Health Class, Turned Enviromental

I am in health this year. Fascinating. At the beginning of the semester, everyone broke up into small groups for a guest speaker project in which every group would organize for a guest speaker to come in and talk to the class. My group, thanks to my recommendation, invited an Indian Shaman to come in and demonstrate Native American rituals or cleansing chakras. As fascinating as that was, my inspiration for this blog entry has absolutely nothing to do with energy work!

Rather, it is about another group's speaker - a business man came in to talk to us. The first thing he said was that he knew nothing about health. By the end, I more than believed him.

He was in the farming industry, not a farmer himself, but he represented many farmers. He began talking about making sure the food we eat is healthy etc. However, near the end he began talking about productivity and the money making aspect. He then started talking about the scientific part of farming that included the use of fertilizers and pesticides and how wonderful those things are because they boost productivity.

I asked him about the many many environment problems that come from agriculture. I inquired him on subjects such as nitrates and phosphates polluting freshwater sources as a result of the use of fertilizers and the pollution of groundwater by the use of pesticides. He suddenly became very defensive. He avoided the question. I was not about to make a big deal about it because it is rude, he was coming to share his job with my class and not to be bombarded with real issues that impact the world.

Not two minutes later, someone else in the class - even possibly my teacher Mr. H - asked what would happen if pesticides and fertilizers were eliminated or made environmentally friendly. His answer was that profits would be cut.

This made me so angry. I had just come from environmental science in which I learn about these environmental problems and how a great portion of the world ignores them to this health class in which a prime example of this ignorance and greed was standing before me.

This man was proof to claims that I had not fully believed after reading my textbook. Many people do not care! This earth is not an invincible place, it can be destroyed just like anything else. I am still discovering whether or not people are aware of this, but I am sure this professional in the agricultural field is not clueless to the damage that agricultural runoff has on the earths water and environment in general.

It disgusts me to see people like this knowingly destroy the earth and even advocate to use more and more harmful chemicals.