Funny how the universe works, I was seriously lacking inspiration for this blog when a spark lit the fuse. The Spark was Liam Gavin from Carraig Rua bakery (all good Liam!), he rang as I was just about to take one of his gorgeous sourdough loaves out of the oven. Just so happens I was back from a cycle where I was noticing more of the Roundup sprayed ditches, you know the ones, they are yellow and dead.
In 2024 there were potentially 1.14 billion kgs of Glyphosate produced, with estimated sales of over $10billion, that’s a lot of herbicide for your money. Seems it is still in widespread use. The question I guess we should be asking ourselves is does consistent low-level exposure of this chemical and other pesticides cause health issues.
Paracelsus said, “Solely the dose determines that a thing is not a poison.”
This is often an argument used to promote the safety of pesticides in general that the “dose makes the poison” as in you need more of a certain chemical for it to cause damage.
But when it comes to hormone disruptors (many pesticides are hormone disruptors) low doses can have big effects (they act at parts per trillion, which is nearly nothing) they can cause damage and they have been implicated in many chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes.
Cereals (Wheat and others) in Ireland and all over the world are sprayed with a whole host of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, conventional cereals in general can get a substantial coating of these chemicals.
Herbicides are used to clear the ground such as the usual Glyphosate and others such as 2,4-D which is a hormone disruptor.
There is a myriad of fungicides applied to cereals many are from the azole family which again are hormone disruptors.
Then my favourite are the growth inhibitors that are sprayed on conventional cereals to stop them growing so they don’t “lodge” fall over in the rain such as Chlormequat chloride (CCC) which is also a suspected endocrine disruptor.
While regulators still dispute it, a large body of independent research shows glyphosate can disrupt hormones, especially at low doses, with potential links to reproductive problems, developmental effects, and hormone-driven cancers.
For what it’s worth I do not want to see chemicals sprayed on land or on our food. I think the damage they do to biodiversity, and our health is not worth whatever gains the agribusiness manufacturers claim. And it is the very businesses that manufacturer the chemicals that also do the work to show they are safe, a bit of a conflict of interest there I would say.
Certainly, there is a growing incidence of chronic diseases in modern society and no doubt our lifestyle, stress, overly processed food and the hidden chemicals in our food are contributing to this.
But one thing is for sure there is also a growing number of people that are taking charge of our food, are choosing to eat better and in so doing are protecting our health and the health of our planet.
As always thank you for your support.
Kenneth