Other examples of deceptive smiles from scammers include farmers selling "organic" vegetables. While I believe not all farmers are like this, some claim to be organic but actually use pesticides, and they display a cheerful, deceptive smile while claiming their produce is organic. For example, when I directly asked a farmer at a farmers market, "How can you grow something like this without pesticides?" they responded with a cheerful smile, "Yes, we do." I was once deceived by such claims when I was younger, but now I can recognize the deceptive smile.

Once, a sales clerk or perhaps the farmer's son at a farmers market, while chatting, mentioned that they were using some pesticides. He seemed to have some guilt, and confessed, "Actually, we use a little bit of pesticides. You can't grow things like this without them." However, the farmer's owner displayed the same cheerful, deceptive smile while promoting their produce as organic.

Other organic farmers might say, "If pesticides are detected, it's probably because the neighboring farm is using them," trying to avoid responsibility. While not all organic farmers have this mentality, I believe there are a fair number who use a deceptive smile to promote their produce as organic. This allows them to sell their products at a higher price, and I believe this is the reality.

In fact, my family lives in a rural area where the neighboring house is a small farm. They once claimed to sell organic vegetables, but they were actually using pesticides. When I directly questioned them, "Isn't this using pesticides?" they got angry and retorted, "It's okay if we use it a few times!" Such unethical practices exist, and I believe that farmers with such a lack of ethics are not uncommon.

I recall a scene from a famous old Japanese movie where a child says, "Hey, you're using pesticides, but you said it was organic." In that scene, the grandmother smiles cheerfully and says, "It's okay if we use a little bit of pesticides; it's still organic!" This suggests that such a mindset may have existed in various parts of Japan. I believe that in some regions and families, it was considered acceptable for farmers to use pesticides, and I don't think this practice has disappeared in recent decades. These farmers display a cheerful, or even sly, smile while selling ordinary vegetables at a high price under the name of "organic." People happily consume these vegetables, unaware that they might be old, poorly grown, or even treated with pesticides. While true organic vegetables may not contain pesticides, the plants themselves develop resistance to pests, which can affect the taste and quality. Some farmers even grow pest-repellent plants around their crops to create a toxic environment. While the method may vary, some vegetables may develop resistance, and there is a blind belief that these resistance mechanisms are beneficial to health. This is a dangerous trend, as it ignores the potential health risks associated with consuming such vegetables. In reality, properly grown organic vegetables are sturdy and long-lasting, while most modern organic vegetables are prone to spoilage. There is a 99% chance that even if the vegetables appear healthy, they may have been recently contaminated, leading to food poisoning. While a knowledgeable housewife who carefully manages the food preparation can ensure safety, those who cook at home may be safer consuming vegetables with a small amount of pesticides. I believe that modern vegetables are too perishable to be truly suitable for organic farming.

While some organic vegetables taste better and I enjoy them, I generally approach the claims of "organic" made by farmers with skepticism.

There is an old saying that "farmers cannot be trusted," but conversely, there is also a saying that "farmers have a kind heart." However, I believe that many people are deceived because farmers often have a good appearance but are actually cunning and deceitful. While not all farmers are like this, I believe that in some regions, 10% to 20% of them are dishonest. I think about 80% are relatively normal. Some people say that all farmers have a kind heart, but this is often said by naive people who are easily deceived by their outward appearance. Of course, there are also honest and upright people, but they are less than 10%, and about 80% are just trying to make a living, while 10% to 20% are dishonest farmers. A certain environmental activist I spoke with, who has some influence, said that "all farmers have a kind heart," which is a naive and idealistic view. However, because their words are widely disseminated, people tend to believe them.

This is purely my subjective opinion, based on what I saw in the neighborhood of my parents' house when I was young, what I heard at flea markets when I moved to the city, and what I learned through environmental activities with NPOs and NGOs for about five years.

On the other hand, an environmental activist I met once said, "Most so-called organic farms use pesticides!" This was a shocking statement. I wonder if that's actually true. Has the situation changed now? I've heard that JIS-certified organic produce is highly reliable, but I'm not sure about self-proclaimed organic farms. Some self-proclaimed organic farms even advertise on YouTube or accept volunteers, but they may actually be using pesticides. They might be using pesticides while pretending to be organic to attract volunteers and get free labor. Some farmers are just cunning.

And what underlies these dishonest people is a smile like that of a con artist like Jobs. There are farmers who sell ordinary vegetables as organic with a smile like Jobs. I don't know the exact percentage, but I think there are quite a few.

When I was young, I sometimes confronted these farmers directly, but as mentioned above, I was often yelled at and told things like, "It's okay to use pesticides a few times (that's still organic)," or "The neighbor is using it, so sometimes pesticides are detected (!). The waterways are connected, so pesticides can be carried by the wind or in the water."

It's also said that when vegetables are grown organically, they develop resistance to pests, which can be harmful to humans. This kind of resistance is often a neurotoxin, and it can accumulate in the body if consumed for a long time. Organic advocates often say, "Resistance (toxins) are produced by the food itself, so they're not a problem," but I've heard this same nonsensical statement repeatedly in various places. There must be someone spreading this misinformation, but it's just a superstition. For example, potato sprouts contain neurotoxins, but when I point this out, they say, "Yes, that's true," but they are inconsistent and don't care about the resistance that is created by organic farming. I knew someone who was a strong advocate for organic farming, and they developed such severe vision problems that they were certified as disabled. It might be safer to eat food that has been treated with conventional pesticides.

If you don't investigate these things properly, the term "organic" doesn't really mean much. Sometimes I've heard people who advocate for organic farming say things like, "Actually, the food we eat these days is too clean. It's better to have a little bit of bacteria," but I think this is also misinformation spread by someone. These statements are simply a way to justify their unhealthy food and sell it. It's just a marketing strategy, a convenient story for promotion.

While people talk about the benefits of organic farming, there are few who actually conduct thorough research and comparisons. Unless a knowledgeable housewife carefully selects organic vegetables, I think that ordinary people and young housewives would be healthier eating food that has been treated with pesticides. This is not just a matter of logic, but also because some of the people who sell organic food are suspicious and seem like con artists, so I don't want to buy organic food. I do buy some good organic products, but I don't buy them blindly just because they are organic.

The risk of bacterial infections increases when pesticides are not used, and even the resistance that vegetables produce themselves can be dangerous. Organic vegetables tend to spoil quickly and can contaminate other vegetables, increasing the risk of bacterial infection. I think that organic farming is more dangerous than it seems.

In the Edo period, organically grown vegetables were created with a different philosophy, and it seems that vegetables were produced that were so well-made that they could be stored for a long time. However, many people who simply want to claim to be organic or pesticide-free are actually making these products for profit, and the quality is nothing compared to vegetables from the Edo period. I think that is probably the case.

Considering that it is quite difficult to eat vegetables made in the traditional way on a regular basis, it seems that eating vegetables that use pesticides is the most optimal and realistic option from a health perspective.

Recently, pesticides have become much safer than in the past, so they may be safer than vegetables developing resistance to bacteria or being infected by bacteria on their own. What do you think?

This is because people who promote pesticide-free farming blindly hate pesticides, some sell vegetables that use pesticides as pesticide-free, or they make delusional statements like "toxins that plants produce themselves are not a problem."

When I point out these things, they often avoid the topic by saying things like "it's because the neighboring farms are using pesticides," or by using the arguments mentioned above, or they start talking about irrelevant things like "if you eat vegetables without seeds, you will become seedless," and laugh as if to avoid the topic (I think this is a completely unfounded and superstitious idea).

What I want to know is which is better, vegetables grown with pesticides or vegetables grown without pesticides. However, they don't take it seriously. Sometimes, they simply refuse to talk to me, saying "you wouldn't know if you're not a farmer." In any case, farmers seem suspicious.

However, I know that not everyone is a scammer, and there are many farmers who are doing things honestly. However, I think that whether or not they are doing things honestly and whether or not they are using pesticides are not really related. Although it is often advertised in the world that whether or not a farmer is doing things honestly and whether or not they are using pesticides are correlated, I feel that these factors are independent and not very related. Honest farmers are honest, and dishonest farmers are dishonest. Moreover, there are many cases where dishonest farmers use pesticides on vegetables and sell them as pesticide-free to make a profit.

In order to identify scammers in such situations, it requires life experience, and most people will only exchange polite words, and few people will tell you the truth.