After 9/11, the federal government waged war on terrorism, but that fight, according to some experts, has come at a cost to the nation’s food supply.
Citing a 2006 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the Associated Press reported that in 2003, the federal government reassigned more than 1,800 agricultural specialists to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), leaving the borders unprotected against invasive plants, produce and insects that threaten the food supply. Scientists say the move has cost billions of dollars in crop damage and eradication efforts.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) workers were reassigned and became employees of the DHS’ Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They were accustomed to dealing with pests and plants, not terrorists and weapons.
Even though the CBP had been tasked with fighting both terrorist and agricultural invasions — and had the personnel to do both — the office devoted the bulk of these resources to the terrorism portion. The result was that bugs in crates and fruits in passengers’ bags — ones that can wreak havoc — were introduced into the country.
Mark Hoddle, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, travels abroad studying invasive species, often on behalf of California government. “Everybody pays a price,” he said. “When we have an agricultural pest that comes in and establishes, it means growers have to apply more pesticides to control that pest. That increases environmental contamination; that means your food prices increase, so if you want to buy oranges or apples, you end up paying slightly more because management costs have increased.”
Troubling Invaders
More than 50,000 non-native plant and insect species have emerged in the United States, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Most have been harmless or beneficial, but some have been catastrophic, like these invaders:
- The mildly toxic yellow star thistle from Eurasia has crowded out millions of acres of grass that cows graze on in the Western United States, crippling ranchers.
- Quagga mussels from the Ukraine cover entire American landscapes with their shells, causing billions of dollars in damage to boats, docks and other property while clogging pipes and impeding flowing water inside.
- Spartina grass is indigenous to multiple foreign countries, but in the American west, birds have trouble finding their food — insects and crustaceans — that becomes hidden in spartina that shouldn’t be there.
“Our crops and forests are always at risk when we’re dealing with new pests that might come in,” said Jeff Grode, assistant director for emergency and domestic programs at APHIS. His office focuses on how to handle invasive species that slip through the cracks. “Pests that are new to an environment can do damage because there aren’t natural enemies for many of them here.”
According to the GAO, in a typical inspection, travelers are questioned about their origins and destinations, and inspectors review their written declarations and screen luggage with dogs. If the inspectors still have doubts, they question a passenger more fully and examine luggage by hand search or X-ray.
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