Amish Farmers Study Plant Immunology, Avoid Using Pesticides Completely
ENVIRONMENT, 27 Oct 2014
Christina Sarich – Nation of Change
Amish farmers are studying plant immunology in order to grow healthy organic produce free of harmful chemicals.
Amish farmers avoided the draft during WWII, even choosing to face jail time over going to war because they didn’t believe in combat, and now they are taking up a different fight altogether – peacefully – by studying plant immunology in order to grow healthy organic produce without pesticides, herbicides, and other harmful chemicals that biotech companies are lavishing on crops like cheap perfume on an uncouth lady.
Samuel Zook, an Amish farmer recently explained to a reporter:
“If you really stop and think about it, though, when we go out spraying our crops with pesticides, that’s really what we’re doing. It’s chemical warfare, bottom line.”
Zook should know what its like to try to grow without pesticides and still get rid of pests that would ravish his crops. He owns a 66-acre farm that was once riddled with fungus and other plant-killing insects that he could scarcely eradicate. The 39-year old farmer talked at length about trying to run a homestead that had been in his family for five generations, and how miserably he was failing. He became disillusioned with the Big Ag methods promoted as ‘agriculture’ when they are nothing more than war on the natural world. His frustration led him to the writings of an 18-year old Amish farmer from Ohio, named John Kempf.
This young upstart is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a consulting firm the farmer established in 2006 to promote science-intensive organic agriculture. That’s right – it wasn’t just going to be an inconclusive guessing game about what to grow and how to grow it – his achievements would make any pro-GMO agriculturalist or biotech scientists eat their genetically modified words.
Kemp started his own research after experiencing several failures on his own family’s farm when he was merely a pre-pubescent young man in the 8thgrade. He poured over biology, chemistry, agronomy, and science books for two years. He didn’t do it to make straight As in his classes or impress his teachers. He was literally trying to save the family farm.
Kemp achieved a breakthrough when he started studying plant immunology. In healthy plants, he learned, just like people, an array of compounds are produced that naturally defend against intruders.
He explained:
“The immune response in plants is dependent on well-balanced nutrition, in much the same way as our own immune system.”
He went on to describe how modern agricultural models, including GMO plants that require heavy doses of Round Up, and other toxic chemicals, including the newly approved Enlist, Duo, Dow’s 2,4-D chemicals that were once used in the Vietnam War, really deprive plants of the proper nutrition they need, and then their immune systems become compromised and can’t fight pests, fungus, rot, and other diseases.
Modern fertilizers focus only on increasing crop yields – no matter the price. Arguably, this also depletes human nutrition by creating plants that have questionable chemicals in their very DNA, but also lack proper vitamins and minerals.
An article published by Alternative Medical Reviewstates:
“Reviews of multiple studies show that organic varieties do provide significantly greater levels of vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus than non-organic varieties of the same foods.”
Aside from having fewer pesticide residues, organic foods also contain more secondary metabolites. In organically grown foods, more “bioactive compounds that aren’t directly involved in the plant’s growth, maturation, or reproduction, include the antioxidant compounds – the polyphenols, the flavonoids, and all the other phytonutrients – that make fruits and vegetables so uniquely healthful and which the evidence suggests is the primary explanation for the association of produce consumption with increased health, are present.”
Through plant sap analysis, Kempf has been able to discover deficiencies in important trace minerals which he can then introduce into the soil. Once these elements are presented – his plants are nourished instead of poisoned to death, and they start fighting for themselves. With pesticides, natural predators of pests flourish.
“Instead of trying to grow crops that are healthy with fungicides and pesticides, I started to grow crops that are healthy with nutrition, “ said Kempf.
Kempfs methods developed on the Ohio farm are now being used across North and South America, Hawaii, Europe, and Africa. He promises his clients higher-quality crops, bigger yields, better taste, and produce that carries a lucrative “organic” label, but he does something even better.
“Organic certification is a negative-process certification,” he explained, “You can do nothing to your field and become certified. In contrast, we focus on actively restoring the balance found in natural systems.”
Go to Original – nationofchange.org
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.