WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE VEGETABLES?
Girl: Hey, Paul, listen to this … a magazine article about a farmer who used too much chemical fertilizer on his fields. When his vegetables were picked, they were all found to be empty!
BOY: Empty? You’re joking, Carrie …that can’t be true!
Girl: I didn’t believe it either! This article says this can happen sometimes with vegetables like cucumbers, carrots and pumpkins. This chemical fertilizer makes the vegetables grow fast to look big and beautiful, but they’re empty inside!
BOY: You know, I’ve noticed that sometimes my mum buys carrots from the supermarket that have big holes down the center. I guess that must be from using chemical fertilizers!
GIRL: Yeah, that’s what the magazine says! The main point of the article, though, isn’t about holes in our vegetables. It’s talking about why the fruit and vegetables we eat today aren’t as nutritious as the ones our grandparents ate.
BOY: What? My mum is always telling me to eat more vegetables, because they’re good for me!
GIRL: Yeah, I know – my mother says that same thing! And it’s true - they are good for us… but the problem is that they aren’t healthy enough! All these chemical fertilizers – they kill off both the bad and the good things in the ground. The ground doesn’t have enough vitamins and minerals any more to help crops grow healthy.
BOY: So … if our fruit and vegetables were grown with chemical fertilizers, they might look healthy, but probably aren’t really healthy? I guess we’ve got to stop using so many chemical fertilizers to grow our food!
