Individually, the charges against former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy look like small potatoes. Collectively, they present a disturbing pattern of favoritism in a job that has become increasingly important.

A federal grand jury last week charged that Mr. Espy “solicited, received and accepted” gifts that included a $2,427 set of luggage and a $4,590 trip for him and his girlfriend to the 1993 U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York City from Sun Diamond Growers of California and tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football playoff game and $1,009 in air fare for himself and his girlfriend from Tyson Foods Inc. He is also accused of covering up these gifts.

Why Mr. Espy may have let relatively small gifts stop a successful political career is anybody’s guess. Speculation is that after six years in Congress he simply accepted gift-giving as a perk of office. Even more troubling are observations made about the timing of the gifts and decisions pertaining to poultry inspection, meat promotion and other duties of his former department.

Health and safety questions are what make this case important. The Agriculture Department has long been charged with beiong too close to the industries it is supposed to help oversee. Health warnings in recent years about strawberries, ice cream, chicken and, just this month, hamburger show how important it is for the federal goverment to establish and enforce thorough food inspections. Equally important is the public’s confidence in government to enforce the rules.

The court has yet to rule on Mr. Espy’s case, but at the very least the former secretary’s admitted close relationship with the lobbyists of the food giants he was regulating harmed the image of his department. That in itself amounts to exceedingly reckless behavior.