What happened? Organic farmers first struggled with the problem of contamination from neighbouring non-organic fields. Pesticides are not contained by fences. They solved that problem by moving indoors to huge commercial greenhouses in which they can completely control the closed environment. That solution caused a problem. For plants to thrive, they need carbon dioxide which they absorb from the air. Carbon dioxide gets into the air from animals who breathe and exhale or who die and decompose. A fully enclosed greenhouse contains inadequate sources of carbon dioxide, except for a bit of treated manure and a few farm labourers who do not exhale enough for many thousands of plants. The plants were starved for carbon dioxide. Commercial greenhouses, all of whom claim to be organic, solved that problem by injecting carbon dioxide into the air inside the greenhouses. Then they discovered that, if they injected even more carbon dioxide, the plants grew bigger and more plentiful, increasing profits. They discovered that that caused another problem. Too much carbon dioxide in the air is bad for plants (and, by the way, for the health of farm workers who work in the greenhouses). They solved that problem by restricting the amount of carbon dioxide in greenhouses to 3x the amount that is in the air outdoors. See Carbon Dioxide in Greenhouses
Does the excess carbon dioxide in the produce cause diarrhea in people like me who are sensitive to toxins? I can eat melon, lettuce, celery, cucumber, zucchini, sweet pepper and fennel if they are grown outdoors in a field or a garden. The same produce, if grown in a commercial greenhouse, causes me to suffer nausea and diarrhea.
I asked a greenhouse growers association and a government regulator about this. They both claim that plants do not retain carbon dioxide. I asked them what else could cause my symptoms. They said that there is nothing in a greenhouse that is not in the natural environment. What about the quantity of the nutrients fed to the plants? Too much of a good thing can be bad for our health. Nutrients in the right quantity are good for our health -- excess nutrients are toxic. The greenhouse growers have yet to find the right balance between enough and too much nutrients. Until they sort that out, I eat only field-grown produce.
Does the excess carbon dioxide in the produce cause diarrhea in people like me who are sensitive to toxins? I can eat melon, lettuce, celery, cucumber, zucchini, sweet pepper and fennel if they are grown outdoors in a field or a garden. The same produce, if grown in a commercial greenhouse, causes me to suffer nausea and diarrhea.
I asked a greenhouse growers association and a government regulator about this. They both claim that plants do not retain carbon dioxide. I asked them what else could cause my symptoms. They said that there is nothing in a greenhouse that is not in the natural environment. What about the quantity of the nutrients fed to the plants? Too much of a good thing can be bad for our health. Nutrients in the right quantity are good for our health -- excess nutrients are toxic. The greenhouse growers have yet to find the right balance between enough and too much nutrients. Until they sort that out, I eat only field-grown produce.
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