home> organic farming> pesticides> repairing the damage

It is a well documented fact that current conventional agricultural growing methods have a negative impact on the soil, rivers and lakes and underground water on which we all depend for our living and well-being. They also damage the ozone layer.

The cost of repairing this damage is paid by all of us in various forms, mainly through taxes. Some facts and figures include:

1. The US Enviromental Protection Agency estimates that cutting agricultural pollution could eliminate the need for at least $15 billion worth of advanced water treatment facilities.

2. Water utilities in Germany now pay farmers to switch to organic operations because it costs less than removing farm chemicals from water supplies (pesticides and nitrites mainly). Water companies in the U.K. spend $360 million each year to remove pesticides to a level stipulated by law as acceptable.

3. The US Dept of Agriculture has estimated that for every $1 spent on agrichemicals, it’s costing the tax payer $5- $10 in environmental clean-ups and hospital bills for farm workers and their families

4. A study from the University of Essex estimated the total cost of the negative effects of conventional agriculture at $7 billion for 1996 alone in the U.K.

45 billion invested in preserving nature would return 45 trillion in ecosystem services, like water filtration and climate regulation. If hidden costs were taken into account, conventionally produced food would probably prove more expensive than organic food.