The History
Humans have used the cotton plant for at least 7,000 years. In the U.S., Cotton seeds were first planted in Florida and Virginia between 1556 and 1607. Cotton was first spun by machinery in England in 1730. More than 60 years later, Eli Whitney patented an engine that could process plants 10 times faster than a person, exponentially increasing quantities produced.
The Business
Cotton is native to Southern Africa and South America, but is grown on over 90 million acres in more than 80 countries worldwide. The crop accounts for 50% of the world's fiber needs and is a leading cash crop in the U.S. Only China produces more. U.S. business reve-nue from cotton is over $120 billion.
Conventional Cotton Farming
All parts of the cotton plant are useful. Besides textile uses, it’s used as livestock feed and a food ingredient in salad dressing and crackers.
Conventional cotton farming takes an enormous toll on the air, water, soil and people who live in cotton growing areas. In the United States, 1/3 Pound of agricultural chemicals are typically used in the production of a single cotton T-shirt.
$2.6 Billion worth of pesticides are used on cotton worldwide each year. The pesticides used by farmers not only kill cotton pests but also decimate populations of beneficial insects such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps. Pesticides disrupt nature and harm people who come in contact with them.
Pesticides and Human Health
- In California, five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton are cancer-causing chemicals
- In Egypt, more than 50% of cotton workers in the 1990s suffered symptoms of chronic pesticide poisoning
- The World Health Organization estimates that at least three million people are poisoned by pesticides every year and 20-40,000 more are killed.
Organic Cotton
Organic cotton is now being grown in more than 18 countries worldwide. However, the Cotton Industries of America has launched a campaign to distort the truth and to indirectly subvert organic cotton farming.
Organic cotton farming requires healthy soil and natural weed control. Biological diversity reduces the chance of any insect, bird or mammal doing any major damage to organic crops. Bt and neem oil are biological pesticides used only as a last resort.
The benefits of organic cotton farming:
- Cost savings: In Peru, cotton farmers have saved over $100 per acre in pesticide and fertilizer costs by going organic.
- Natural solutions: In Tanzania organic cotton farmers plant sunflowers to encourage beneficial ants that feed on the larvae of the bollworm, and fertilize the soil with manure from their cattle.
- Non-toxic insecticides: In India, organic farmers intercrop cotton with pigeon peas and make insecticidal sprays from garlic, chili and the neem tree.
- Working with insects: In California, organic cotton farmers plant habitat strips of vegetation such as alfalfa near their fields as a refuge for beneficial insects.
Sweatshops
Apparel, clothing and shoes produced under sub-standard labor and environmental conditions, is still the norm. Even organic cotton clothing may be produced in sweatshops. That’s why it’s not enough to choose organic fibers. Go the extra mile and research your clothing brands. Support organic farming, fair trade and a living wage!
