We hear more and more about the dangers of cadmium in the media, and rightly so! This heavy metal increases the risk of cancer. But the government and agribusiness remain united: for private interests, it is public health that is at stake. Even if the soil is already contaminated, it remains vital to rethink our agricultural production to develop organic farming that is accessible to everyone.
At the end of March, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) sounded the alarm about cadmium contamination in the French population. This heavy metal is classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic to reproduction. It is suspected of increasing the risk of prostate, bladder, and breast cancers, and may also play a role in the alarming increase in the number of cases of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers.This contamination stems directly from agricultural practices. Indeed, this heavy metal is found in phosphate fertilizers, and ultimately in our food. France is particularly affected, as it imports its phosphate from North Africa, where the rocks are naturally impregnated with cadmium. As a result, a quarter of children in the country exceed the tolerable daily intake. This suggests the potential for future cancer epidemics, especially since cadmium remains in the soil for years.
How can we protect ourselves? ANSES (the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) recommends "limiting the consumption of sweetened and savory wheat-based products such as breakfast cereals, cakes, and cookies," as well as pasta, rice, and potatoes. With such a long list of restrictions, it becomes difficult to ask individuals to take responsibility for their health, especially when it is increasingly clear that the agribusiness industry is contaminating humans at an unprecedented level. ANSES (the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) also urges lowering the limit values for cadmium: the cadmium input should not exceed 2 grams per hectare per year. This is advice the agency had already given... in 2019. On the government side, the draft decree intended to comply with these recommendations, which was put out for consultation in 2023, has still not been published. The government always seems to have other priorities than protecting our health...
And what about organic farming? According to ANSES, organic food "can also contain cadmium." Admittedly, phosphate fertilizers are permitted in organic farming, and the land remains contaminated for a very long time, even after conversion to organic. However, studies do exist that show cadmium concentrations are significantly lower in organic crops worldwide. This data is ignored by the agency. Is this silence due to increasing pressure from the Ministry of Agriculture?
For several years now, attacks against organic farming have been multiplying: the Senate's attempt to abolish the French Agency for Organic Farming (Agence Bio), drastic cuts to its budget, the elimination of subsidies for new organic farms, and the Duplomb Law, which serves the interests of industrial agriculture. Yet, in addition to protecting the natural world and reducing water and soil pollution, organic food offers real benefits for human health: lower risks of certain cancers, overweight and obesity, and birth defects.
These are scientifically proven advantages, but they are ignored by health authorities and the government, in order to better defend an agro-industrial system whose deadly consequences are becoming increasingly evident. And so, organic food remains accessible only to a wealthier minority, much to the delight of agribusiness, which serves only capitalist and productivist interests.
Agrippine (UCL Nantes)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Cadmium-Un-empoisonnement-lent-au-profit-des-agro-industriels
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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