It's not just that pesticides poison the soil for decades: intensive agriculture has failed to feed the world. The time has come to follow Cuba's example and reverse course, with agroecology. A call to action from Alce Nero.
The Chernobyl disaster has recently come back into the public conversation thanks to the eponymous television series produced by HBO, watched across Europe by no fewer than 1,224,000 viewers over the course of its five episodes. Just two years before the event that changed the history of nuclear power for ever, another accident occurred that must not be forgotten — one of the worst environmental catastrophes in history: on 3 December 1984, shortly after midnight, 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate leaked from the plant of Union Carbide India Limited, a manufacturer of pesticides, in the Indian city of Bhopal. The cloud that formed quickly caused the deaths of 2,259 people and poisoned tens of thousands more, so much so that the total number of victims has never been definitively established and is estimated at around 15,000. It is believed that the chemicals still present in the abandoned complex, in the absence of any remediation or containment measures, continue to contaminate the surrounding area.
The Bhopal massacre is the starkest proof of how dangerous pesticides are for the health of the Earth and of people — two things we can now say are one and the same. Unfortunately, however, disasters of that magnitude are not needed for toxic substances to end up contaminating the subsoil for years. Researchers at the Dutch university of Wageningen, for example, collected soil samples in ten European countries and detected traces of pesticides in 66 per cent of cases (above all glyphosate, DDT and fungicidal products).
The study also demonstrated how glyphosate (the most widely used herbicide in agriculture) and AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid) can concentrate within very small soil particles that are easily eroded and carried by wind and water, increasing the risk of contamination over vast distances.
In Italy, Ispra has detected residues of 259 agrochemicals in 67 per cent of surface waters and 33.5 per cent of groundwater. "This report shows how chemical substances persist in the soil and contaminate both surface and groundwater," commented Ruchi Shroff, director of Navdanya international. "We need to question the approval process for pesticides, what is actually being assessed and how it is possible that they can be considered safe."
The toxic products of the poison cartel, such as Roundup (glyphosate-based), Basta (containing glufosinate) and GMO seeds, have caused soil depletion and desertification, the decimation of bees, and a rise in the incidence of a range of diseases including cancers and birth defects. In Veneto, growing demand for Prosecco is causing soil erosion at unsustainable rates.
To what end, moreover? We can state, UN data in hand, that industrial agricultural production — the so-called "green revolution" — has failed to achieve its objective: the number of hungry people in the world has not fallen, while environmental pollution has put the health of millions at risk. This is why a transition to agroecology is necessary — that is, to a form of agriculture based on the progressive elimination of synthetic fertilisers, the redistribution of natural grasslands, and the expansion of natural infrastructure such as hedgerows, trees, ponds and stone walls; capable of interacting positively with the land and the landscape, of implementing the ecological corridors needed by wildlife and pollinators. According to a study conducted by Iddri, an independent research centre, these techniques will make it possible to feed the entire European population by 2050.
The example of Cuba gives reason for hope. The collapse of the Soviet Union left the island in a disastrous economic situation. In order to feed themselves, inhabitants began growing small vegetable gardens on their home balconies, while farmers left without oil or pesticides were forced to resort to traditional methods: it was in this way that a genuine agricultural revolution began in the country, saving the population from hunger.
Abandoning sugarcane monoculture also allowed farmers to protect their production from the effects of climate change. "Using mixtures of seed varieties is one of the best approaches against global warming because these 'blends' adapt more readily to change," explained Professor Giovanni Dinelli of the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Technologies at the University of Bologna, at the first stage of the new journey undertaken by the brand Alce Nero together with LifeGate, "Siamo fatti di Terra".
In short, by stopping the purchase of toxic agrochemicals — which allow us to save money only in appearance, since we then contribute through our taxes to the healthcare costs of those who fall ill — we can "increase farmers' incomes tenfold, address the problems linked to malnutrition and chronic disease, and at the same time create a resilient system capable of mitigating climate change," concludes Ruchi Shroff.
By choosing organic products, we can preserve the land that bears our footprints, the trees that give us cool shade in summer or the colours of autumn, the rivers that sinuously trace crystalline lines beneath the branches. As in a love story, the happiness of the planet is our own.