-->| A labor organizer of agricultural workers described pesticide spray drifting into farm workers' soup bowls in Zimbabwe coffee plantations as they ate their lunch under shade trees on the edge of the agricultural field. Many feed their babies on their lunch break; others carry them, sleeping, on their backs. A Central American health worker described how one pesticide was routinely used for fishing: Once the pesticide was dumped into a pond, dead fish quickly floated to the top. |  In the time around the American Civil War, in the South poor white farm workers subsisted on "quick cornmeal," the poorly prepared white people's version, and pellagra was epidemic until the discovery that it was a dietary deficiency disease. Pellagra, the disease of the "three Ds"—diarrhea, dermatitis, and dementia—historically has been a problem of corn-eaters, whereas beriberi has been a disease most correlated with rice-eating cultures. |  Environmentalists, farm workers, federal agencies, and food growers continue to disagree about what constitutes "safe" levels of the twenty thousand registered pesticides. Since many of the most toxic agents remain in the environment for decades, and are most harmful to the young, their full impact has not yet been realized.
Living safely in a polluted world is no easy task. In 1991 my life was thrown into turmoil when I discovered that the health of my patients and my staff was being threatened by mold and bacterial contamination of my medical office. |  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, bromoxynil causes birth defects in laboratory animals and may subject farm workers to a similar risk. FDA Commissioner David Kessler claims: "We're going to assure the safety of all foods, whether produced by traditional breeding or genetic engineering." How can the FDA possibly ensure the safety of unlabeled bio-engineered foods that look the same as ordinary fruits and vegetables?
Is it a coincidence that the largest pesticide companies in the world are also pharmaceutical companies? |  Carcinogens in Grains Conventionally grown grain products are generally free from residues of carcinogenic pesticides (except for products from India); yet carcinogenic pesticides are used extensively in the production of grain products, and they pose a threat to the health of farmers and farm workers. Researchers have noted high rates of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among farmers. The probable explanation is agricultural exposure to herbicides. | | When the media and concerned citizens called local ACS chapters, they received reassurances from an ACS memorandum by its Vice President for Public Relations: "The primary health hazards of pesticides are from direct contact with the chemicals at potentially high doses, for example, farm workers who apply the chemicals and work in the fields after the pesticides have been applied, and people living near aerially sprayed fields.... | | You can do a lot for the health of farmers and farm workers by insisting on buying only organically grown grains.
Colors: Cereals should be avoided if they contain the following colors that have been shown to be carcinogenic or to contain carcinogenic impurities:
• FD&C Blue 1
• FD&C Green 3
• FD&C Red 4
• FD&C Red 40
• FD&C Yellow 5
• FD&C Yellow 6
Meat and Poultry
Meat and poultry contain a wide range of carcinogens, including pesticides, animal drugs, hormones, and radiation. |  Migrant farm workers, many of whom are already infected with hepatitis A, probably relieved themselves in the lettuce fields where they had been working, and then continued to pick the crop without first washing their hands thoroughly with soap and water. (This information came from an article in the May/June, 1991 issue of Eating Well magazine. Since then there have been several other outbreaks of hepatitis, not on as large a scale, but still attributed to the consumption of salads in public restaurants. |  Protection of farm workers from exposure to dangerous pesticides.
Polls show the general public opposes deregulation of business, especially when the purity of air, water, food, drugs, and other necessities is involved. Why then did the Bush Administration pursue deregulation so zealously? Consider these coincidences between contributions to the Bush/Quayle campaign/Republican National Committee and some federal decisions:
Developers contribute $2,277,490. Wetland protection acreage is reduced.
Food industry contributes $1,352,000. |  Insist that fruits and vegetables be grown under conditions that conserve resources, limit pesticides and herbicides, and support farm workers adequately, and pay more for food. of economic sectors that would be affected if people changed their diets, avoided obesity, and prevented chronic diseases surely rivals the range of industries that would be affected if people stopped smoking cigarettes. |  Improved housing, nutrition, water supplies and waste disposal, pasteurization of milk, and the virtual elimination of child labor (except for migrant farm workers) drastically cut the spread of infectious diseases and enabled children's bodies to resist them.
LIFE, DEATH, AND MEDICINE TODAY
The physical and social environments are just as important in determining disease and death rates today as they were historically, despite the fact that "degenerative" diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke, have replaced most of the infectious diseases as leading causes of death. | | In fact, there have been recent grape boycotts by the farm workers Union to protest the use of dangerous pesticides that jeopardize the workers' health—and the consumers' as well.
Peaches. Peaches have very good press— they are sweet, fuzzy, and friendly, and when all is going well, it's "peachy." In season, peaches are usually so juicy that they should be eaten outdoors or with bibs.
Peaches have good levels of vitamins A and C, potassium, and phosphorus; fair amounts of calcium and magnesium; and traces of the important minerals zinc, selenium, manganese, iodine, sulfur, copper, and iron. |  For many years, the United farm workers (UFW) have tried to persuade Americans to boycott United-States-grown grapes because of pesticides. One of the five pesticides that the UFW is trying to ban is Captan. This particular pesticide is the one "found most frequently in residue testing on
Occurrence Rate
Birth Defect per 10,000 Live Births
Description
Cardiovascular
48.0
Severe abnormalities in the structure of the heart, including the valves, blood vessels, and heart chambers.
Clubfoot
28.0
Twisted foot that does not rest properly on the ground.
Hypospadias
27. |  Nevertheless, results from epidemiologic studies of farm families and farm workers occupationally exposed to pesticides suggest that the risk of cancer and other illnesses such as Parkin-son's disease (Tanner and Langston 1990) should be further studied.
Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis
Although detailed molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis are not known, several factors involved in the process have been determined (Cohen and Ellwein 1990, 1991; Stanbridge 1990; Bishop 1991; Weinstein et al. 1995). |  Usually affects farm workers and those exposed to its wide range of allergens. Symptoms: Influenza-like fever, breathlessness, cough.
Prognosis: Chronic lung damage and progressive disability.
Indicated: antifungals, antibiotics. Alternatives. Teas. Marigold, Ground Ivy, Scarlet Pimpernel, Yarrow. 1 heaped teaspoon to each cup boiling water; infuse 5-15 minutes; 1 cup freely.
Tablets/capsules. Garlic, Echinacea, Goldenseal, Thuja.
Powders. Combine, parts, Echinacea 3; Goldenseal 1; Thuja 1. Dose: 500mg, (two 00 capsules or one-third teaspoon) thrice daily. Decoction. | | Chavez makes an important point that consumers who are concerned about the small amounts of pesticides on their fruit and vegetables should also be concerned about the farm workers and their families who breathe in and ingest much greater amounts of these poisons.
FARM-FRESH, ORGANICALLY CROWN
Because of all these problems, it isn't surprising that everywhere from farms to supermarket chains, there is new interest in organic food, and in the agricultural methods that produce it. | | What's the cost of pesticide-related illness and death to farmers and farm workers? What's the cost of developing new pesticides as the pests become resistant to the old ones? Considering these very real costs of using pesticides, organic food begins to look like a bargain.
Fallacy: Food additives and pesticide residues are not worth worrying about because other risks are far greater.
Fact: True, the risks from cigarette smoking, alcohol, and unsafe sex dwarf the dangers from pesticides in food. | | Even if it's hard to prove a direct cause-and-effect link between eating pesticide residues in food and getting cancer, mounting evidence indicates that occupational exposures to pesticides increase farmers' and farm workers' risks of cancer and other acute illnesses. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) found, for instance, that the herbicide 2,4-D was associated with a three fold increase in the risk of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Nebraska farmers14 and a six fold increase in Kansas farmers15 exposed for more than 20 days per year. | | According to the UFW, pesticides are responsible for cancer, behavioral changes, birth defects, and miscarriages among farmers, farm workers, and their families. The UFW has called for a boycott of fresh table grapes grown in California until grape growers stop using five pesticides most dangerous to workers (captan, parathion, phosdrin, methyl bromide, and dinoseb). Of these, dinoseb has been banned, and the EPA was considering recommendations to ban parathion as this book went to press. | | Farmers and farm workers encounter far larger quantities of pesticides than the rest of us do. Other groups of vulnerable people, including senior citizens and people infected with the AIDS virus, are increasing in numbers.
ž Consider the most vulnerable members of society when setting limits on contaminants or additives in food.
ž Put warning labels on those foods (raw shellfish and undercooked meat, poultry, and eggs) that pose the highest risks to vulnerable groups of people.
ž Eliminate avoidable lead from the food supply. Children are highly susceptible to the toxic effects of lead. |  Testicular cancer, which occurs in significant proportion among farm workers and manufacturers of pesticides, has increased 81%. In 1985, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is linked with pesticide exposure, increased by 123%. The Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health in 1988 estimated that as many as 10,000 cancer deaths annually could be caused from the chemical additives in food. This estimate does not even include pesticides. |  The process is so insidious that antibiotics given to farm animals can induce resistance not only in the animals who received them but in other livestock on the farm and in farm workers themselves. And bacteria that become resistant to one antibiotic are likely to confer resistance to several others as well.
It is not too alarmist to say that we may actually be looking at the end of the antibiotic age as we have known it. |  Seasonal foods are healthier, more abundant, and less expensive.
Eat colorfully. Instead of being concerned with getting all the "right" vitamins and minerals in perfect ratios, Dr. Berkson suggests focusing on eating a colorful diet. By making an effort to get at least three different-colored vegetables or fruits at both lunch and dinner, you will insure the best exposure to appropriate nutrients.
In the Kitchen
By its very nature, food has limitations—it needs to be stored and prepared with care. |  The practice of medicine based on scientific principles.
A national trust fund dedicated specifically to health care.
National planning that allows a high degree of local autonomy. A national health board with regional or state-by-state equivalents.
Public accountability. Eliminates the "opaque"(hard to fathom) financing practices of the current system.
Global budgeting, which entails setting priorities, but is flexible enough to support medical education, research, and excellence in medicine. |  DDT, toxaphene, lindane (y-benzene hexachloride), hexachloroben-zene (HCB), and parathion for 6 to 23 years. Whether cancer was associated with exposure to individual pesticides is difficult to determine because the investigator did not control for smoking, and the workers were exposed to various chemicals simultaneously or alternately.
Experimental Evidence. Tables 14-1, 14-2, and 14-3 present the results of carcinogenicity and mutagenicity tests for some organochlorine compounds, some organophosphates, and two carbamates. | |
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