Almost nobody cares about deformed frogs in the wilds of Minnesota unless they can be used for a political statement. After all, pesticides have been one of the most reliable and longest-running scare stories in the history of journalism. No doubt these papers will simply await the next toxic terror opportunity. Once again, eco-suspicion has run far ahead of science and embarrassed itself. Now the National Cancer Institute says that non-smoking cancer rates in the United States began to decline 30 years ago, even though pesticide use has continued unabated.
Medical researchers say our diets and our genes are the major nonsmoking cancer sources.
As a country, we eat too many fatty foods and too few fruits and vegetables. Someday, when advances in biotechnology allow us to rely less heavily on pesticides, historians will look back and snicker at the hysteria over those chemicals that helped cut cancer risks and saved room on the planet for wildlife. Meanwhile, the frog scare is gone, but stay braced for the next scare headlines on pesticides. Dennis T. Avery is based in Churchville, Va., and is director of global food issues for the Hudson Institute of Indianapolis. All rights reserved on original works.