WORM TEST

Bill Mollison, co-founder of permaculture, always said the solutions to the world's seemingly complex problems are amazingly simple.  I've been thinking about food, farm chemicals, RFK Jr., and policy.  The MAHA movement and spotlight on autism especially are putting a lot of attention on food additives, food quality, ultra-processed food (now 75 percent of Americans' diet), and chemicals used on farms, from fertilizers to herbicides.

                  Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting a 3-acre school division farm in northern California.  The school district incorporated the farm into its middle school curriculum and hired two farmers (women) to work with the science teachers with symbiotic educational experiences.  Every student spent half a day a week at the farm.

                  A worm box about 8 ft. X 3 ft. X 3 ft. provided unlimited opportunities for the students.  One assignment was "bring food and let's see what the worms like."  The students brought gummy bears, twizzlers, oreo cookies, Velveeta squeezable cheese, Doritos and such.  The kids placed their "food" in one end of the worm box.  The teachers put in an apple, banana, pieces of beef, boiled eggs (peeled), and some fresh green beans they'd picked from the farm garden in the other end.

                  A week later, when the students returned, they swarmed over to the box, lifted the lid, and pulled out their twizzlers, gummy bears, Velveeta cheese, etc.  In the other end, the farmers' contributions were completely eaten by the worms.  The object lesson was simple:  "why would you eat something worms won't eat?"  It made an indelible impression on the students. I've never forgotten this dramatic, yet simple, experiment.

                  Every time someone in the MAHA movement disparages Red Dye 29, glyphosate, monosodium glutamate, and Coca Cola, the food industry howls about freedom, choice, and their favorite "nothing proven." Remember, the EPA says Roundup (glyphosate) is perfectly safe--based on Monsanto's tests.  

                  You've got scientists on one side screaming "poisons!" and scientists on the other side screaming "no proof!"  Meanwhile, taxpayers pick up the tab for both sides to do their agenda-driven studies to continue arguing.  And meanwhile, farmlands and supermarket shelves are full of who knows what. The industrial food complex doesn't want to give up a single one of their 9,600 food additives prohibited in Europe.

                  So here is my simple solution.  I think we should have a worm farm with 100 worm beds and subject every single thing applied to the soil and food to the worm test.  If glyphosate is so innocuous, put some in a worm bed and see what the worms do.  If Coca Cola is so innocuous, put some in a worm bed and see what the worms do.  

                  Each bed would have one week to indicates its delight with the product or its aversion.  We could test 100 items a week.  In one year we'd test 5,000 items.  In two years, 10,000 items.  Everything the worms rejected would be prohibited in America.  Everything the worms liked would be accepted.  This test would include everything from chemical fertilizer to Red Dye 29, high fructose corn syrup, and everything in a chicken McNugget.

                  If the worms didn't like it, you couldn't put it in food, on the soil, or feed it to animals.  I just met a farmer-scientist-inventor from Nevada who developed a bio-fertilizer he sprays on his fields (2,000 acres).  In just a few years it has increased his organic matter 3 percent and the soil crawls with earthworms.  See, worms don't watch TV, don't run for election, don't receive corporate sponsorships.

                  If we're going to make decisions like this, as a culture, we need a true north test to eliminate politics, money, and brand protection from the equation.  I'm a libertarian and not a friend of government prohibitions, but if we as a society decided to submit everything to the worm test, I think I could be persuaded to go along with a green light and red light list.  This would put worms in the policy and decision-making driver's seat.  I'm ready to let the worms vote; I trust them far more than people at this point.

                  This would be an empirical test.  No bias, no prejudice, no nefarious agenda.  The new American mascot would be the earthworm, not the eagle.  Teresa and I built some new garden beds last year and when I went out to them last week preparing to plant spring veggies, I scooped into the loose soil with my hand and it was crawling with earthworms.  I felt a surge of joy and affirmation:  they like what I'm doing.  That beats Wall Street.

                  What do you think?