[A-List] UK agriculture: toxic harvest

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

UK food tops chemicals league
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
The Independent, 01 December 2002

More chemicals are used to grow food in Britain than in any other major
industrialised country, according to a new report.

A review of British environmental performance by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that the amount of
pesticides and fertilizers used per acre of farmland is greater than in any
other country.

Last week, the Department of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
(Defra) told The Independent on Sunday that the level of chemicals was "not
acceptable". And a House of Commons committee said a voluntary agreement
with farmers and landowners to control pesticides was in chaos. Defra's
reaction surprised farmers' leaders, who are used to government acquiescence
in chemical use.

The report shows that Britain uses 0.58 tons of pesticides for every square
kilometre of land, more than twice the OECD average and nearly three times
as much as in the US ­ though Japan and Italy use more and France about the
same.

The use of fertilizers ­ 20.3 tons per square kilometre ­ is, however, far
above that of any other major industrialised country, and more than three
times the OECD average.

Defra ­ set up after the last election largely to promote environmentally
friendly farming ­ said: "We need a step change in the education of farmers
in the use of inputs."

Landowners' leaders insist that farmers automatically use the optimum amount
of chemicals in order to do a job for economic reasons, but Defra says that
in practice the level of use wastes money and causes "very significant
environmental problems".

Overuse of fertilisers and chemicals pollutes rivers, groundwater and
drinking water. Nitrates from fertilisers can damage babies and may cause
stomach cancer. Pesticides have been linked to cancer and neurological and
immune-system problems, and scientists believe they may be the cause of
gender changes in marine life.

The OECD report says that the Government should consider taxing chemicals,
but three years ago the Prime Minister vetoed plans for a tax on pesticides,
insisting on a voluntary "partnership".

But last week a report by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee
said that the partnership had achieved little. Its few practical programmes
had suffered long delays, and it had even taken six months to decide on a
name.

The National Farmers' Union last week sought to portray the OECD figures as
inaccurate. But Tony Juniper, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The figures
show that agriculture in Britain is more hooked on chemicals than in any
other country."

He added: "This scandalous situation is supported by a whole raft of
government bodies, from the Food Standards Agency, which repeatedly
underplays the need to reduce pesticide use, to the Treasury, which has
failed to introduce taxes on farm chemicals. The result is that the health
of wildlife and consumers continues toº play second fiddle to the interests
of chemical companies."