All across the United States, more than 100,000 men and women protect our food, health, property, and the environment through the pest control industry everyday. Pest management plays a major role in allowing all of us to live healthier, more prosperous, and comfortable lives. The pest control industry, with over 15,000 firms, will do over $5 billion a year in sales. The industry will service more than 14 million households, over 300,000 retail food establishments, over 500,000 commercial restaurants and kitchens, and over 75,000 hotels and motels nationwide. The pest control industry's importance to the nation as a whole is considerably broader. Effective pest management practices protect this country's over $4 trillion worth of construction from wood-destroying insects.
Pests have been known to transmit 15 major, and hundreds of other, disease-causing organisms from salmonella and dysentery to trichinosis and the plague. It would be difficult to find any part of the food industry that could comply with state or federal sanitation regulations without an adequate pest control program. Without proper pest management practices, over 50 percent of our food crops would be destroyed by pests. This would translate to paying an astronomical amount of money for produce and other foods if effective pest control practices were not used.
Throughout history, infestations of certain insects and rodents have threatened the livelihood and, indeed, the very survival of human communities. When left unchecked, destructive, disease-carrying pests proved capable of not only consuming or contaminating entire crops but also ravaging herds of farm animals. In addition to causing serious losses in agriculture, pests also damage homes and the health of the people who inhabit them.
At one time, pests appeared to be an inescapable fact of nature. Fortunately for us today, however, pest control professionals have developed effective measures for protecting our homes, farms, warehouses, and other buildings. By applying innovative methods of prevention and eradication, members of the industry have helped safeguard our health, food, and even our economy.
