Pesticide residue in vegetables and the state

Twenty-five percent of the vegetables and fruits we eat contain pesticides – in other words, chemical residue, at a level much higher than acceptable, Akdeniz University has said. In a study the university has been conducting for three years, it was found that the rate of contaminated vegetables and fruit were increasing every year. Pesticides cause hormonal imbalances, obesity, digestive system problems, deterioration in the immune system and other health problems.
  
On the other hand, the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry claimed that the information was false and that this rate was 1 percent at most.

The first problem here is that even if we take the ministry’s data as our base, then already tons of vegetables and fruit full of pesticides are on the market, making us sick. 

The second problem is that, just like many people who have read this story, I trust the university’s research more than I trust the ministry. We have seen so much fraud, false information, favoritism and irregularities in this country for years that one would naturally think, “With no trace of impartiality, justice and law left in any matter, why would the standard of pesticides in vegetables stay firmly intact in this environment?” 

Here is another example: The waters of the blue-flag beach at Karamürsel, in Kocaeli on the Marmara Sea, have turned orange! There was an algae bloom in the water. The increase in the algae was caused by pollution. Seaweed feed on the food provided by household or industrial residues dumped in the water and they rapidly reproduce and then die because of the increase in the pH level.  

Kocaeli Municipality has claimed that the Bay of İzmit was cleaned with new measures. The municipality helped the beach obtain a blue flag in 2013. On the website of the municipality, a statement said, “This color is a natural formation in which the sea is self-cleaning.” The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) authorities have confirmed it as well.

Tell me for God’s sake, would you have your child swim in the waters of the Karamürsel Beach based on the mighty municipality’s and TÜBİTAK’s approval? 

Well, the same goes for the statement of the Agriculture Ministry on pesticides: Do you think their ratio is 25 percent or 1 percent? 

Was I clear in explaining our essential issue? 

The distrust against those institutions where politics dominate have reached such a dimension that even if elementary school kids in the neighborhood inspect the water on the beach and vegetables and determine something contrary to the official state statements, then we would believe the kids… 

The pollution in the sea causes a “boost in algae.” Well, the accumulated pollution in politics causes this “boost in perception.”

Whoever forms the coalition, they should first decontaminate the state from pollution and pesticides! 

Coalition to be cherished  

According to surveys and analyses on a possible snap election, the results of the June 7 elections would not change much. The voters know very well why they have voted for whom and do not want to change their vote. Even if the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) convinces 20 percent of the voters that went to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to come back, the chart of the seat distribution in the parliament would show the same thing. As long as there are four parties in parliament, even if you hold snap elections seven times in a row, there would still be a coalition. 

In other words, dear politician, the citizen is telling you to “reconcile with each other, tolerate each other and make a deal.” They are also saying, “Regardless of whether you like it or not, we do want a composite team.”  
Get used to the idea of a coalition. Start, urgently, to learn how to function as a coalition, how to make it work in harmony. Embrace ways of being able to make concessions in your ideas, respect diversity, find a middle way and produce mutual solutions.  

Instead of bad-mouthing the “coalition” that the citizen has shouted into your ear, you’d better start hugging and kissing it. 

You have no other choice, sir.