Food Production - Is it Safe to Eat?

Farming in the Age of COVID-19

By Renee Pinel

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, hand sanitizers and bleach wipes are now a part of our daily lives because everyone understands that we need access to chemicals that  kill the germs and viruses that can kill us.

Yet, as things drag on, more and more weary Californians are struggling to stick with shelter-in-place orders. People are venturing out more.  We don't see as many masks. Businesses are defying state guidelines.  People are starting to let down their guard.

This is likely a combination of factors.  One, it is human nature to want to be amongst others.  Two, people are making their own calculations on their risk of exposure, based on individual circumstances.  Three, it is just plain difficult for anyone to sustain intense self-discipline over a long period of time.

But we know it is possible to maintain strict standards of safety.  Look at California farmers.  For decades, they have possessed "safety-first" behaviors and practices now deeply ingrained in their DNA.  During the COVID-19 crisis, our farmers have continued to put food on the table and fill food banks while keeping their workers and communities safe.  They have achieved this not by adopting new standards of safety, but by continuing to follow existing requirements for pesticide use and safe food handling.

Californians may take this for granted.  But agriculture's emphasis on safety has been the result of a lot of work, dedication and collaboration between farmers, their communities and government.  Consider:

• Farmers have been able to continue to produce food because health and safety rules are the norm - not the emergency exception.

• California farmers have absolutely no interest in short cuts that compromise safety.  They and their families work on the farm. They value their workers. They live in the community. 

• Our farmers operate under the most restrictive safety standards in the country, if not the world.  Long before COVID-19 became a household word, farmers and farm businesses were investing in the safety of their employees, communities and environment.

• Scientists with the United State Environmental Protection Agency and California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) conduct the most rigorous pesticide safety testing of anywhere else in the world - more than 300 safety reviews before a product may even be considered for use. 

• It takes more than seven years to register a pesticide in California.

• This is the same agency that regulates the sanitizers members of the public are comfortable using at levels that exceed the recommended amounts. 

• Just as DPR reviews sanitizers designed to kill dangerous germs, they also review products used by farmers to kill dangerous pests.

• Unlike the sanitizers that the public uses, DPR continues to regulate agricultural products after a purchase is made.  Farmers may only purchase and use an approved pesticide if they receive a "prescription" from state-licensed experts, who dictate terms of every use. 

• Agriculture follows a complex system of permitting, monitoring, inspections, and reporting to assure that products are only used as labeled.

• Farms provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety protections to employees.

• Farmers, farm workers and professional pesticide advisers receive continuous education on the safe use of products.

• Farmers report all usage, and provide safety buffers around fields and additional precautionary buffers around sensitive sites like schools.

• To assure all these rules are followed, Agricultural Commissioners and DPR inspectors enforce high standards on farms and other agricultural businesses.

• These inspections cover the comprehensive array of federal, state, and local worker safety as well as environmental and community human health laws and regulations that cover the agricultural use of pesticide products.

During this pandemic, farmers have continued to maintain these high safety standards - even around schools, which are closed.  They have not asked for any current pesticide law or regulation to be suspended or relaxed.  Neither DPR nor the Agricultural Commissioners have suspended or loosened a single regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farmers continue to keep farmers markets, food banks, and grocery produce sections filled with healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables under the same strict standards as they always operate under.

While those of us in towns and cities continue to live under special emergency orders that at some point will be relaxed, we can be secure in the knowledge that farmers will continue to protect their employees, communities and the consumers of their produce - long after the Governor lifts his emergency orders.