Thursday, 11th September 2008
EU threat means Scotland would need to import barley…to make whisky
Increased farm output and bigger and better crops would seem to be the logical response to help bring food prices back down to affordable levels. But the European Parliament is preparing to do exactly the opposite.
The environment committee in Brussels is planning to impose an initial ban on 46 commonly used pesticides, herbicides and fungicides and then outlaw some 700. This will effectively cut cereal production in the UK and other EU states by more than 30%.
If they get their way, and it looks likely that they will, it will no longer be economically viable for many farmers in Scotland.
We will have to import wheat to make bread and barley to make whisky, possibly from outside the EU, where the list of pesticides will not be banned.
Without these vital pesticides, crop yields will be rendered non-viable. The same will apply to potatoes, fruit and a whole range of vegetables. Prices will rocket.
Why is this likely to happen? The Greens and other European Parliament fundamentalists claim, without a shred of scientific evidence, that most commonly used pesticides are potentially carcinogenic.
The fact that the carefully controlled use of these agro-chemicals and the miniscule traces applied to our crops has helped to dramatically increase food production and has ensured plentiful supplies of clean and healthy food for decades apparently does not matter.
They want these products removed from the market under the terms of the Plant Protection Regulation which is up for approval later this year.
Nearly all plants contain natural pesticides to protect themselves from insects, bacteria and fungi. But crops treated with synthetic pesticides contain less natural pesticides as their defence mechanisms are not stimulated by a pest or an attack.
The concentration of natural pesticides in plants is much higher than those of synthetic pesticides. Un-sprayed or un-treated crops are therefore more hazardous. Some natural pesticides such as nicotine have even been commercialised.
There is obviously a vast array of natural pesticides ranging from harmful to relatively safe. Spinach is probably on the lower end of the spectrum containing about 7mg of benzopyrene compared to apples, pears and potatoes which hold between 50 and 200mg of caffeic acid. Many other plants contain more than 10,000mg.
It would be virtually impossible to study all natural pesticides in plants but it is widely assumed that half are carcinogens.
In 1997, two US scientists (Ames and Gold) found that 35 out of 63 natural pesticides tested caused cancer in rats and mice. By synthetic pesticide standards, this would be extremely hazardous to man.
Neither is it widely known that an average person's daily diet contains around 1,500mg of natural pesticides compared with just 0.1mg of synthetic pesticides. This figure is worrying given that natural pesticides are just as hazardous as synthetic pesticides.
Our blind faith in everything organic could have alarming consequences.
Although natural pesticides pose more risk than synthetic pesticides, there are no toxicological tests carried out on natural pesticides, unlike synthetic pesticides.
The Pesticide Residue Committee constantly monitors the concentrations of synthetic pesticides. Over the last eight years, the committee found that 50-70% of synthetic pesticide samples contained no residues whatsoever, while less than one per cent contained more than the maximum permissible level. The few offending samples were all from products imported into the EU.
If the EU were to use the same criteria for natural pesticides which they now intend to impose on synthetic pesticides, they would have to ban the consumption of all food crops.
Most of us are unaware of the existence of natural pesticides or that they might be harmful. The public's belief that anything natural and organic is safe is very far from the truth.
Ironically, if the EU synthetic pesticide ban succeeds, the quantity of pesticides that we eat will actually increase.
At the same time, the UK will experience such a significant reduction in wheat yields. Farmers would no longer control pests, weeds and diseases and, therefore, could no longer produce food efficiently or economically.
The Greens will have achieved a classic double whammy, increasing consumers’ exposure to harmful natural pesticides while at the same time causing food shortages and rocketing prices.
The current UK system is vital to ensure the safety of food production.There should be thorough impact assessments and alternatives put in place before any bans are introduced.
With the threat of less food and no significant health benefits for the consumer, we must ensure that we strike the right balance between protecting consumers from potentially harmful chemicals and allowing our farmers to produce high quality food and drink.
