By: Silver629 & Desert Gypsy

Sugar, or rather sugar beets are a major agricultural cash crop. Sugar is in almost everything we eat or drink today.  Half of the white sugar sold in the Unites States comes from sugar beets. Like most people, I thought that most of the sugar manufactured in the United States came from sugar cane. However, this is not the case.  In fact, the general public knows very little about farming practices surrounding the raising of sugar crops, specifically sugar beet crops.  Besides being sweet GMO’s, sugar beets receive generous applications of pesticides, fungicides, and chemical fertilizers.

First, sugar beet seed is treated with fungicides. Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms that kill Fungi and prevent its growth. Prior to planting, the soil is also treated with fumigants: Any biological organism present at that time, including mice, ground squirrels, and gophers are effectively destroyed.  Applications of these products are repeated during the growing season.