The struggle between, health, environment, and saving the world

How on earth do we balance the task of curing world hunger and saving our environment at the same time? Many think, "Produce, produce, produce!" However, are we considering what all of that producing is doing to our environment and possibly our own bodies? In one sense, we need unnatural growing conditions for crops so that we don't have one bad season and no food to feed ourselves, but on the other hand, all of this modifying and pushing the crops along is killing our environment and putting our health at risk.

During the Green Revolution, Patel states in Stuffed and Starved, "The seeds required irrigation, leading to competition for water, which has resulted in groundwater levels dropping at over a foot a year in some areas. Irrigation led to increased salt deposits in the soil, rendering increasing areas of the land unusable." We are having these same issues today here in the United States. Around 67% of our ground water is used for irrigation. Groundwater extraction is not monitored by our friends in the western states. This means that they can drill in to the ground and use up as much water as they wish. Which, yes, will increase their crop production. However, our ground water supply is decreasing at alarming rates and there is already competition for water out west. It would take thousands of years for the groundwater to naturally replenish itself. This is not just an issue in the west, it is becoming an issue all over the earth. What do you think life would be like with a severe lack of fresh groundwater?

http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/PR_v0fXTS1R3wlKACM_XcSCPJJW5SiCx/depleting-the-water/

The other issue we are having in the mass production of crops is poison. Farmers are spraying their crops with mass amounts of fertilizers and pesticides. I always remember coming home from the grocery store as a child and wanting to bite right in to those grapes, strawberries, tomatoes etc. but my mom would never let me. We always had to wash them first because "there is spray on them," my mom would say. Now I understand. This summer I was at a 4-H fair while the farmers were crop dusting. The wind happened to be blowing all of the chemicals right back in to my face. The taste and smell was toxic, and it burnt to breathe. Are you telling me that it is
okay to just eat that stuff after running it under some water?! Pesticides are not only increasing our risk of cancer and other health related issues, but are also decreasing the minerals in our once healthy foods. They are also contaminating our groundwater which is ever so quickly decreasing. The chemicals run off of the crops and go directly in to our water supply.

While these issues are affecting us, they are also killing off our bees, which we have quickly forgotten, pollenate our crops! Without the bees, we would not have many of the crops we do, and without our health we cannot do anything about these issues. We must find a way to save our environment while also eliminating world hunger and keeping ourselves safe.