The Issues: Precautionary Principle

 

Large-scale industrial farms pose enormous environmental and public health risks due to their contribution to air, groundwater, soil and light pollution and their overuse of inputs such as antibiotics, pesticides and synthetic growth hormones. Though serious questions about this system of farming have been raised by scientists and researchers around the world, public health and environmental safety advocates remain saddled with the burden of providing scientific proof of harm before these industries can be regulated, reigned in, or even properly analyzed by our government.

sustainable TableAn Alternative
The precautionary principle offers an alternative. It says that “when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken, even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.” i It requires the producer of a questionable product or substance to prove that it is safe before it can be used. Currently in the United States, harm must be scientifically proven before a product is taken off the market. The precautionary principle allows the public to shift that burden of proof to the polluter without having complete certainty of harm. If there is some question about the safety of a new product, that item’s production can be halted to protect society until it is proven to be safe.

One of the most important examples of precautionary principle in action comes from the Rio Declaration from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The Declaration, which the United States signed, stated:

“In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.” ii

Based on a German environmental concept first developed in the early 1970s called Vorsorgeprinzip, the precautionary principle has been used widely in Europe to guide policy makers’ decisions regarding environmental and health issues, and it serves as the foundation of the EU’s environmental policy. iii Europe is widely considered the leader in terms of its use of the precautionary principle, however Canada has also taken significant steps regarding its use, and since 2003 the Canadian government has applied the concept to the development of every policy involving risk, harm or scientific uncertainty. San Francisco’s municipal environmental regulations are based on the principle, as is Massachusetts’ state Toxic Use Reduction legislation. iv

Even though the concept of precaution can be found in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Food Drug and Cosmetic act, and Environmental Protection Agency regulations, v the United States still lags far behind Europe in its commitment to the precautionary principle in national policy-making. Because the application of this principle would require businesses to put human and environmental health before economic gain, many industries associate precautionary principle with financial loss. Lobbyists for agribusiness and food corporations, and senators and representatives from states with significant numbers of industrial farms are therefore motivated to work against the widespread implementation of this principle.

Sustainable Solutions
Ultimately, the precautionary principle is a logical choice for those who are forced to deal with the consequences of their own actions. Perhaps if the agriculture industry was forced to clean up its pollution itself, (rather than passing the cost of cleanup onto taxpayers and society), it would choose to implement the precautionary principle.

Sustainable farmers inherently use the precautionary principle because they are tied to the land, their communities, the welfare of their animals, and are therefore aware of the immediate and long term consequences of their actions. The sustainable methods they use have been feeding people for centuries, and have proven to be beneficial not only to the farmer, but also to the animals s/he raises, the environment, the surrounding community and society at large.

What you can do

  • Encourage your representatives to order bans and phase outs of dangerous substances and practices. Tell them to support the use of the precautionary principle in setting policies governing agriculture.
  • Support farms that have reduced pollution at the source by moving to organic and sustainable practices. Don’t gamble on your health or the health of your loved ones by buying from corporations willing to put their profits ahead of your safety. Learn more at Sustainable Table.
  • Find a farm near you using the Eat Well Guide. Just enter your zip code to locate farms, stores, restaurants and bed & breakfasts serving sustainably-raised meat and dairy products.

For more information

  • Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN)
    SEHN was founded in 1994 by a consortium of North American environmental organizations (including Environmental Defense, The Environmental Research Foundation, and OMB Watch) concerned about the misuse of science in ways that failed to protect the environment and human health. Since 1998, SEHN has been the leading proponent in the United States of the Precautionary Principle as a new basis for environmental and public health policy.
  • Towards A More Precautionary and More Scientific Approach to Risk Assessment: A Consumer Perspective on Food Safety.
    • A speech by Edward Groth III, PhD of Consumers Union to the World Congress on Medicine and Health in Hannover, Germany, August 2000.
  • Rachel's Environment & Health News is a publication of the Environmental Research Foundation, a clearinghouse of news and resources for environmental justice, which provides understandable scientific information about human health and the environment.

Sources