Rational Agriculture

It's one of those common, but mistaken, beliefs that pesticides are responsible for all sorts of ills. One particular aspect reported on recently by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (Crop Spraying and the Health of Residents and Bystanders). This weighty document, prepared essentially because pressure groups had demanded it, has made a number of "precautionary" recommendations (such as increasing the width of buffer zones) on the basis of no real evidence.

It falls to the Womens Food and Farming Union - a feisty and sensible bunch - to put this into perspective. In their press release - WFU calls for balanced reporting of pesticide industry - they say

"The Chairman Sir Tom Blundell admitted that there was no scientific evidence at all to connect any illness with crop spraying and yet recommended that trials and tests into health of residents and bystanders should be carried out. The flavour of the public meeting only served to demonstrate the ignorance of the majority of people about crop spraying especially some journalists. ...The anti’s opinion is given voice and credence. It is ‘frankenstein’ food all over again."

What more can I say?