Pablo Ernesto Piovano: The Human Cost of Agrotoxins
“If major corporations have control over seeds and food production, they also have control over our health and our freedom.”
Pablo Piovano
In 1996, the Argentinian government gave the Monsanto company permission for the large-scale growing of genetically modified soybean and for the use of the herbicide glyphosate. The government relied on the research presented by Monsanto on the safety of genetically modified crops and the herbicide.
At the turn of the millennium, doctors drew attention to increased cancers, miscarriages and malformations among people who lived close to these farms. Today, numerous studies show the dangers of glyphosate, but the operations of agricultural corporations continue uncontrolled. Because mainstream media have not reported on this, Piovano felt that it was his duty to draw attention to the problem.
Argentina is the world’s third largest producer of genetically modified soybeans. The extensive use of chemicals enables crops to be grown over huge areas with very low labour costs. In Argentina, the per capita use of glyphosate is higher than anywhere else in the world. Over two decades, 13.4 million Argentinians, one third of the country’s population, have been directly or indirectly exposed to dangerous chemicals.
Pablo Ernesto Piovano (born 1981) is an Argentinian press photographer.
