- Hyperhygienist
Hyperhygienist is a
pejorative adjective applied to certain agricultural policies,law s,food regulation s,wholesale food buying rules, andtax, tariff and trade measures by advocates oforganic farming . It refers to an over-emphasis on a narrow definition of "safety" or "cleanliness" as defined only for theconsumer , that effectively forces the use ofpesticide s, other chemicals, or even requires or encouragesgenetically modified organism s (since natural varieties often cannot stand up to the chemical load required to prevent all insects).Those who use this adjective consider over-regulation to be as much or more of a problem than under-regulation of foodstuffs. They point to the long term
deterioration of the environment caused by the artificial means which are the only way to meet the standards, or which drivefamily farm s out of business in favor of larger scaleagribusiness .The
United States Food and Drug Administration recently passed stringent standards forseafood and other food imports to the U.S., nominally to prevent tampering by terrorists. Critics have argued these regulations are hyperhygienist, doing too much to prevent deliberate threats tobiosecurity , and not enough to prevent the many natural threats arising from the transport of foodstuffs across ecological borders. Defenders within the organic food movement sometimes respond that regulations that increase the expense of imported food always work to the benefit of more local food, and thus expensive storage and transport systems (or punitive tariffs levied to pay for them) will ultimately drive the entireexport food industry out of business worldwide. This will create niches for local organic agriculture that could not compete directly without assistance.See also:
cult of safety ,risk society
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