JOHN'S CORNER

NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS #49

Last week we mentioned studies that have shown fluoride in our water systems is hurting the intelligence of our children. A report in Natural News titled "Pesticides Making America STUPID: Agricultural chemicals found to lower the IQ of children". Three different studies recently released, all reached the same conclusion that exposure to pesticides can have a significant long-term adverse effect on a child's brain. Exposure may come from the food we eat or products in our home to control roaches. These exposures lowers a child's IQ by up to 7 points. For example, the organophosphate family of pesticides are neurotoxins. In 2007 there were 33 million pounds of organophosphate pesticides applied in the USA. These pesticides were originally developed to be nerve agents hence it is no surprise that they have an effect on the brain.

Green roofs and green walls are becoming common place all over the world from the money saved by their usage to the environmental benefits to society. Mexico City with its 24 million inhabitants has one of the worst air pollution problems in the world. This 2 minute video shows how Mexico City is using a variation of green walls on their highways to help clean up the air.

https://www.facebook.com/WeNeedThisbyattn/videos/214985299003343/

A study of 13,000 soil samples across 20 European countries have found trees are dying or getting sick from malnutrition. This 10 year study led by the Imperial College of London and The Royal Botanic Garden published in the journal Nature (2018), has found that air pollution is killing beneficial fungi that are required for the tree to absorb nutrients. This has left forest vulnerable to pests, diseases, and stress from climate change. They also found in some plant/soil communities that there was an increase in parasitic fungi whom tolerate the pollution better.

Most people love our pets especially our dogs. Dogs are great pets and are used 

for protection, sniffing out drugs or explosives, and other services. Studies in the journals, American Society of Horticultural Science and HortScience has found dogs are useful in sniffing our disease in plants long before symptoms appear. For example, they have been used to detect laurel wilt in affected avocado trees. Dogs can smell scents as little as 1-2 parts per trillion!

The Technical University of Munich has developed a biodegradable agent that keeps pests at bay without using poisons. They were inspired by the tobacco plant which produces the chemical cembratrienol in its leaves which protects itself from insect pests. They have developed bacteria to produce this chemical and when they are sprayed onto the leaves it repels insect pests, similarly to a mosquito repellant we use on us. (Science Daily, June, 2018)

The USDA's new proposed budget is $20.4 billion however only $35 million is spent on sustainable agricultural research and education (SARE). This is less than 0.17% of its entire budget. Acres USA, June 2018. However, the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) has recommended increased funding from $20 million to $40 million. Improvement, but still only a drop in the bucket compared to what toxic chemical methods that are killing us receives.

EWG's (Environmental Working Group) 2018 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ is now available. Go to the website and enter your email address to get a downloadable version of the Clean Fifteen™ and Dirty Dozen™ lists to help you make better choices for yourself and your family, and reduce exposures to toxic pesticides. You'll also receive EWG's exclusive email updates, tips, action alerts and promotions to support our work. https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

The company Mycorrhizal Applications has a new website with an expanded "how it works section" to help users understand the science of mycorrhizal fungi and how they help plants grow. https://mycorrhizae.com/

The New York Academy of Medicine and The American Farmland Trust released a new study on economics and the health of college students. They found if the 

State University of New York (SUNY) were to allocate 25% of its food budget toward locally grown and minimally processed foods it would create $54 million of economic activity in New York. The side benefit is the students would receive healthier and better tasting food. https://www.farmland.org/press-releases/new-report-finds-significant-opportunity-for-suny-to-grow-support-for-local-farms-and-health-of-college-students

A recent paper in Natural News titled "These foods KILL cancer cells better than chemotherapy" listed the following: green tea, ginger, turmeric (curcumin), and grapes. The website GreenMedInfo has compiled a list of 25 such foods. Organically grown foods always work best since they do not have cancer causing chemicals in and on them.