The U.S. government is identifying and securing the domestic targets whose destruction would pose the greatest threat to American lives and national defense. This is called our "critical infrastructure".
Food supply and the safety of that food are key issues. Agroterrorism involves intentional threats from international or domestic terrorists, using biological, chemical, radiological or other agents against pre- or post-harvest food and fiber production to inspire fear, cause economic damage, threaten public health or cause other adverse impacts. For example, some diseases can be transferred to humans from animals. Some diseases affect the productivity of animals or crops. This is the use of the foodchain as a weapon.
A person might resort to agroterrism for motives of profit, to make a political point, or to threaten the general availability and quality of food.
More information is available from the Extension Disaster Education Network at eden.lsu.edu/
The Department of Homeland Security maintains a list of critical infrastructures in the National Asset Database; in mid-2006, there were about 77,000 entries on the list. However, identifying potential targets most vital to the nation's economy/security, ranking them and deciding how to secure them using scarce tax dollars can be a problem. Agriculture is especially challenging, since production is typically not concentrated in any single site, even on one farm. Vigilance is our best protection.
