Scary stuff
(May 14, 2007)
Pesticides in China a problem
By Lindsay Beck
From Reuters
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's farmers overuse pesticides, skip protective clothing and have at their fingertips an array of banned and counterfeit products, raising another area of concern in the country's fragile food chain.
Spraying chemicals on crops improperly or using products that may be fake or banned risks the health of China's hundreds of millions of farmers and could lead to unsafe levels of residues in fruits and vegetables, experts say.
"The government has to stop banned or illegal pesticides being available in the market," said Angus Lam, a Greenpeace Campaign Manager for Food and Agriculture based in the southern city of Guangzhou.
China banned five high toxicity pesticides as of January 1, but Lam said old stock was still in the market, in the hands of traders, retailers and farmers themselves.
Well if this doesn't make you want to buy locally and in season nothing will
