Pesticides in our food, what can we do?
Have you taken a look at the vegetables in our markets lately? Tomatoes can be more cream than red, drenched in pesticides. Even when they look beautiful, their skin hides something scary on the inside.
An article by Tobbias Jolly Owiny in the Daily Monitor shares some staggering numbers: There are over 45 hazardous pesticides used in our vegetables, more than 80% of the pesticides used in Uganda are marked with high toxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and reproductive toxicity by the World Health Organisation.
Most of us know to wash vegetables with water before eating them. There are also rumours that a solution of vinegar and water can work to remove some of these pesticides but is this enough?
I spoke to Hannington Kisakye, the communication and advocacy officer and Moreen Ankunda the Coordinator Slow Food Youth Network Uganda to guide us all on a way forward. They both work with Slow Food Uganda, an organisation that is advocating for the preservation of indigenous foods and the discontinued use of harmful pesticides.
Photo source: https://www.africa-uganda-business-travel-guide.com/cherrytomatoesinuganda.html
QN: What is the state of pesticide use in Uganda today? How does it compare with the past 30 years or so?
In the past, our grandparents had ways of identifying pests before managing them. They would for instance put a banana leaf on the plant overnight. In the morning, some of the pests would be found on the banana leaf. This would help them to use methods that would kill that particular pest. That knowledge is no longer being used, we just mass spray.
We use chemicals to prepare the land before planting, to clear weeds, and of course to spray the fruits and vegetables right from when they are still young. Take an example of cabbage, pesticides are used from the first leaves so it grows with pesticides inside all its layers. In addition, these chemicals get into our soils and damage them. Some of these pesticides, such as the popular Rocket have been banned on the international market.
QN: What are some of the short and long term effects of eating food contaminated by pesticides?
Diseases; if you have noticed, cases of ulcers are going up. Children as young as 10 have ulcers. 20 year olds have diabetes and high blood pressure. The food we eat is no longer safe.
In the long run, the pesticides and chemicals in the food and poultry we eat can cause cancers, kidney and liver damage as well as reproductive problems. By now, the public knows that there are animal feeds containing ARVs and oral contraceptives on the market.
It is much worse for children because they are very vulnerable. Effects include: stinging eyes, blisters, and blindness. Short term effects of these chemicals include diarrhoea, dizziness and nausea for those who are spraying. Regulation around these chemicals needs to be done by the government.
QN: Is it enough to wash/rinse these pesticides off with water as we do? According to Tobbias’ article, peeling the tomatoes reduces the toxicity by 69. 7%, washing them with cold water by 30% and with warm water by about 38%. Is this enough?
Washing is not enough. First of all these days, people don’t only end at spraying, they go ahead to inject the tomatoes because they want to prevent them from rotting. This may explain why a lot of the tomatoes don’t have that juice.
Secondly, some of the seeds planted are pre-treated with chemicals so they will need to be sprayed for them to survive. Organic seeds on the other hand may not present the same problem.
Thirdly, the moment we spray the crops, the chemicals go into the soil, and are consumed by these plants. When it rains, they go into our water bodies so the whole ecosystem is contaminated.
If you look at Kampala, most of the vegetables that are consumed come from the suburbs, in slum areas with soils contaminated with chemicals. That is why you see a lot of diseases coming up in these areas.
Our recommendation here is to stop entirely or reduce the amount of chemicals being used in food.
QN: Tell me about regenerating our soils. What can be done?
We know that our soils are exhausted. They have become addicted to these chemicals so regeneration is necessary. When the soil is good, expect a good harvest.
Photo Source: Slow food Uganda
The first thing is to do away with the chemicals and use organic fertilizers and organic compost. Compost is simple. Gather the wastes we get from the home, peelings, grass and the like and if you can, pile it in one place. Give it time to decompose and then take it to your garden. The good thing with organic fertilizers is that they last for a long time in the soil. Cow dung, for instance, can feed the soil for a year or two years before you have to replenish it. With the chemicals on the other hand, you have to spray every season.
We are also against monoculture because it harms the biodiversity and affects soil fertility. So another way to regenerate the soils is to go for intercropping. It has other benefits as well; you get to harvest varieties and it can help in fighting pests and diseases. You could have beans, maize, vegetables, some tobacco, some red pepper or onions. The last 3 are great pest repellents.
QN: What can we do to have good, safe food?
Image by Christine Sponchia from Pixabay
It starts right from the farm. What type of seeds are you planting? Are you planting organic seeds? At Slow Food Uganda we promote our indigenous seeds, from maize to beans to cherry tomatoes. And then after planting, what are we using to spray our crops?
We have different organic inputs, which can help us improve soil fertility and fight diseases and pests. These include organic repellents, rabbit urine, cow dung, goat and chicken droppings. But of course they need to come from organically reared animals. If animals have been fed on the contaminated feeds we spoke about, then their droppings will also be contaminated.
There are also different plant materials we combine to make repellents. We call them repellents, not pesticides because we don’t intend to kill. We believe that these pests add to the biodiversity too. We have aloe vera, red chilli, tobacco, cloves and so much more.
I want to assure people that these things are there and we have tried them with our farmers and they work. They can be bought from Slow Food Uganda.
We are promoting organic markets-Slow Food earth markets. Here, organically grown products are sold. We recommend that people use these markets. To find out about the exact location of an earth market near you, call +256 200 906662 or +256 392 178 204
The other thing we can do is to educate and create awareness such as with articles like this. People have the mindset that if they do not spray, they will not have a big harvest. We need organisations and the government to come in and sensitise the people about the harms and dangers of using these pesticides. We need to turn back to the knowledge of our great-grandparents. They used to produce a lot of food which was nutritious and healthy without using pesticides.
Lastly, we know that people are busy, and they don’t have land, but we as Slow Food Uganda are sensitising them on kitchen gardens or urban gardens. Use whatever space you have to grow some of your own food. You can grow tomatoes, dodo, nakati, you can even grow beans on your veranda. That is how we can start changing the world, by us being examples.
Photo by Ram Kishor on Unsplash