and vegetables well. Peel cucumber always if you are not sure that chemicals are not used. That is the most treated vegetable because of sensitivity to a number of diseases and pests.