Diversity and Health
・Agricultural researcher Taro Yoshida
Mr. Taro Yoshida, a pesticide researcher (resident in Nagano City), reported on the Nagano Prefecture Seed Ordinance at the lecture.At the end of last year, he published his epoch-making new book, "Seeds and Internal Organs," which links the environment, agriculture, food, and health from a single point of view, incorporating Mr. Inro's story and various movements in Japan and overseas. and is attracting attention.
A way out for agroecology
In XNUMX, Mr. Yoshida wrote a report on Cuba, which became an organic powerhouse after the economic blockade by the former Soviet Union.
In his new book, he proposes a method of agriculture called agroecology, which FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) advocates.
The term agroecology is unfamiliar, but according to the book, farms promote circulation of water and nutrients to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, maintain biodiversity, naturally control pests, and use pesticides. also reduce.
“The point is to take advantage of the interaction of organisms within the agricultural ecosystem” (ibid.).
Unlike organic farming with certification standards, producers in each region search for methods including organic farming according to natural conditions, and work independently in each region.
Rather than industrialized agriculture that continues to burden the environment, agroecology, which aims to maintain the ecosystem, is also played by community-based small-scale family farming.
In addition, nutrient-rich crops grown from diverse seeds in rich soil where microorganisms grow enrich our intestinal bacteria and bring health.
Emergency hospitalization for type XNUMX diabetes
Actually, Mr. Yoshida has a bitter experience.
About three years ago, I was suddenly diagnosed with type XNUMX diabetes and was hospitalized.Since then, I have been forced to inject insulin four times a day for about a year.
Type XNUMX diabetes, which mostly begins in childhood, affects only one in a million people in middle age.Mr. Yoshida, who has no recollection of overeating and drinking, wondered, "Why are you suddenly in your fifties?"
At a meeting about the cause, Mr. Yoshida confided, "Probably leaky gut syndrome. I thought I was hit by glyphosate and genetically modified food."
Glyphosate (Roundup) is a herbicide developed by multinational biotechnology company Monsanto (acquired by Bayer in June last year) and used in combination with genetically modified seeds.
Glyphosate causes plants to wither by breaking the "shikimate pathway" that synthesizes amino acids and stopping growth.
Monsanto explains that genetically modified crops are tolerant to glyphosate and therefore unaffected, and that animals, including humans, are safe because they lack the shikimate pathway. Once stored, plants, including genetically modified crops, will be unable to absorb soil minerals such as manganese.
This is probably the reason why there is data that "genetically modified crops are poor in minerals."Insufficient or deficient minerals affect nerve functions and metabolism, and can also cause diabetes.
Japan, which has a low self-sufficiency rate, imports large amounts of genetically modified soybeans and corn, making it one of the world's leading consumers of genetically modified foods.
Improving by striving for an organic life
In August of last year, a San Francisco court in the United States awarded Monsanto approximately XNUMX billion yen ($XNUMX million) to Monsanto in favor of a former school janitor who developed malignant lymphoma as a result of glyphosate used in weeding. I ordered.
In response to the ruling, it is said that major distributors in the UK have begun considering a policy to suspend sales of glyphosate.
However, in Japan, you can easily buy it at home centers and online stores, and at the end of XNUMX, sunflower oil's residue standard value was greatly relaxed, such as XNUMX times.
On the other hand, Mr. Yoshida refrained from eating out and eating processed foods as much as possible, stopped taking medicines, and changed his diet to eating only organic foods. , blood sugar returned to normal.
“When you hear the words “agroecology” and “traditional agriculture,” you may think that you are going back to the old days, but that is not the case. It's a frontier that needs to be explored."
"Seeds and Internal Organs" by Taro Yoshida
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Taro Yoshida
Born in Tokyo in 1961.He graduated from the Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tsukuba.He dropped out of the Graduate School of Earth Sciences at the same university.He has written on Cuban organic agriculture, medicine, as well as agroecology and traditional agriculture.When he became seriously ill, he participated in a zazen meeting in Kamakura and a zazen fasting meeting in Matsumoto, where he himself explored the connection between seeds and internal organs.His most recent book is Seeds and Internal Organs (2018, Tsukiji Shokan).He lives in Nagano prefecture.
