A recent report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that ‘pesticide residues of 96.1% of analysed food samples fell within legally permitted levels.’ While the overall conclusions of the report are that pesticides have an insignificant impact on consumers’ health, this data needs to be considered in a broader context, one of the overall farming approaches that the pesticides form part of. This article looks at how diversification could phase out the use of pesticides as well as reduce exposure to these toxic substances and thus contribute to healthier diets.
EFSA report findings
The aim of the EFSA report was “to present a comprehensive overview of residue findings in widely consumed products placed on the EU market, including possible non-compliances with legal limits, and to assess the potential exposure of consumers to pesticide residues”. It showed that, in general, both the Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) exceedance and non-compliance rates slightly decreased between 2018 and 2019. This was specifically the case for peaches, lettuces, tomatoes, and apples. However, the individual MRL exceedance rate increased, for example, for strawberries, head cabbages, and wine grapes. Furthermore, the EFSA reported the presence of non-approved active substances in concentrations that exceeded the legal limit in food products of EU origin in sampled food grown in third countries.
Hidden face of pesticides
While the study is a valuable source of information for estimating the dietary exposure of consumers in the European Union, a more comprehensive approach is required to evaluate the risks of pesticides that affect human health more broadly and indirectly. More specifically, this is in relation to the system of conventional agriculture that relies mainly on the practice of growing one single crop or plant or farming one livestock species on a large farmland surface area. Such practices, the quality of the seeds used, and other factors put high pressure on natural resources and create the need for pesticides and agrochemicals that usually include herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides.
“Excessive use and misuse of pesticides result in contamination of surrounding soil and water sources, causing loss of biodiversity, destroying beneficial insect populations that act as natural enemies of pests and reducing the nutritional value of food,” stated the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food.
The authors of a recent study of glyphosate, a herbicide authorized in some countries, concluded that it can act as a disrupting chemical in the human body, interfering with the hormonal system of pregnant women. There are many other negative effects of pesticides on human health such as metabolic syndrome and nerve injury but there are also effects on biodiversity including soil organisms.
See the article: ‘Pesticides: an element of development or regression in agriculture?’
Biodiversity rich agricultural systems need little or no pesticides
Looking at the system which is referred to as unconventional agriculture, there would not just be one but a range of crops cultivated on a single agricultural land plot and also a variety of animal species. This is a more biodiverse system capable of providing the ecosystem benefits that help to manage pests and weeds in a more natural way. One of these is the natural pest control which is recognized to be of high relevance for food provision. Indeed, FAO confirms that:
“Biological control, through an ecosystem approach, is a way to reduce pesticide use and enhance biodiversity while ensuring production.”
In this sense, diversification in the agricultural system is one of the techniques used by farmers to show how the ecosystem approach works in practice. For instance, it is with ‘the introduction of so-called allelopathic plants into crop rotations’ that they can ‘reduce pesticide use while providing good crop yields’. Allelopathic plants produce chemical compounds that prevent the growth and development of pests, weeds, or diseases. However, such diversity and diversification are absent in conventional agriculture thus making it clear why natural pest control does not occur.
Choosing agricultural diversity over pesticides to secure healthy diets
United Nations Biodiversity Convention noted that while 75% of our food comes from only 12 plants and five animal species, “the loss of diverse diets is directly linked to malnutrition and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity and has a direct impact on the availability of healthy foods and traditional medicines”.
Thus, scientific studies confirm that diversification in food systems has the potential to enrich the diet and to enhance the nutritional diversity lost over the last 50 years at the expense of high-yielding crop varieties. For instance, in Sri Lanka, agroecological family farms present rich landscapes consisting of trees, shrubs, herbs, crops, and animals – the system where:
“Potential dietary diversity is available in the form of many species of fruit, vegetable, spice and medicine, staple food items, fodder, fishery products, livestock products, poultry products, and bee honey”.
This being the case, the question rises, why use dangerous chemical substances in the first place? When assessing their quantity and presence in food, it becomes essential to look at the factors that first of all created the system that needs pesticides. Addressing the question in this way might help to gradually phase out the use of agrochemicals while at the same time regenerate farm biodiversity and create more diversified and hence healthy diets.
