PALM BEACH POST

October 6, 2005

EDITORIAL

Grower makes right call to restrict pesticide use

For decades, Florida growers have maintained that their use of pesticides posed no threat to farmworkers or consumers. Now, it seems that one of the state's leading tomato growers isn't so sure.

Last week, Ag-Mart Produce Inc. announced that it was discontinuing the use of five pesticides that are suspected of causing birth defects and other health problems. "The company has a history of wanting to be a leader in the reduction of pesticides," an Ag-Mart spokesman said. Maybe the company has a history of wanting to do something about pesticides, but it never did anything significant until state investigators started looking into three severe birth-defect cases involving children of migrant workers Ag-Mart employed in Immokalee, northeast of Naples.

And the state didn't start looking until after Palm Beach Post reporters Christine Evans, John Lantigua and Christine Stapleton in March broke the story of Carlitos Herrera, the infant born without arms and legs, and two other deformed babies whose Mexican mothers lived in the same labor camp and worked in the same fields during their pregnancies. A farmworker program affiliated with Catholic Charities brought the information about the deformities to the paper.

A company spokesman says it wasn't the investigations but the desire to do "the right thing" that motivated the sudden decision to abandon the pesticides. Ag-Mart President Don Long told The Post that he doesn't believe the deformities are the result of pesticide exposure: "We don't see any connection between our farms and these birth defects." Mr. Long said that the company is cooperating fully with investigators for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

While Ag-Mart's decision to stop using the five pesticides is the responsible thing to do, the company could have done it years ago. The toxic properties of the chemicals have been well-documented. Even as it stops using the other five chemicals, the company intends to continue using methyl bromide, the other pesticide linked to birth defects and health problems. The chemical is banned in the United States except under emergency or "critical use" circumstances, exemptions that Florida growers easily obtain.

Issues raised by this story go beyond Florida. Studies have noted problems with widespread use of agricultural chemicals, and Florida farmers use especially high amounts of pesticides. Improved farming techniques would protect workers, improve the environment and help the industry at a time when consumers are demanding healthier produce.

Ag-Mart, for example, says it can't find a suitable substitute for methyl bromide. The company needs to try harder. So do the state and the agriculture industry. Florida has only 45 inspectors to regulate pesticide use, and farmers can go years without having to see one. If Ag-Mart can do without the five pesticides, so can the rest of the state's growers.