Feed the Birds

     “And No Birds Sing” in Silent Spring details the widespread spraying by the US government for Dutch elm disease to target the beetles that spread this pathogen.  Spraying that was so persistent and extreme that in attempts to eliminate this one species of beetle to save one species of tree, a multiple of birds, insects, and mammals were sacrificed.  And then there was the intensive chemical campaign to eradicate the fire ant, an invasive species whose impact appears to be relatively minimal.  It is a heartbreaking chapter in the book and in our history, and a reminder of how unthinking we humans can be in pursuit of a goal, even if that goal is just a bee in a bonnet.  Carson concludes that “not even the return of the birds may be taken for granted.”  In the face of horrible things, whether past or present, perhaps some small token of kindness if repeated often enough repays a debt.  I left the couch and any depression that could have seized me, and made for the bird feeders with buckets of seed.   I have neglected them and in summer, I don’t mind, since they have a variety of foods and seeds to choose from.  But, I couldn’t leave them without a few seeds after reading three chapters in Silent Spring. I enjoyed watching them eat their breakfast while I ate mine this morning, and I gave thanks that we were all here to enjoy this lovely end of summer day. 

     I do wonder, what would happen if we completely laid off the pesticides for a year…a sort of new year’s resolution for 2013.   I know it will never happen.  I’m just not sure that the long-term gains are worth it, and it would be interesting to see what the differences amount to.  We subsidize farmers not to farm so that the price of a crop will not drop.  We pay for pesticide clean-up.  We no doubt pay for healthcare costs associated with increased risks associated with some contaminants, like reduced fertility, immune disorders, cancer.  At the EPA atrazine Scientific Advisory Panel on which I served this last summer, the agricultural sector was there in support of the herbicide.  They highlighted that it had been used safely for fifty years and that the application rate had been reduced significantly over that period.  One panelist asked if they saw a reduction in production with the reduction in use, and they said they had not.  The high estimates of yield increase for atrazine are around 9% increase, but 4-6% increases are more common estimates.   Is that worth the risk of widespread application for a contaminant that sticks around for months?  There are many studies showing impacts at expected environmental levels on reproductive systems, suggesting some species are sensitive to this herbicide.  Maybe the risk is worth it, but it also seems possible that people want to keep using it because they always have, rather than the fact that it’s a making a large difference.  There are other tools though, like heterogeneous planting, allowing natural predators to eliminate pests, and pesticide use as a last resort.  I’d be much more comfortable in a world where we were more cautious about pesticide use than we are today, even if I was 4-9% hungrier.  (But I'm not saying people should starve...pesticides before starvation!)