26th October 2026
Poisoning ourselves
“In Europe, about 500 different pesticides are licensed for use on our crops, with almost twice as many available in the US. These are all poisons, intended to kill insects (insecticides), weeds (herbicides), fungi (fungicides), or slugs and snails (molluscides). Some are naturally occurring compounds extracted from plants, and a few are simple inorganic compounds such as copper salts. Most, however, are complex organic compounds synthesised in a lab – chemical structures that never previously existed. They vary hugely in how much of them is used, how and when they are sprayed, and their chemical and physical properties, all of which affects the likelihood of them ending up in the food on your fork. They also vary greatly on how harmful they might be to us as humans.” (P74 Eat the Planet Well)
Goulson notes that many chemicals band in Europe still enter our food supplies via imported produce. Worryingly he also points out the difficulty of determining the impact of a combination of pesticides etc on our health – for few crops receive only one dose and more typically a raft of different chemicals will be used at different stage of the the growth of the crop, in,causing just before and after harvesting.
Equally the impact of these chemicals on our health may vary depending on how long we are exposed to them and whether the residues accumulate in our bodies.
He concludes “All things considered, it would seem wise to avoid consuming pesticides and feeding the, to our children so far as possible. This can be challenging, as most of the cheap and readily available food in supermarkets and fast-food outlets comes from intensive farming and is likely to be contaminated one way or another. Avoiding pesticides is inconvenient, and sometimes more expensive, but it is not impossible. The most obvious strategy is to buy organic, which we will explore next.” (P83 Eat the Planet Well)
