We must all eat.
Unfortunately, for the health of the public, the use of toxic chemicals in food production, plus pollution in other forms, goes wider than the fish-farming industry (Fish farm at centre of mystery illness was warned over safety by US agency, News, October 28).
Current farming practices, on land or at sea, are unsound on a wide range of issues. Given the massive vested interest involved and their standard defence of case not proven, is the question too complex for politicians, the various health executives, plus the medical profession, to tackle? Though now a retired farmer, it was obvious to me 50 years ago that in all probability, along with its many other deleterious effects, there is a correlation between chemical agriculture and the increasing rates of cancer.
Iain R Thomson
Cannich
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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