Supplying fresh vegetables

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WINTER which is the best time of the year in Bangladesh for consumption of vegetables has arrived. The supply of vegetables in the winter time is found to be particularly good in terms of price and variety. Health conscious people in the country are also more and more taking an interest to replace meats in their diets with vegetables. Therefore, at a time when consumption of vegetables in the country is clearly on the rise, it indeed comes as disappointing that vegetable producers and their handlers at different levels in the distribution chain are resorting to large scale use of pesticides in the fields to protect vegetables from pest attacks and at secondary levels the handlers are using various chemicals to artificially lend colour or appearance of freshness to such vegetables.
Both insecticides and chemicals can be highly toxic. They make the vegetables (on which these are applied) toxic. Thus, in this manner toxic substances enter the human food chain as consumption of such vegetables by humans means passage of the toxins into human bodies. Regular entry of toxins in human bodies can cause many deadly diseases including cancer and failures of vital organs like kidneys and livers.
So far, nothing has been heard that any governmental body is engaged in any service to persuade the farmers not to use pesticides and to go for natural ways of pest control. Nobody has warned or taken actions against vegetable sellers not to spray chemicals on them considering the health-hazarding aspects of such practice.
Thus, it is high time for the relevant ministry to do something immediately to safeguard public health from the serious threat posed by poisoned vegetables.
Anisul Islam
Road # 3, Dhanmondi
Dhaka