Eating Organic

Eating Organic — page 3 — History of DDT In 1939 Swiss scientist Paul Müller discovered DDT was an effective way to kill pests such as mosquitos beetles and worms Doctors farmers and scientists celebrated Müller’s findings He won a Nobel Prize for his discovery in 1948 By the 1960s it became clear DDT was negatively affecting entire ecosystems It was creating a health problem in birds that made them lay thin shelled eggs These eggs broke easily Few baby birds survived Humans were also at risk Scientists noted DDT could cause serious diseases in humans who were exposed to large amounts of the pesticide In the 1970s DDT was banned from use in some countries around the world including the United States 6 The farmers had not meant to kill the birds They had sprayed their crops with a synthetic pesticide called DDT Synthetic pesticides are man-made chemicals used to kill insects or other pests that harm crops DDT is especially powerful The birds were eating insects that had eaten the DDT-sprayed crops Then the birds were dying After learning about the effects of DDT and other pesticides many people reconsidered eating foods sprayed with

Eating Organic — page 4 — As scientists began to link human health to the health of t h e e n v i r o n m e n t e a t i n g o r g a n i c b e c a m e m o r e p o p u l a r the harmful chemicals They chose to only eat foods grown without using man-made chemicals These foods are called organic People believed eating organic would be healthier because they would be eating fewer foods with chemical residue They also thought it would help the environment by reducing the amount of chemicals being sprayed 7

Eating Organic — page 5 — Plant Growth Organic plants are grown in a special way These fruits vegetables and grains are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides chemical fertilizers or bioengineering Chemical fertilizers are made up of inorganic material that has important nutrients for plant growth but they often harm the soil and the surrounding ecosystem They are added to fields to help plants grow Chemical fertilizers must be added to the soil continually Bioengineering involves changing the genetic structure of a plant or animal in order to change the way it grows or behaves Scientists can bioengineer plants and animals to grow faster bigger and heartier This makes them more profitable when farmers sell them Organic farmers do not use any of these methods They avoid synthetic pesticides chemical fertilizers and bioengineering Organic farmers believe these methods can be harmful to the environment 8

Eating Organic — page 6 — Organic farmers farm in ways that benefit the environment 9

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