School Poisoning Provides Window into India's Pesticide Problem

August 1, 2013 · 12:40 PM EDT

By Carol HillsMeera Subramanian

A relative wipes the face of a boy who consumed contaminated meals given to children at a school on Tuesday, inside a hospital in the eastern Indian city of Patna July 18, 2013. The Indian government announced on Thursday it would set up an inquiry into the quality of food given to school pupils in a nationwide free meal scheme after at least 23 children died in one of the deadliest outbreaks of mass poisoning in years. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (INDIA - Tags: DISASTER HEALTH) - RTX11QKX
REUTERS

The recent deaths of 23 Indian schoolchildren from pesticide-poisoned lunches was just the latest chapter in the country's long and troubled relationship with chemical pesticides. Host Carol Hills speaks about the problem—and some of the emerging grassroots solutions—with journalist Meera Subramanian. She says India is using 67 pesticides that are banned in other parts of the world.

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