BY FRAN SILVERMAN PHOTOGRAPH BY JUAN GOMEZ
The only place where Harold could have been exposed to large amounts of pesticides, Andrew said, was on the golf course. Nisker, a Toronto-based film maker specializing in environmental issues whose previous movies include “Orange Witness,” about the use of Agent Orange chemical 2,4-D, and “Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home,” began digging deeper and what he found is revealed in his newest documentary. The film, “GroundWar: When Playing Fields become Battlefields,” takes viewers on Nisker’s journey as he talks with health experts, golf industry representatives, environmental advocates and family members of cancer victims in an effort to raise awareness about the overuse of pesticides and their dangers.
Fall 2019 | 27
EARTH MATTERS
WHEN FIELDS OF GREENS ARE NOT FIELDS OF DREAMS
Andrew Nisker’s father, Harold, was always the picture of health. He embraced good nutrition, exercise and fresh air, and especially enjoyed golfing at the course near his home. When he fell ill and was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, his family was heartbroken and perplexed—and then alarmed at what they learned next. “I really just felt like because of his lifestyle and the way he took care of himself—his diet, sports and exercise—were all working in his favor,’’ said Andrew Nisker. “For this disease, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, to appear in him really kind of raised a lot of alarm bells for me because when I researched the disease itself, one of the strong possibilities was pesticide exposure as being a marker to contracting the disease.”
