Three Pesticides in Food
The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they feed
themselves.
—Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin,The Physiology of Taste(1825)Food Safety
The safety of food is an age-old concern. Early civilizations adopted laws that pun-
ished sellers of tainted food. In this country, before food safety became a responsibil-
ity of the federal government, every state had laws prohibiting the sale of food that
contained poisonous substances. The modern scientific and legal instruments available
to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and allied agencies have improved
regulation and advances in food preparation, preservation, and storage, contributing
to a safer food supply. Even so, there is a belief that contemporary threats to food
safety have grown more serious; they surely excite intense public concern.
Supporters argue that pesticide use is necessary to keep the cost of food production
low and to maintain an abundant, affordable supply of fruits and vegetables in the
market. However, opponents argue that since pesticide-free agriculture has never been
tried on a large enough scale, we really do not know if the cost of food production
would increase, or by how much. Researchers have studied the profitability of farms
that do not use synthetic pesticides and found that results can vary depending on the
kind of crop and region of the country.
Meanwhile, the soil is being saturated with poison sprays, which means that many
fruits and vegetables absorb the pesticides systemically through their roots. While one
can wash some of the poison off the outside of these fruits and vegetables, it has
become part of the produce and cannot be completely removed.
Regulation of Pesticides in Food
In the United States there are three government agencies that share responsibility
for the regulation of pesticides: the EPA, the Food Safety Inspection Service of the