happened to the human race. He was probably one of the earliest people to spread the gospel of ‘green and organic’ although he and no one else had heard of either term in those days. ‘Just you wait boy’ he would say to me when I tried on frequent occasions to explain that the chemicals we were putting on the land were replacing those that had been taken out by previous crops. ‘All our teeth will fall out and our bones will break at the slightest touch, nothing can do better than a good dose of farmyard manure.’ He did not call it that of course. A much shorter term was used! Despite my laughter, Sam, the gentleman he was, remained my friend and mentor. However there is little doubt that without those applications of ‘artificials’ to give a boost to food production the U.K. would have been much closer to suffering the real pangs of hunger that the rest of Europe experienced. Whilst I have not heard of people losing their teeth or having bones broken at the slightest touch suspicion was aroused in the 1980s by two groups of people one in Japan and the other Africa.
It had been noticed that monkeys with a limb or a tail missing had become a fairly common sight in the vicinity of at least one tourist lodge in Kenya. It was thought that these may have been lost in close encounters with predators or perhaps the unfortunate animal had touched the cables carrying electric power around the complex. However no one had noticed any raw wounds. It is not uncommon to see the odd lion without a tail, nipped off most likely by a playful hyena, no other animal would have the strength of jaw to get away with it. Generally the victim was first seen with a bloody stump for lion in game parks are local and well known to rangers and camp staff who may see them on a daily basis. Kitchen waste such as vegetables, fruit and pineapple skins was frequently put out to encourage animals to feed where tourists could see them and monkeys are fast to grab a free handout. Two East African publications devoted
to wildlife reported in the 1980s that about 400 deformed or blind monkeys were born every year in Japanese monkey parks. These monkeys had been fed on a diet of food produced for human consumption, similar to the kitchen waste in Kenya. Scientists
comparing chromosomes from some of the affected monkeys with those from fit wild ones said they detected nothing extraordinary between the two groups. Interesting but inconclusive. We have however, seen the effect high concentrations of nitrogen can have on our surface waters in rivers, lakes and ponds. Not all the nitrogen applied on the land is absorbed by plant life and much is leached or washed off into such waters. This water, thus enriched (or contaminated) carries an increase in the growth of aquatic weed and, more importantly, often produces unusual quantities of toxic algae known as ‘blooms’. Sometimes these ‘blooms’ render water unfit for human consumption. (Water companies will send out written warnings about drinking it and supply safe water in bowsers or in some cases, bottled water rather than face the prospect of a court case should people not heed their warning). These ‘blooms’ can cause fish deaths that may be detected by the most casual of human observers. However, millions of small aquatic creatures, often only known to keen fishermen and biologists, which support larger fish also are at risk. Some modern day insecticides and weed-killers are a danger, for a very small amount if washed down a river, will, in a few hours kill off a year or more supply of fish food. Some contaminated surface water will start its long journey, both in time and depth, to the aquifer. On its way a great deal will be pumped out as ground water. The remainder continues its journey through, what the mineral water companies like to tell us is a gigantic filter cleaning it of any contamination. But can filtering remove all undesirable soluble chemicals? I know several
streams in what some of us refer to as ‘hard rock country’ where the water is crystal clear but is unfit to drink due to a high burden of lead. (Lead is used in the production of the clearest ‘crystal’ glass). It takes, we are told, several hundreds of years for this water to reach the aquifer so it is unlikely that any of us alive today will know the answer. Unfortunately unless something radical
takes place, new scientific knowledge, or heaven forbid plagues of monumental proportion killing off vast numbers of the world’s population I feel we will not be able to produce enough food to supply our wants without massive use of artificial fertilizers. There will never be enough livestock to produce the basic material of farmyard manure and not enough straw for such stock to be bedded on. I have farming friends in Wales who bring transport into the heart of ‘The Four Shires’ area to collect straw so hard is it to find these days. Modern agricultural methods employ sprays to reduce the length of straw a crop of cereal will produce thus enabling the plant to put more growth into the ear.
Sorry if I laughed Sam, I now know how you must have felt!
August 2011
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