I see this kind of agriculture as a type of “toxic subsistence agriculture” unlike the subsistence agriculture that is believed to be the alternative to industrialized agriculture. It is “subsistence agriculture” because even though farmers don’t grow the products to consume them themselves, the monetary result of the production is for the subsistence of the family. These farmers are still living off their lands, as they don’t have an alternate means of subsistence.
“There’s no way of growing without pesticides”, said one of my interlocutors while triaging piles and piles of plum red tomatoes. Chemical-based agriculture has been common in this area for the past 15 to 20 years, creating a vicious cycle where the more pesticide they use, the more pesticide they need. What I am interested in documenting here is the conflicting reality of families trapped between exposure to pesticides’ toxicity and economic prosperity.
I see this kind of agriculture as a type of “toxic subsistence agriculture” unlike the subsistence agriculture that is believed to be the alternative to industrialized agriculture. It is “subsistence agriculture” because even though farmers don’t grow the products to consume them themselves, the monetary result of the production is for the subsistence of the family. These farmers are still living off their lands, as they don’t have an alternate means of subsistence.
“There’s no way of growing without pesticides”, said one of my interlocutors while triaging piles and piles of plum red tomatoes. Chemical-based agriculture has been common in this area for the past 15 to 20 years, creating a vicious cycle where the more pesticide they use, the more pesticide they need. What I am interested in documenting here is the conflicting reality of families trapped between exposure to pesticides’ toxicity and economic prosperity.