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Poverty
Reduction Through
Contract Farming
(Eng)
(Thai) |
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 Swift
Co. Ltd
Tel. (+66) 34-351-025-6
Fax. (+66) 34-352-639
Email: exotic@thaifreshproduce.com |
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- Protect
Future Generations
Children receive four times the exposure
than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing
pesticides in food. The food choice you make now will impact
your child's health in the future.
- Prevents
Soil Erosion
Soil is eroding seven times faster than it
is built up naturally and it is the foundation of the food
chain in organic farming. In conventional farming the soil
is used more as a medium for holding plants in a verticle
position so they can be chemically fertilized. As a result,
farms are suffering from the worst soil erosion in history.
- Protect
Water Quality
Water makes up two-third of our body mass
and covers three-fourths of the planet. Despite its importance,
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), estimates pesticides
(some cancer causing) contaminate the ground water polluting
the primary source of drinking water.
- Save
Energy
Modern farming uses more petroleum than
any other single industry, consuming 12 percent of the country's
total energy supply. More energy is now used to produce
synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate, and harvest
all the crops. Organic farming still mainly based on labor-intensive
practices such as weeding by hand and using green manures
and crop covers rather than synthetic. Organic produce also
tends to travel a shorter distance from the farm to your
plate.
- Keep
Chemicals Off Your Plate
Many pesticides approved for use by the EPA
were registered before extensive research linking these
chemicals to cancer and other diseases has been established.
Now the EPA considers that 60 percent of all herbicides,
90 percent of all fungicides and 30 percent of all insecticides
are carcinogenic. The bottom line is that pesticides are
poisons designed to kill living organisms, and can also
be harmful to humans. In addition to cancer, pesticides
are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage and genetic
mutation.
- Protect
Farm Workers Health
A natural Cancer Institute study found that
farmers exposed to herbicides had a six time greater risk
than non-farmers of contracting cancer. Field workers suffer
the highest rates of occupational illness. Farm worker health
also is a serious problem in developing nations, where pesticide
use can be poorly regulated. An estimated 1 million people
are poisoned annually by pesticides.
- Help
Small Farmers
Although more and more large scale farms
are making the conversion to organic practices, most organic
farms are small independently owned and operated family
farms of less than 100 acres.
- Support
a True Economy
Although organic foods might seem more expensive
than conventional foods, conventional food prices do not
reflect hidden cost borne by taxpayers, including nearly
$74 billion in federal subsidies in 1988. Other hidden costs
include pesticide regulation and testing, hazordous waste
disposal and clean up, and environmental damage.
- Promote
Biodiversity
Mono cropping is the practice of place large
plots of land with the same crop year after year. While
this approach tripled farm production between 1950 and 1970,
the lack of natural diversity of plant life has left the
soil lacking in natural minerals and nutrients. To replace
the nutrients, chemical fertilizers are used, often in increasing
amounts.
- To
Taste Better
There is a good reason many chef's use organic
foods in their recipes. They taste better. Organic farming
starts with the nutrients of the soil which eventually leads
to the nourishment of the plant and ultimately our palates.
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