Medicines for the Earth: The Eco-Physiology of Plants
Parallels between antibiotic and pesticide use
Another important series of correlations can be made between the effects of antibiotics and the effects of pesticides. Philosophically, antibiotics and pesticides both reflect the nature-dominating paradigm of modern Western culture. Medically and ecologically, both practices are unsustainable. Economically, their use is driven primarily by corporate profit motive.
The relevance of this information to plant eco-physiology is that plants are the solution to the worldwide problems caused by antibiotics and pesticides in both the micro and macro ecosystems. Medically, the phytonutrients, alkaloid compounds, immune-enhancing polysaccharides, and essential oils of botanical species will become increasingly important as microbial virulence increases and antibiotics lose their effectiveness. Ecologically, the revival of biodynamic and organic gardening methods will replace toxic agricultural chemicals as pesticide and herbicide resistance increases.
Antibiotics and pesticides both target unwanted organisms. Both destroy the complex healthy microbial communities in the various terrains where they are used; antibiotics destroy healthy intestinal, mucous membrane, and skin flora, while pesticides destroy the microbial communities in the soil and natural predators such as beneficial insects and birds. Both approaches lead to increased resistance and virulence in bacteria, insect pests, and invasive weeds. The use of both is followed by a rebound effect: overgrowth of candida and other opportunistic infections after antibiotic use, and flourishing of insect pests after the effects of spraying have worn off. Antibiotics weaken immunity, while pesticides and herbicides decrease soil fertility and plant resistance. Increased pathogenic virulence and resistance combined with weakened host immunity leads to susceptibility to re-infection after antibiotic use, and susceptibility of plants to opportunistic diseases after pesticide use. Antibiotics lead to accumulation of toxicity within tissues and organs after repeated use, while pesticides and herbicides lead to accumulation of chemical toxicity in soil, water, and air.
Next: Parallels between organic gardening and natural medicine