When you reflect on the fears associated with normally digested foods today, you may conjure up depictions of food-borne diseases or starving families in a distant Third World nation. While conditions like these are unfortunate, people in industrialized countries often wonder where their meal comes from and what it entails, but they rarely move beyond this thought. Many forget a crucial element in the preparation of the products they have just purchased, namely pesticides. Pesticides are chemical compounds generally sprayed on crops to help eliminate insects by containing an unwanted flavor or creating a disease within the insect. However, the insects have learned to adapt to the chemicals, only strengthening the parasite's resilience. PesticidesSoil, air, sunlight and water are perfect examples of the negative effects. Pesticides predictably target numerous adjacent plants and animals causing damage and death. The fatal effects of the spray vary from one organism to another. For example, as pesticides enter waterways, mountains of fish die every year. Likewise, pesticides fuel air pollution and even damage the ozone layer when released into the air after application on future crops. According to the EPA, the ability of crops to germinate and develop is similarly affected by pesticides. When the pesticide is absorbed into the soil, it depletes necessary elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus present in fertile soil, causing transport systems to weaken. This not only weakens the plant, but also causes serious losses in the nutritional value that the crop should produce. Furthermore, in the article "Harmful Pesticides Found in Everyday Foods" Lu proposes that, due to the survival of the fittest, the resilience of pests will increase until pesticides no longer become an effective method of protection. Therefore, the initial effort of pesticides to generate better crops essentially produces additional toxic and chemical wealth