Mexico's Yaqui Valley and PesticidesIn 1940, a new renovation of agricultural practices began in Mexico, later called the Green Revolution. The beginnings of the Green Revolution are often attributed to an American scientist interested in agriculture, Norman Borlaug. After extensive research, Borlaug was able to develop new disease-resistant and high-yielding wheat varieties. Thanks to new disease-resistant wheat and new mechanized agricultural technologies, Mexico was able to produce more wheat than its own citizen needed. Due to the success of the Green Revolution and Borlaug's label as "the man who saved a billion lives", society was willing to look away from the negative side of the Green Revolution. The use of inorganic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides would not be a problem until the case study led by Dr. Elizabeth Guillette proved with clear evidence that pesticide exposure among children in the Valley of Yaqui in Mexico was actually harming children's development. and motor skills. In the late 1980s, the Sonora Institute of Technology conducted studies in the Yaqui Valley and discovered high levels of pesticides in cord blood and breast milk. The study also concluded that children in the Yaqui Valley had extremely high levels of pesticides in their hair and skin. The Mexican government halted the study because it believed it would cause unwarranted concern among residents of the Yaqui Valley. Armed with information from the institute, Dr. Guillette used an anthropological approach to assess preschool children exposed to pesticides in the Valley. In the study, two groups of children aged four and five were selected, one study group resided in the middle of a paper...... around us we had to cover our mouths with our hands or go inside. . Reading about the research on pesticides used in the Yaqui Valley, these imaginations quickly returned. I learned that the common good outweighs the risk of a few. The cost of the Green Revolution, due to the greed of farmers and government officials, exceeded the well-being of the valley's children. I believe that without Dr. Guillette's research, Valley children and future generations would have suffered developmental and cognitive delays due to pesticide use. The Green Revolution was an act to save millions and it did so, but not without a high cost in sacrifice for the children of the Yaqui Valley. Ultimately, changes were made and pesticide use was regulated, saving an astonishing number of lives..