Fear is a powerful weapon, and also a double -edged sword. Fear can lead us to caution or paralysis and dividing line is not necessarily wide. In the food sector this is especially true: Food is a pillar of our healthbut there are hardly any foods or additives that have not been at one time or another affected by some form of collective fear.
A classic protagonist in this context is the pesticides.
“People prefer not to know what the lettuce, tomato or strawberry by the BBC. Navarro de Castro is a sociologist and diploma in rural extension and development and in its latest novel, greenhouse planet, addresses The issue of the agricultural system That feeds us.
Contemporary agriculture is difficult to understand without use of pesticidesnatural or artificial chemical compounds destined to poison arthropods and other animals that could threaten plantations. These compounds allow the integrity of our crops not to depend on periodic pests or that every year we lose a fraction of our production consumed by these animals.
Pesticides raise two big problems. The first, about human health: if these compounds end up in our food chain, they can mean a risk to our health. The second risk is environmental: these compounds can end up extending beyond our orchards and greenhouses, causing damage to the environment.
The possibility of consuming toxic substances in our foods scares. It is normal. But would you really be justified to eliminate entire categories of our diet for the fear of pesticides? Perhaps before reaching conclusions it is important to have a notion of the magnitude of the problem.
A magnitude that can vary depending on our location: each country has its own legislation when regulating the use of pesticides, but also the ability to assert those laws It can depend on our geographical context. In Europe, the European Environmental Agency (EEA) published in 2023 A report in which analyzed the impact of pesticides in the environment and in our health.
They observed, for example, “above the barrier of worrying” in 22% of the points monitored in rivers and lakes of the continent. They also referenced a study published in 2019 in which pesticide residues were found in 83% of agrarian soils in Europe.
But the pesticide track is not only still in the environment, but also in our own bodies. In this case, the EEA refers to a study that monitored participants in five European countries between 2014 and 2021. In result: they found indications of the presence of at least Two types of pesticide in 84% of the sample. As the agency explains, the levels detected used to be older in children with respect to adults.
The good news, in a certain sense at least, is that the sales of pesticides in the old continent were stable.
Threat to health
And what consequences can pesticides have on our health? It all depends on pesticide and dose so to talk about impacts. As noted The World Health Organization (WHO), pesticides are “potentially toxic for humans and can have both acute and chronic effects on health depending on the quantity and way in which a person is exposed.”
The people most exposed to these agents are not necessarily consumers, but people with more risk are Those who manipulate themeither in their work as in their homes and orchards, adds the UN agency.
The EEA indicates Some of the potential effects on our health. These include cancers such as non-hodgkin lymphoma, ovaries and prostate; neurological problems such as Parkinson and Alzheimer’s diseases; cardiovascular diseases; problems in the development of the little ones; reproductive problems both in men and women; and cognitive problems. Inter alia.
The agency also points out that today it is impossible to estimate the degree to which these problems affect the European population. The issue of health impacts on health Still still investigated For experts from all over the world.
The obvious question is, is there a solution? Washing the fruits and vegetables that we are going to consume is a simple act that Help reduce our exposure To this type of agents. But They do not solve the problem: This action does not eliminate all pesticides, does not avoid other forms of exposure and fails to reduce its presence in the environment.
In Your interview with the BBCNavarro de Castro proposed a simple solution and within reach of consumers. “From the collective point of view, a thousand simple things could be done such as eating seasonal,” acquiring awareness of the origin of each product that we lead to our homes (and our stomachs).
Image | Jürgen Althaus