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Coronavirus Makes It Hard for Farmers to Get Masks… So Farm with Fewer Chemicals!

The coronavirus collapse has exposed a lot of problems in how we produce food. Another coronavirus-generated problem that will hurt farmers due to the inherent flaws of Butzian Big Ag is the shortage of face masks and other personal protective equipment, which will leave farmers and their hired hands more susceptible to the toxic chemicals necessary to prop up factory farming:

Hundreds of thousands of farmworkers in the United States routinely encounter pesticides on the job And some of the most widely used pesticides in the U.S. pose serious health risks, ranging from causing occupational asthma and respiratory irritation to death.

…Masks can be vital to minimizing the risk. The current shortage of masks comes on top of other risks related to the current health emergency. For example, farm workers often have preexisting conditions, such as those affecting respiratory health, that are risk factors for coronavirus. Many live and work in crowded conditions, and have difficulty accessing medical care.

…Many farmers and farm workers, especially those who work with pesticides, carry N95 masks. These devices are made of non-woven polypropylene fiber and meet strict government standards for filtering out particles and droplets as small as 0.3 microns, or three one-thousandths of a millimeter. These are often part of a broader PPE kit that can include respiratory protection, gloves, headgear and body, foot and eye protection [Melanie Bateman, “A Global Mask Shortage May Leave Farmers and Farm Workers Exposed to Toxic Pesticides,” The Conversation, 2020.04.27].

Hmmm… maybe instead of bowing to the exhortations of Monsanto/Bayer bamboozlers, farmers could adopt less toxic farming methods:

“It is striking,” said Nicolas Munier-Jolain, at France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research, and one of the team who conducted the new study. He said the results show that pesticide reduction is possible today for most arable farmers, without losing money: “Our results are quite consistent with the UN [myth] report.”

“But [the research] does not mean pesticides are useless or inefficient,” he said. The farmers using low levels of chemicals employ other methods to control pests, he said, such as rotating crops, mechanical weeding, using resistant varieties and carefully managing sowing dates and fertiliser use. “It’s a big change, but not a revolution,” he said.

“If you want real reduction in pesticide use, give the farmers the information about how to replace them,” said Munier-Jolain. “This is absolutely not the case at the moment. A large proportion of advice is provided by organisations that are both selling the pesticides and collecting the crops. I am not sure the main concern of these organisations is to reduce the amount of pesticide used” [Damian Carrington, “Farms Could Slash Pesticide Use Without Losses, Research Reveals,” The Guardian, 2017.04.06].

Using less pesticide means more bees, more pollination, and less chemical exposure for farm workers. Spare the masks for coronavirus response; reduce chemical usage in farming.

5 Comments

  1. Owen 2020-04-28 11:52

    Have them check with Charlie Johnson for organic farming advice

  2. mike from iowa 2020-04-28 12:24

    Not sure you use the same masks for chemicals as you would when you enter to clean out grain bins. Unless you were already brain dead and had a death wish, you would never enter a confinement pit with a surgical mask.

    https://www.domyown.com/respirators-c-29_199.html what you should be required to wear around chemicals, pesticides, vaporsd, etc.

  3. Debbo 2020-04-28 21:25

    “I am not sure the main concern of these organisations is to reduce the amount of pesticide used.”
    Now that’s funny.

    They put stuff so toxic on plants we eat. It seems like that ought to be cause for concern.

    We used what we called a “particle mask.” It was to filter out the dust and other fine bits that always float around when unloading grain. Not as fine as N95 and only had 1 strap behind the head.

  4. Mark Winegar 2020-04-29 06:40

    Great article! Thank you for all of your hard work.

  5. Debbo 2020-04-29 14:00

    The American Prospect has a great map showing how thoroughly Mendacious Meathead has corrupted the government. It begins with an accounting of the Department of Agriculture. It’s all very much worth your time.

    is.gd/59tP7C

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