"A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers."
- Plato
During a recent on site garden consultation we stumbled in conversation upon a very helpful metaphor. Being that we are striving for holistic application of health-based values in the landscapes we work & live in, and seeing that people are becoming increasingly more interested in poison-free, pesticide and herbicide-free organic vegetable gardens in the Northern California Bay Area, it didn't take much effort to extend this metaphorical "holistic" mind-space to food service.
Imagine if you will the most affordable (dare I say cheapest) food available. If you should happen to live in any large city, almost anywhere in the world, you will probably be acquainted with the fast-food drive through and the miraculous $1 meal. Save your exhilaration. While low-cost sustenance can certainly come in handy during a pinch, there are very good reasons people decide not to eat fast-food and almost all of these reasons are hinged on a simple, innate desire to stay healthy. In contrast, many people are willing to pay a bit more for fresh produce, just harvested fruits & vegetables, if it means that the food they are consuming will help keep them healthier and stronger. In the end there really is nothing more important than health and that is exactly our position in the landscape and in general.
In much the same way as comparative levels of food-service, taking the land itself as the primary beneficiary of all of these inputs, there are overtly unhealthy "fast-food" landscape and garden services. To save time & costs, many services will apply broad based (which means 'multiply-lethal' to various plants/weeds) herbicides instead of hand weeding. Many also use pesticides instead of simply washing or cleaning insects off plants by hand, let alone considering natural integrated pest management. Why? A lack of knowledge? For most, the push to offer the lowest costs takes precedent over any health-based values, applying to purely aesthetic considerations. What many professionals in this industry are finding is that up-front costs don't always correlate to long term positive returns for the client. While many "mow & blow" services can operate at a fraction of the costs of actual gardening services, the cheap price tag comes with potentially hazardous side-effects, which if clearly understood, would certainly change many peoples perspectives on what is and what isn't ok in their immedate environment.
Imagine a garden brimming with plant, insect and animal life, forming vital chains in the ecosystem by providing clean berry and nectar sources, ample canopy area, available clean water source - a veritable dream come true for any gardening or wildlife aficionado. Conversely, imagine an average urban garden sprayed with toxic herbicides and pesticides, but to be complete in this vision don't forget to leave out the insects and animals, who will instinctively avoid poisonous and unhealthy areas for the very same reasons intelligent people avoid unhealthy food. A quick visual test can create a helpful context. Look around at the local landscape or environment. Do you see animal and insect life? Naturalized plant & shrub growth? If not, the environment may be poison-heavy and anything that is toxic for an animal is potentially toxic for a human. As an added consideration, as if it is needed, the copious usage of pesticides and herbicides in our urban landscapes can wash directly into our public estuaries (see 'storm drain runoff'), filtering right back to our environment. More, it has been found that many "organically safe" and "biodegradable" herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers are not actually safe or biodegradable and do not actually dissipate or break down after application as advertised. Many fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are in their raw, solid and undiluted form for up to 90 days after application. What this means in reality is that the next person to run out to the lawn for playtime is going to be unconsciously ingesting some very unhealthy substances as they get kicked into the air and make direct skin contact.
Thankfully, a simple approach to completely eliminate the usage of harsh chemical fertilizers and dangerous, unhealthy pesticides and herbicides - DON'T USE THEM! Find services which refuse to save money by using powerful poisons and hazardous quick fixes. Many find that after eliminating these toxic chemicals, insect and wildlife return like a blooming spring. To wax poetic, this rejuvenation is at once ecological and physical - even spiritual if you're so moved, changing the way in which we ourselves view, engage and interact with our living landscapes and gardens. People are returning to a sense of healthy coexistence based on responsible value-returns and a holistic appreciation for life itself in all its thriving forms. Very quickly the small amount of expense spared by using cheap and potentially harmful quick fix solutions turns out to come with its own very hefty price tag, one that can never be quantified or reduced into simple number systems.
