ABSTRACT
An important process through which governments build support for pesticide spraying is allaying concerns about pesticides, and this chapter examines three activities that New Zealand officials pursued to allay concerns. The first was proposing a spraying operation that was much smaller and far less threatening that what it would eventually become. The second was expanding the operation incrementally, which had the effect of reducing the amount of angst and resistance generated by the changes. Third, in their communications about the spraying operation government officials consistently portrayed the pesticide and its ingredient as being harmless to humans. Reading this chapter will acquaint the reader with government activities that dampen concerns and minimize the generation of resistance and opposition to spraying operations.
