"Indian officials take stock as more pack into ‘cancer train’; Ranks of afflicted swell after years of pesticide use" by Rama Lakshmi | Washington Post, January 06, 2013
BHATINDA, India — The train crawls into the grimy station, and scores of anxious cancer patients scramble to find assigned berths, floor space, even corners. Wrapped in large woolen blankets against the wintry cold, the passengers prepare for an overnight journey to the nearest public hospital, 220 miles away.
Many call it India’s ‘‘cancer train.’’
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The train journey is not very comfortable. The toilet stinks, sinks are stained with spit, and the floor is covered with dirt and peanut shells.
For the government, the growing number of patients on the train over the past five years is a wake-up call....
How could this have happened?
India’s Green Revolution of the 1960s and ’70s — introduced with American help to promote modern farming methods using high-yield varieties of seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides — was meant to fight hunger and increase productivity.
Is it surprising to you that AmeriKa's agriculture policy looks like a waging of war on the environment?
But over the years, that model has become medically and environmentally unsustainable, according to many anti-pesticide campaigners, who advocate organic farming and tougher laws.
That's good to know, isn't it, Americans? Might also explain some of the cancers to be found near you, 'eh?
While a 2008 study found a possible link between pesticide use and reports of high cancer rates in Punjab’s rural agricultural communities, another big medical study is underway to nail down the cause of the upsurge.
Yeah, but global warming is the real threat.
Related:
"Crude oil flooding the fishing grounds of the Gulf of Mexico is not a problem. Radiation pouring into the fishing grounds of the North Pacific is not a problem. Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland being flooded (intentionally in one case) with toxic industrial waste is not a problem. Lower yields from genetically modified crops is not a problem." -- What Really Happened
Nor are all the Indian farmers committing suicide because of the s*** seeds.
And what is with all the record cold that is going unreported in my agenda-pushing newspaper?
But almost everyone on the train — patients and regular passengers alike — agrees there is little doubt that pesticides are mainly to blame, although they say they cannot afford to stop using them....
I predict the government report won't be able to pinpoint a cause -- because the chemical companies can't afford for you to stop using them.
Some stories offer hope....
I'm failing to find much here, sorry.
--more--"
If the place is India's breadbasket why are "at least 50 million Indians are on the brink of starvation and over 200 million Indians are underfed?"
Still kind of hungry....
"Organic food may not be much healthier, study says" by Lauran Neergaard | Associated Press, September 04, 2012
WASHINGTON — Eating organic food, which costs more, may be better for the environment and the palate, but has little effect on the health of individuals, according to a new study.
The blatant agenda-pushing is sickening.
Stanford University doctors dug through reams of research and concluded that there is little evidence that going organic is healthier, citing only a few differences involving pesticides and antibiotics.
Okay, this pile of food has poison in it, this one doesn't. Which one would you like? Which one do you think is healthier?
Eating organic fruits and vegetables can lower exposure to pesticides, including for children — but the amount measured from conventionally grown produce was within safety limits, the researchers reported Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
But what? Go ask the Indians!
Nor did the organic foods prove more nutritious.
The blatant agenda-pushing is sickening.
Stanford University doctors dug through reams of research and concluded that there is little evidence that going organic is healthier, citing only a few differences involving pesticides and antibiotics.
Okay, this pile of food has poison in it, this one doesn't. Which one would you like? Which one do you think is healthier?
Eating organic fruits and vegetables can lower exposure to pesticides, including for children — but the amount measured from conventionally grown produce was within safety limits, the researchers reported Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
But what? Go ask the Indians!
Nor did the organic foods prove more nutritious.
‘‘I was absolutely surprised,’’ said Dr. Dena Bravata, a senior research affiliate at Stanford and longtime internist who began the analysis because so many of her patients asked if they should switch.
So am I -- at the bulls*** being shoveled at us.
‘‘There are many reasons why someone might choose organic foods over conventional foods,’’ from environmental concerns to taste preferences, Bravata stressed. But when it comes to individual health, ‘‘there isn’t much difference.’’
I sit any wonder I don't want to read the Globe anymore?
Her team did find a notable difference with antibiotic-resistant germs, a public health concern because they are harder to treat if they cause food poisoning.
Specialists long have said that organic or not, the chances of bacterial contamination of food are the same, and Monday’s analysis agreed. But when bacteria did lurk in chicken or pork, germs in the nonorganic meats had a 33 percent higher risk of being resistant to multiple antibiotics, the new study said.
That finding comes amid debate over feeding animals antibiotics, not because they are sick but to fatten them up. Farmers say it’s necessary to meet demand for cheap meat.
Have you seen the prices for meat in the supermarkets?
Public health advocates say it’s one contributor to the nation’s growing problem with increasingly hard-to-treat germs....
The government has begun steps to curb the nonmedical use of antibiotics on the farm....
After
Anyone out there still believe this government is really looking out for you and your health? If so, I feel so damn sorry for you.
Consumers can pay a lot more for some organic products but demand is rising....
Maybe it has something to do with "lower pesticide levels in those on organic diets."
--more--"
Biotechnology tools employed in crop production
I thought fast food wasn't good for you.
UPDATE: 50 years later, chemical barrage goes on
