According to the passage, why are the chemicals used in agriculture safe?

People today are so concerned with trying to conserve the planet’s resources that they sometimes devote their energy towards impractical changes without considering the consequences. The issue of organic foods, those foods grown without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, is an excellent example of this issue. Advocates of organic foods have suggested that the chemicals used in agriculture are damaging the natural environment. Because of the images created by the advocates of organic foods, many people now believe that the long-term use of chemical fertilizers poisons the soil. In fact, chemical fertilizers have been used on the land since the earliest days of European settlement with excellent results. The United States was founded by men who worked in agricultural chemicals. John Winthrop, one of the organizers of the Connecticut colonies, built a company for the manufacture of potassium nitrate fertilizers thirty years before the American Revolution was even started. Such chemicals were essential in creating the miraculous growth in American a-griculture that led to the prosperity of the young nation. Ever since that time, chemicals have played an important role on farms across the nation. If we followed the advice of the organic foods advocates, we would undoubtedly have less chemicals in our food, but we would also have less food on our tables.