At least here on the East Coast, you can always mark Spring's progress by how green everything is around you. Increasingly as time goes on, large swaths of our green scenery become tainted brown. The colors of death scar the roadsides and the ground under monoculture plantings. Erosion takes hold as the exposed soils surrender to Floyd's strong rainstorms. The peaceful, pastoral scenery of Floyd's beautiful roads is ruined as roadside wildflowers desiccate and wither to the now-bare ground.
Once you see it, you can't un-see it. Several of Floyd County's roadways have been sprayed with pesticides by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Appalachian Power (AEP.)
Why does this matter?
It didn't matter to me until a week ago when I tried to plant some Shasta Daisies on this eroding hill (pictured above) 40 feet from my house. Stem after stem went directly into the soil. How gorgeous will these be when each passerby gets to appreciate a patch of blooming daisies!
However, I became ill while planting these daisies. Head pressure, nausea, and all-over body aches forced me to stop my project before I could finish. I stepped away from the hill, and on my way to go lay down and sleep off this sudden illness, I finally noticed what I should have seen all along. This entire roadside bank has been sprayed.
It's worth mentioning that trees, branches, and brush here have also been mechanically removed at some point after the spraying, meaning that the spraying in the first place was redundant and unnecessary.
What is it about these sprayed areas that make myself and others in the county -- along with thousands of Americans -- acutely ill upon exposure? The answer is not as straightforward as I would like it to be, but after years of research I am able to point in the right direction.
It is both the pesticide itself and the subsequent soil damage that are making us sick. I did not come up with this hypothesis myself, but rather have found answers in the research and writings of Erik Johnson, a former U.S. Military Nuclear Missile Launch Specialist whose work has led to the link between these pesticides and human illness, thanks to his background knowledge in biowarfare.
To give a brief summary from official sources, something more is happening to the soil when it gets sprayed with these chemicals. Follow along with the logic:
1. In the same way that Glyphosate kills plants, it also kills microbes in the soil and our bodies. This is the case in both the environment and in the gut microbiome through food consumption.
"The herbicide inactivates the central enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), an almost-universal enzyme in plants, fungi, and prokaryotes..."
2. Glyphosate kills much of the soil biome except some species that have natural resistance to it such as Fusarium spp., a type of mold naturally found in the soil.
"It is noteworthy that, in contrast, some potentially phytopathogenic species express relatively glyphosate-tolerant forms of the EPSPS enzyme (including some Fusarium, Pythium and Rhizoctonia spp.) and are unharmed or even stimulated in response to treatment of plants with GBHs."
3. Fusarium species are well-known to create T-2 Trichothecene toxins, which are toxic to humans and many other species. Trichothecene toxins have historically been used as biowarfare.
Fusarium is a common cause of blight and disease in the garden and landscape setting. Unnatural imbalances in the soil biome create a sick environment where plants are unable to thrive due to lack of bioavailable nutrients and presence of phytopathogenic species like Fusarium. Phytopathogenic means capable of causing disease in plants.
Do you know someone who has become ill from mold in their home? If not, you will. Mold is a well-known health hazard due to the metabolites, VOC's, and toxins it releases into the air. About 25% of the population is more susceptible to falling ill from these toxins due to genes that affect their methylation and detoxification. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylenetetrahydrofolate_reductase
The people with this susceptibility to mold-illness from buildings are the same people at risk of getting sick from mold in the soil in these sprayed areas, like myself.
Even for those who do not become physically ill from exposure to these affected soils, glyphosate itself correlates with much higher incidence of cancer: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7530464/
Just like with forever chemicals, nearly everyone has glyphosate inside of them. Despite growing 75% of their food and living a healthy lifestyle including organic foods, my favorite Homestead Youtubers, Homesteading Family, recently tested positive for high levels of glyphosate in their bodies. A test level of 7 is a health hazard, and Carolyn's levels are at 24.
It would be virtually impossible to reduce your exposure and intake of glyphosate down to zero, thanks to its prevalent use in our everyday environments.
I have visited properties that have powerlines running through, and the plants and soil underneath them get sprayed with pesticides, resulting in sudden illness for me.
As I drive through the county, many roads have a dead brown-colored strip on one or both sides, meaning that each passerby enjoying the drive with their windows down is likely being exposed to either glyphosate itself or a level of Trichothecene toxins (again, historically used as biowarfare) now produced by the damaged roadside soil.
It is no wonder to me why Americans now are sicker than ever. Those who purchase and consume foods known to contain glyphosate are consenting to this poison entering their bodies. The everyday driver and private landowner are not.
A person can eat 100% organic foods and still be getting exposed to these pesticides and subsequent toxins without outright consenting to it. Landowners are not asked first if they are okay with their land being sprayed with pesticides. It is therefore the default option for them to be sprayed by both government and private entities.
The current conventional agriculture system is built on glyphosate. It is here with us no matter what we do. Left unmitigated, the damage it has done to the soil will last decades -- I have learned the hard way from walking on land that used to be Christmas tree farms that were sprayed by airplane with glyphosate a long, long time ago. I became sicker there than I did planting daisies in my front yard.
So what can we do about pesticides that get readily sprayed onto both private and public property? There is little we can do, but if we all do even some little things, we could make a significant difference in the big picture.
If we want to protect ourselves from as much of these invaders as possible, we must purchase organic foods and mark our properties with signs.
Call State and local Department of Transportation, as well as your utility companies and request to be put on their "No Spray List." With these guys, yes means yes, and no means yes. Members of the No-Spray Lists still catch these entities in the act of spraying their private land, making signage an important part of defending our property.
The canaries among us have been shouting from the rooftops. I am here to do my part in this battle out of selfishness -- because I am personally affected -- and out of altruism -- because I do not wish the pain of that sudden sickness on anyone. Pray Plants does not spray plants, and I am available free of charge to make suggestions for parting ways with conventional gardening methods, and entering the world of regenerative agriculture. Any step away from harmful pesticides is a step towards good health.
Many blessings and happy gardening!
-Becca Pray
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