Posted by admin on November 15, 2011
• The agricultural industry invests annually and works continuously to research, develop and test new pesticides and fertilizers that are more effective but have less impact on the environment.
• According to the American Council on Science and Health, human exposure to chemicals consists overwhelmingly of exposure to chemicals of natural, not man-made, origin.
• A cup of coffee is estimated to contain more than 2,000 natural chemical components, few of which have been adequately studied and many of which have never even been identified, according to the American Council on Science and Health.
• The primary reason for washing produce before eating it is to get rid of dirt and bacteria from handling the produce. Most chemical residues from crop protection products that could be found on your fruits and vegetables are completely gone by the time the produce gets to your market.
• Each year, 15 million children worldwide die from starvation. That’s about the equivalent of the combined population of the central U.S. including CO, KS, NE, OK, ND, SD, NM, MT and WY.
• “At the moment, there is just no evidence that the food supply represents a hazard that would require any change in the regulatory programs currently administered by federal agencies and the states.”—Dr. Sanford A. Miller, former director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
• In 1950, American farmers produce 36.9 bushels of corn per acre. Today, American farmers produce about 118.5 bushels per acre.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state regulatory agencies enforce one of the most stringent regulatory systems in the world to ensure the safety of our produce.
• “Our food is not only the safest but also the most abundant in the world. Science and good sense will eventually prevail, but not until the pesticide terrorists have had another lick or two.”—Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General.
• Pesticides must pass up to 120 EPA required health, environmental, safety and other tests before they can be used.
• Americans enjoy the safest, most wholesome food supply in the world.
• Agriculture is the nation’s largest employer, with more than 21 million people working in some phase — from growing food and fiber to selling it at the supermarket.
• The Food and Drug Administration estimates that up to 81 million illnesses a year are caused by food-born micro organisms that occur naturally.
• We consume about 45 micrograms (or 45 one-millionths) of man-made pesticide residues per day. We consume 500 micrograms (equivalent to one cent in $10,000) of natural carcinogens in a cup of coffee.
• The cost of naturally occurring food-born microorganisms in medical expenses, lost wages, productivity and destruction of tainted food could be as high as $10 billion per year.
• There is a lethal dose of caffeine in approximately 100 cups of coffee, and a lethal dose of ethanol in a fifth of hard liquor. Compared to these risk, risks associated with crop protection products are negligible.
• The result of tests must be interpreted with caution. A mouse is not a little man.
• Natural carcinogens are present in mushrooms, parsley, basil, celery, cola, coffee, wine, beer, mustard, peanut butter and lima beans, just to name a few foods.
• The risk of developing cancer from consuming all major pesticides (through minute residues in food) in a typical diet is thousands of times less than the risk associated with natural carcinogens in beer, wine and cola.
• In 1950, chemicals could be detected at the level of one part per million (equivalent to one minute in two years). Today, we can measure many chemicals at the one part per trillion level…and our instrumentation technology continues to advance.
• “Pesticides don’t show up in dangerous levels. No one has yet been sick or killed by any pesticide that’s been found on a food.”—Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General.
• In 1960, one farmer fed 25 people. Today, one farmer feeds 129 (101 in the U.S. and 28 overseas).
• The earth’s population is expected to double to 11 billion by the year 2050, which will require that each farmer be twice as productive.
• American families enjoy the cheapest, most abundant food supply in the world. We spend from 8-10% of our total income on food.
• Only 7% of the earth’s surface is currently available for agricultural production.
• Pests destroy one-third of all food crops planted globally.
• Ag retailers, supply tools to farmers and look out for their local communities, play a major role in soil and water resource management. Proper soil stewardship keeps soil in place and productive. Good farming practices help keep surface and groundwater supplies clean and clear.
• The average life expectancy in the U.S. today is 75 years, compared with 70 years in 1960, 60 years in 1930 and 47 years in 1900.
• Without pesticides and fertilizers, U.S. farm exports would fall to zero. Our balance of trade would drop by more than $4 billion, and millions of people around the world would starve.
• “The whole world is chock full of carcinogens. A beer, with its 700 parts per billion of formaldehyde and 5 parts per hundred of alcohol is 1,000 times more hazardous than anything in the water”—Dr. Bruce Ames, University of California, Berkeley.