It’s hard to know where to start this week. So many burning issues and so little space in which to address them. So I’ll pick on one.

When Adrian Barlow spoke with Friends of the Earth about its frankly ridiculous stance on pesticides in fruit and vegetables, he was told that the leaflet was meant for “supporters and subscribers” only. It’s no wonder we have so many semi-ignorant renegade activists in this country if this is the type of drivel they sign up for in the first place.

When will the government find the spine to outlaw the publication of propaganda such as “..up to 200 young children a day could be consuming potentially dangerous levels of pesticides, simply by eating an apple or pear”? Instead of responding with fire, the DoH told us it does not like to comment on other people’s campaigns.

Telling parents that their children are threatened by consuming fruit is fine then. Yet, make a few factual claims for the potential health benefits of consuming more fruit and vegetables and you’ll be up before the beak quicker than you can say 5-a-day.

On page 10 this week, we have the first of what will now be a monthly profile on the DoH’s 5 A DAY campaign, which the Journal backs wholeheartedly. And on page 12, we have the first of a six part series entitled Natural Born Killers, which outlines research into biological pest control methods.

We have to identify what gets in the way of linking the two positive stories and stamping out the string of loose words that can only eventually harm consumers.