Mothers milk

LandRush - Frontier Land

LandRush - Frontier Land
Frauke Huber, Uwe H. Martin

The soya highway connects the enormous farms in west Brazil to the Amazon harbor of Santarem. The road is the artery through which life flows into the region. In just forty years the road opened up the wilderness to commercial development which renders the land from forest to industrial.

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  • Pesticides are applied on a cotton farm in Mato Grosso. 

    Studies show that around Lucas do Rio Verde in Mato Grosso 100% of all breast milk is contaminated with pesticides. Birth-defects and cancer rates correlate directly with the amount of agricultural production and chemical use in the region. In the three regions with the most intense agricultural production out of 1000 babies 15 to 20 are born with birth-defects, three to four rimes more than in the rest of Mato Grosso. Cotton is the crop with the highest need of agrochemicals: 28 liters are used per hectare per year, soya needs 12, corn 6 and sugarcane 5 liters.

  • A worker prepares chemicals for arial application on a cotton farm. 

    Every season cotton in Mato Grosso needs more then twenty application cycles of pesticides and herbicides. Agro-toxics used in large scale farmings in Mato Grosso can be found in the air, the water, peoples food, urine and blood and even in mothers milk, leading too a high rate of birth defects and cancer.

  • A worker mixes chemicals for arial application on Fazenda Maraba.

    A worker mixes chemicals for arial application on Fazenda Maraba.

  • A worker prepares pesticides on a cotton farm near Sorriso in Mato Grosso. 

    The law requires the workers to wear protective gear, but this worker didn‘t bother due to the heat.

  • Pesticides are sprayed on a cotton farm in Mato Grosso.

    Pesticides are sprayed on a cotton farm in Mato Grosso.

  • Preparing the chemicals.

    Preparing the chemicals.

  • Workers mix chemicals for arial application.

    Workers mix chemicals for arial application.

  • A worker mixes chemicals for aerial application on Fazenda Maraba.

    A worker mixes chemicals for aerial application on Fazenda Maraba.

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Mothers milk

Agritoxics used in large scale farming in Mato Grosso can be found in the air, the water, people's food, urine and blood and even in mothers milk.

Mothers milk
Artist/Author: Uwe H. Martin Frauke Huber

Agritoxics used in large scale farming in Mato Grosso can be found in the air, the water, people's food, urine and blood and even in mothers milk.