Things have changed in Denmark -by Gråulf

Things have changed in Denmark since I was a child. Back then farms produced dairy products and bacon. Now farmers mostly grow cash crops, so they don’t have the animals to produce natural fertilizer, and instead use chemicals. In the vegetable garden we fertilized with the content of the outhouse bucket, and that grew huge rhubarbs.Back then, insects always took a share of the crops, and we kept that share minimal by crop rotation and selection. However, there are some insects that can destroy entire fields if not controlled. One is the potato beetle. When I was a child they used to destroy potato fields if they found a potato beetle in it. Then, the beetles became so prevalent that we began poisoning them with a powder we shook onto the plants. Back then, most apples had wormholes, but now the apples are sprayed to prevent that, and to produce the perfect fruit we buy at the supermarket. Something that I really don’t miss is cracking an egg and finding a partly grown chicken in it.I belive poison and chemicals are used way too much. However, I also realize that we would not be able to feed the increasing world population if we didn’t use chemicals. Insecticides have increased food production by at least 20%. Something else that has increased food production is the increased CO2 in the atmosphere. It is estimated that alone has increased production by about 12%.Gunner.