On Second Thought

Ok, ok, I know. It's been a year of waiting patiently for the next highly anticipated installment. Not to worry, you made it!

Something has been stuck on my brain the last few days, which got me back to the keyboard. Iowa's cancer rates. There is a considerable amount of research still in flight to help paint the picture as for the cause. There are quite a few easy targets...heavy chemical uses in agriculture and radon are the two that typically float to the top. Both fully entangled in our environment. Let's unpack one of them here.

"Big Ag" has for decades been the life blood of the state. Big Ag lobby has made environment policy progress nearly impossible. I mention this specifically as "Big Ag", and not "farmers". Farmers, just like all other business owners will make the choices to best achieve their desired outcomes. For most, that is simply to make more money. No foul there. Big Ag has created, and now hardened, and industry that feeds itself year over year. The game is rigged against small farms, and the cycle doesn't stop for large operations. The larger the operation, the larger the risk, but it's all at the mercy of a select few multi-national companies.

Crop inputs are an incredible revenue stream, whether this be fertilizer, herbicides, or pesticides. There is no arguing the effectiveness of many of these approaches pushed by big ag. The effectiveness results in steps towards the goal of the business, not the greater good. Yields are higher, crops are more resilient, machinery more efficient. These are, in general, good things for a world trying to feed its people on finite resources. This has all been done at the expense of nearly all else. Links between pesticide use and higher rates of cancer are becoming easier to identify. All while Bayer Monsanto is lobbying for immunity from lawsuits due to the ill-effects.

Simply put, we need improved data and action to help restore Iowa's waterways, and ecosystem in general. At a high level this means stepping back towards regenerative agriculture and promoting a more diversified use of our wonderfully useful soil. This should be far from political. It's common sense. We should be striving to live in a place that helps us live long and healthy lives. Call your representatives and ask them how they think we need to address the elevated rates of cancer in Iowa. Do they think this is environmentally driven? If not, why not?