Pesticides and all things killing us
Pesticides have very much been in my orbit lately.
I heard a rumour that we have a higher concentration of people experiencing MS, Parkinson’s and MND on Guernsey, than in other areas of the UK. Some will say that this is due to the overuse of pesticides on the island although there is, as yet and as far as I know, no concrete evidence.
I was then reading Nigel Jee’s book, The Guernsey Cow, and in it he references the concern of some farmer’s about infertile cows in a field near the airport. Some argued that this was due to the petroleum from the aircraft, some believed it was due to the move to artificial insemination and others felt it was due to the pesticides used in many of the island’s greenhouses, which circulated into the general environment through the open windows.
Then someone was telling me about the PFOS scandal, where PFOS was used by the airport fire services following a fatal plane crash in 1999 and how this led to the contamination of soil along Forest Road, and the concern that this has contaminated the island’s water supply. PFOS was previously used in firefighting foams but was banned by the EU in 2008 because it was found to be dangerous for the environment and human health with prolonged exposure causing cancer, while repeated exposure by ingestion can cause stomach upset, liver toxicity and effect on the thyroid hormones.
And the, to finish it all off, an organic farmer friend was telling me how glyphosate, a herbicide which is used extensively on wheat and maize, also contains antibiotics. Therefore, if you are consuming non-organic products such as breads and cereals grown with the use of glyphosate, then you are not only consuming pesticides but antibiotics too.
What’s more, I was told that while there is a limit to how much glyphosate can be used on edible products such as grains, fruits and vegetables, no such restriction exists for flowers and plants. Thus gardening centres selling plants which have been covered with pesticides are actually really harmful places to spend your time. Furthermore when you fill your home with beautiful flowers sold in shops, you are actually making your home toxic. Lastly many of the plants marketed as ‘bee friendly’ are actually so toxic they will likely kill the bees!
Incidentally, herbicides containing Glyphosate are only available to use in Guernsey for those holding a relevant National Proficiency Test Council (NPTC) certificate of competence in the safe use of pesticides from 31st December 2022. Apparently, these measures are also to protect our raw water supplies as the majority of the island's surface is being used for water catchment….and to think I used to swim regularly at Petit Bot with all that farm run off…
Oh it’s a scary world. not only are we bombarded with toxins in the food we eat and the water we drink, let alone the sea we swim in, but in the air we breathe. And let’s not forget what’s happening above our heads with the dreaded cloud seeding, and all the WIFI and 4G circulating the air, to say nothing of increased vaccination programmes and Big Pharma, and I haven’t even started on the mobile telephones. I used to think a lot of this was conspiracy theory until I started reading the smaller print and realised that much of this isn’t hidden from us, we just don’t want to know.
I certainly didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to accept that not everyone has our best interests at heart, that this isn’t a fair and just world, that not everyone has a conscience or cares about the plight of the common man and woman. I didn’t want to think that greed gets the better of people, that women were encouraged to work, not because of women’s empowerment movements but because the powers that be recognised that women spent the money and if consumerism was to flourish then women needed to have more money to spend.
I have been reading this fantastic book called Addiction to Perfection by Marion Woodman, which looks at the psychology and attitudes of the modern woman, and how much our cultural conditioning favours patriarchal values such as productivity, goal orientation, intellectual excellence, spiritual perfection etc, at the expense of the more earthy, interpersonal values traditionally recognised as the heart of the feminine.
There are so many ah ha moments that I cannot do the book justice just here, but one thing it has made me realise, is that until we change our minds, and let go of our patriarchal conditioning, which has us seeing the world in black and white, all of the above will keep on happening, our obsession with money and power at the expense of life and a healthy life at that will continue to be compromised.
I’ll share this quote with you though as it seems pertinent:
“It is part of our culture’s prevailing attempts to establish security with concrete objects until we are buried alive under our own piles of riches or junk, depending on the perspective. The mothers’ sons who became Nazi murderers believed that they could concretise Nietzsche’s “superhuman” ideal and threw this planet into a maelstrom of suffering attempting to do it. Negative masculinity cannot think in metaphor. Everything has to be concrete, serving the temporal rather than the eternal. Again the paradox surfaces. it tries to make the temporal as perfect as the eternal it rejects. The addiction to perfection is an addiction to unreality which leaves little room for the feminine”.
All of this pesticide chatter did cause me to consider my toxicity, not least from what I ingest, but from my environment - every action has a consequence; I like to cycle to enjoy nature and fresh air but that does mean I am subjected to the exhaust fumes, and while I avoid tap water and use a Berkey at home, elsewhere I might drink bottled water, which likely contains micro plastics.
Furthermore, people still talk of vaccine shedding and the effect this has on all of us, vaccinated nor not. None of us are immune to factors beyond our control, which means we must do what we can with factors we can control, such as the food we eat and the immediate environment within which we live and our use of chemicals both in our home and on our body.
As luck would have it I discovered that a friend has started selling Zeolite, which helps to clear heavy metals and toxins and balances the body’s PH. You can read more here:
“Despite our best efforts, it is challenging to altogether avoid the toxins and pollutants present in food, water and the atmosphere. A highly concentrated form of liquid zeolite, Zeolite Plus, is perfect for incorporating into a cleansing regime such as a detox. It helps absorb heavy metals and toxins and balance the body's pH: essential foundations for supporting good health.
● Potent
● Clinoptilolite form
● Contains fulvic & humic acid
● Over 70 trace minerals
Available locally in Guernsey for £37.50, 59ml glass bottles containing 120 servings (one serving = 10 drops). Mix with water and ideally consume between meals.
To place an order or for more information, get in contact via email: zeolite.gsy@yahoo.com or follow us on social media: zeolite.gsy”
I am hoping this is all helpful. I highly recommend both Nick Jee and Marion Woodman’s books.
Love Emma x