BHOPAL TRAGEDY-A STARK REMINDER

No doubt pesticides did serve a useful purpose in cutting down food grain and other agricultural crop losses very significantly and there were hundreds of chemicals found useful in destroying many predators of food in the field as well as storage godowns during the last few decades. But increasing knowledge, better monitoring and analytical techniques and highly efficient toxicity assessment methods have brought out the stark reality that most of the pesticides are environmental hazards, besides leaving toxic residues in the crops at significant levels affecting human health. The biggest challenge facing man to day is how to increase the food supply by increasing the land productivity as well as cutting down waste due to predatory vectors. Experience of Sweden which has cut down the use of pesticides by almost half while managing increased yield levels and of Indonesia being able to reduce pesticide use in rice dramatically without affecting the yield are encouraging examples as to how mankind can achieve a zero level use one day without adversely affecting food production.

Ever since Sulfur powder was used as a pesticide in ancient Mesopotamia almost 5000 years ago, the pesticide manufacturing industry has traveled through different eras, succeeding each other through Pyrethrum and Rotanone from plants, nicotine sulfate from tobacco leaves, chemicals based on arsenic, mercury and lead and finally arriving at the post-1950 modern era where chemical pesticides derived from Organochlorine, Organophosphate and Carbamate became standards for crop protection in the farms. DDT which was used world-wide for many years was banned though in many countries it is still in use. It is estimated that around 2.5 million tons of synthetic chemicals are produced annually as crop protectants out of which more than 70% is accounted for by the industrialized countries. Due to extreme hostility to the practice of using chemical pesticides by the consumer community because of their poisonous nature, even production statistics are not easily available. FAO's International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides serves a useful purpose in laying down country-level control guidelines for developing countries. Similarly FAO-WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission periodically comes up with standards for pesticide residues in foods considered safe for human consumption.

Recent action by the US authorities in "progressively" banning a relatively well known pesticide called Aldicarb in the country can evoke bitter memories of the environmental tragedy in the Indian city of Bhopal in 1984, when more than 3000 people lost their life besides another 15000 maimed for life due to a massive management failure by the erstwhile Union Carbide, now a part of the MNC Dow Chemicals of USA. Release of 40 tons of the deadly Methyl Iso Cyanate gas from a severely rusted storage tank caused the tragedy and this is an intermediate compound in manufacturing carbamate pesticide including Aldicarb. Is it not an irony that it has taken more than 25 years after the tragedy for this most powerful country on earth, which pioneered Carbamate pesticide technology, to arrive at the inevitable conclusion that it is a dangerous pesticide? Or is that this country woke up to the dangers of Aldicarb only after 2000 people were affected by consuming Watermelon contaminated with this deadly chemical in 1985? In stead of immediately banning the chemical, bowing to industry pressure, American government has shown its apathy towards consumer safety by giving a phase out period to the manufacturer who can continue to market it till 2015!

Organic food industry which has been able to capture more than 2% of food market since its humble beginning two decades ago is based on zero use of chemical pesticides during production, storage and processing. There is no dispute about the relative safety of organic foods though their claim of superiority in terms of nutrition is some what far fetched. There are a number of alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides which include plant based substances with pesticidal activity, pheromone trapping of insects, microbial pesticides, composted yard waste with high carbon to nitrogen ratio and genetic engineered crops with built-in resistance to some pests. Bt crops are gaining increasing acceptance by the farming community, especially for sugar beets, cotton, corn etc and a substantial portion of world production is accounted for by them. However some serious long term safety and environment problems associated with GM crops cannot be wished away easily.

With progressive elimination of synthetic chemical pesticides due to their suspect safety credentials, a new area has opened up for development of new approaches in crop protection and there is an urgent need to consolidate the research activities going on globally in order to evolve acceptable protocols with no problem related to residue related toxicity and environmental pollution. Digging into traditional crop protection practices in Asia, Africa and South America with thousands of years of history behind them may provide many clues regarding safe practices of food conservation deployed by our ancestors which can be studied against the scientific knowledge available to day..

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD CHOICES-CONSUMER COMPULSIONS

During times of plenty there is a wide choice regarding the type of foods consumers wish to buy suiting the needs and palates of every body in the family. To add to this, there is always the option of 'eating out' in places where wide variety of foods are served on a platter. In the western world food sector was relatively insulated from inflation till recently and spurt in prices became discernible only during early 2008 when fossil fuel cost shot through the roof touching $147 a barrel with the attendant fall out on almost all aspects of daily life. The spiraling price situation is further aggravated by ever increasing land prices and cost of staple food grains, fruits, vegetables and other foods. Some of the basic foods like milk, butter, bread and meat are likely to continue to register higher prices as the input costs for their production also have risen sharply.

It is irrational to divert almost 40% of the grain grown in a country like UK as feed material and naturally meat prices are bound to go up in sympathy with that of the grains. Same is true with dairy products also. The economic melt down being experienced across the globe is bound to exert pressure on the disposable income of middle class families and the choices vis-a-vis purchase of foods are likely to shift to more basic foods putting the future of the processed foods industry at stake. Already there are signs that many American families are resorting to home baking pushing bakery products sales down. Same trend could become perceptible in other sectors also as people become more and more cost conscious with shrinking incomes. Unemployment figures in many countries are reaching staggering proportions, adding further to the human misery. Super markets are being forced to expand their portfolio of budget foods while demand for premium, value based and niche foods declines. Biggest casualty may be the organic food industry as their products are always priced significantly higher than the main stream products.

An unintended consequence of the deteriorating economic scenario may be a renewed interest in GM foods as they can be cheaper than the conventionally raised crops. While GM crops are cleared in some countries, many others view these foods with lot of reservation due to insufficient data on safety of consumption and environmental hazards in wide scale adoption of this technology. The debate about the safety of these foods is most likely to be won by the pro-GM lobby because of the latest economic compulsions. Those sitting on the fence are likely to go for GM foods which only can, probably, offer cheap staple foods in the coming years. If that happens one can expect spurt in investment on GM crops and stimulate their production on a scale not seen so far. It is another matter that GM technological knowledge is monopolized by a handful of transnational companies with very little available through public funded institutions. Besides, most of the technological know how is confined to a few crops of commercial importance. Probably the present economic down turn may give more impetus to develop appropriate GM technologies for some of the important staple crops. Similarly many consumers may be won over by the irradiation technology which is still viewed with suspicion because irradiation will cut down food spoilage very significantly making the food cheaper. While this may be good news for common man from the economic point of view, whether it it desirable from the health angle is a million dollar question!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/