Pesticide levels in school fruit sound alarm bells
than samples of fruit and vegetables available in shops, according
to an alarming new study.
The Soil Association argues that Government testing of fruit and vegetables supplied to school children under the official School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS) shows that the Pesticide Residues Committee is wrong to claim that residue profiles of school fruit and vegetables are "similar" to residues found shop-sold fruit.
"The Soil Association strongly supports the school fruit scheme," said Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association.
"But it is wrong for a scheme that provides fruit and vegetables to the most vulnerable in society to source lower quality fruit and vegetables, apparently containing a higher proportion of pesticides and pesticide cocktails, than the fruit and vegetables available in shops."
The Soil Association's analysis of the government's figures has worrying implications. Regulatory bodies in the US, Canada and Holland have long argued for a more precautionary approach to pesticide residues, while the European Commission's environment and health strategy notes that children have particular sensitivity to environmental pollutants.
"It is vital that children eat more fruit and vegetables; to encourage this the school fruit scheme needs to focus on sourcing high-quality produce, wherever possible from the UK, and work towards achieving zero pesticides as quickly as they can," said Melchett.
The Soil Association report, 'Pesticides in school children's fruit' shows that in 2004, the Government's Pesticide Residues Committee tested 167 samples of fruit supplied to schools as part of the Government's SFVS scheme. Some 84 per cent of samples of fruit and vegetables contained pesticides, with multiple pesticides being detected in 65 per cent of the samples.
Both figures are far higher than the pesticides found in samples of fruit not destined for the school fruit scheme.
The Soil Association, the country's major organic accreditation body, believes that the government should now encourage great consumption of organic foods. It points to a recent US study, which found that school children fed organic diets showed significantly reduced exposure to organophosphorus pesticides.
It claims that on changing to an organic diet, levels of the pesticide metabolites in the children's urine declined dramatically and immediately.
Certainly, there is growing consumer interest in the organic market. Recent figures suggest that annual retail sales of organic foodstuffs have soared tenfold to top €1.51 billion in UK alone in the past decade, encouraging more growers and food makers to get involved.
The sector has a strong positive public image, with organic farming being associated with the non-use of artificial chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, helping to keep toxins out of air, water and soil.
