These grapes were grown using no chemicals

If there is one thing that drives me up the wall it is when I see signs at the farmers market signs that read ‘No chemicals’ or read ads about wines made from grapes which were grown using no chemicals.  It drives me crazy because it is indicative of several important and serious issues.  First, it reveals many consumers are seriously afraid that food or wine contains harmful contaminants.  Second, it shows the willingness of sellers of food and wine to play on this fear.   And finally, it shows a serious lack of understanding by many consumers of some basic scientific facts.  I could devote pages to these topics but I will keep things to a brief outburst.

Putting on my scientist’s hat I will discuss the last point first since I think it is the root of the problem.  All things we put on our crops to grow them are chemicals!  That means water, compost, fertilizers, fish emulsion, compost teas, pesticides, and everything else.  You can’t grow anything without the use of chemicals.  They either come from Mother Nature or from us. or more usually both.  What has happened is  the bad name pesticides have garnered has become so extreme that the word ‘chemical’ has become synomus with the word ‘pesticide’.  Over the last 30 years the teaching of basic science in K-12 has really declined and I feel we are now seeing the results, which is many Americans do not have a good grasp of basic physical and biological science that can be used to make many important decisions, like food purchases.

Here is a quick tutorial about pesticides.  All pesticides are chemicals but not all chemicals are pesticides.  A pesticide is a chemical that kills a pest, or in the case of plant diseases, prevents a disease agent such as a fungus from infecting a plant.  By law, if a company wants to make a commercial claim that a particular chemical kills a pest then in must undergo rigorous federal and state registration processes.  It is then considered a pesticide.  There are synthetic pesticides and there are naturally derived pesticides that are approved from use in organic or Biodynamic programs.  They are all pesticides.  In reality I think it is very rare when a crop is grown without the use of any pesticides and it is impossible to grow a crop without chemicals.  If winegrape growers using organic or Biodynamic methods say they do not use pesticides, they are in denial.

I will end this brief outburst by saying that it is too bad that many of the public live in so much fear that they can be affected by signs like ‘No chemicals were used to grow this food’.  Fear of the unknown, such as contamination of our food with toxic chemicals, is a serious thing.  The best way to combat it is to become better informed.  Also, remember that it is a competitive world out there and it is the job of sellers of food and wine to convince you to buy their stuff.  Therefore if you do not want to be driven by fear of the unknown educate yourself so you have the tools to interpret marketing messages.  Then maybe you can feel more at peace while you enjoy that beautiful meal with your favorite glass of wine.

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