In addition to the reasons Rabbi Moncharsh gave for bug infestation in our generation, here are other interesting reasons for the problems of bug infestation specifically in our generation:

1) Overuse of pesticides has posed its own set of problems. Those bugs that do survive then breed and produce offspring that are more resistant to the pesticides, so then the growers either use larger and larger doses, and or more lethal and dangerous kinds of pesticides. It created a no-win cycle of needing to always use stronger more deadly poisons which are known to also be unhealthy to downright dangerous (some carcinogenic) to human beings as well.

All these poisons, along with chemical (as opposed to natural) fertilizers, can also adversely affect the crops, which even though they do survive and bear fruit, are not as healthy and strong as those which are grown pesticide free and with natural fertilizers, as has been done since mankind first started working the land.

2) So how did our descendants grow their crops and deal with infestations? With very simple and actually quite brilliant methods that are still being used today among organic farmers. They did try to control infestation through natural means, some examples being:

a) Spreading “good” insects through the fields that do not eat the particular crop being grown, but that do eat the unwanted insects that DO eat the crops. Ladybugs are spread around cornfields as they don’t eat corn, but do eat the aphids that can infest the corn. Also preying mantis (hope I spelled that right!) are used in the same way. Another example is making a simple spray out of garlic, which also helps repel certain insects. There are also plants and flowers that repel certain insects, like marigolds, which can be planted around an organic garden to act as a barrier to put off certain bugs from entering.

b) Pesticide free produce which is grown with natural fertilizers (the way it was always done for all generations until recently) also produces simply much healthier plants, which have their own natural defenses against infestation. As a result, very healthy organic plants can often be very clean of infestation. With organic, it’s either very clean or very infested (if it just wasn’t a good crop or didn’t have a bracha from the Eibishter).

Studies have shown that overall, the amount of infestation problems in pesticided produce compared to organic produce is approximately the same and not significantly different, making growing crops using the old tried and true methods actually much more preferable as it avoids the use of dangerous pesticides. That’s why more growers have switched to organic here in Israel as they see they do not, as previously thought, suffer any significant loss of crops to bugs by simply growing organic. That was the reasoning behind using pesticides to begin with, it was thought it would dramatically bring infestations down and therefore profits and crop size up, but over time it was seen that it unfortunately created an endless cycle of needing stronger and stronger poisons.

I had heard that at least with some growers of bug-free greens, they don’t even spray any pesticides directly on the greens, but only spray outside the hothouse to prevent insects from entering the building to begin with. There is a double door system also set up to further prevent flies etc. from entering the hothouse.

Today in Israel, the organic movement has grown dramatically and has already become mainstream, with some organic produce and other products (milk, eggs, Materna baby disa and more) already on the shelves of regular supers such as Super Sol and even Mr. Zol in the neighborhood. It is not a passing food fad, it is simply how we have always grown our food for thousands of years. Pesticides is relatively a very recent invention.