Reducing toxic pesticides that poison soil and water is a priority for civil society, which is therefore proposing a petition in the EU, through the organisations Ekō and WeMove, under the aegis of Pesticide Action Network Europe. (1)
Ursula von der Leyen is called to respect the commitments she had made at the beginning of the previous legislature, with the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy, and included the proposal for the Sustainable Use of pesticides Regulation (SUR), later withdrawn. (3)
1) Reduce pesticides, requests
The petition addresses some very clear requests to the European Commission:
– reintroduce pesticide reduction into EU policy. The Commission must ensure that pesticide reduction returns to the forefront of European strategies and regulatory reforms;
– promote ambitious goals for sustainable food production systems. We need to invest in research and innovation towards agronomic practices compatible with public health and the environment;
– protection of public health and the environment. Public and civil society organizations are calling for stricter regulations to protect human health, biodiversity and the integrity of ecosystems that are now at the end of their tether in the old continent.
2) European petition, 260.000 signatures in three months
260.000 signatures collected in three months, in support of the petition under consideration, confirm once again the concerns of European citizens towards toxic chemicals still widely used in agriculture.
Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides authorised in the EU still contain PFAS and microplastics, as well as various active substances with carcinogenic, genotoxic and endocrine disrupting action (4,5,6).
Pollution caused by such substances, including their adjuvants, is irreversible and is likely to produce serious short, medium and long-term impacts on human and animal health, including pollinating insects, as well as on the environment.
3) EU, politics is deaf to citizens’ demands
The citizens regularly express their concerns about the impacts of pesticides on public health and the environment through petitions and initiatives (e.g. #SavetheBees), as well as in surveys conducted on behalf of the European Commission (7,8).
The EU politics continues, however, to privilege the particular interests of financial oligarchies in industrial and agrochemical agriculture over fundamental human rights and the necessary protection of agro-ecosystems. (9)
‘We urge EU politicians to act quickly to reduce the toxic cocktail of pesticides. Farmers, their families and neighbours are the first victims. It can cause cancers and neurological disorders and harm children’s development. It also leads to biodiversity loss, soil degradation and contamination of water sources.’ (Natalija Svrtan, PAN Europe).
4) Agroecology and organic production, the only solution
The toxicity of pesticides and other ‘plant protection products’ has serious impacts on human health, as well as on the quality of soil and water. Research has also shown that:
– agroecology and organic production are the only solution to protect populations from dietary and environmental exposure to these poisons; (10)
– all consumers who eat ‘conventional’ (i.e. non-organic) foods are regularly exposed to agrotoxics also through their residues present in foods. (11)
5) Provisional conclusions
The European Commission is responsible for protecting our health and that of future generations, and must therefore guarantee support measures for the conversion to organic farming as well as a #fairprice for agricultural products and food products thus produced. (12)
Let’s all sign the petition against toxic pesticides, for a sustainable transformation of our agri-food systems, by following the link indicated in the footnote. (1)
Dario Dongo and Marta Strinati
Footnotes
(1) Ban toxic pesticides! Petition. WeMove. English https://tinyurl.com/zn7y8x7h, English https://tinyurl.com/3euw2bwc
(2) Dario Dongo, Giulia Caddeo. Special Farm to Fork, the strategy presented in Brussels on May 20, 2020. FT (Food Times). May 24, 2020
(3) Dario Dongo. Protesting farmers, pesticides instead of #fairprice. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 7.2.24
(4) Marta Strinati. EU, opaqueness of decisions on pesticides. Pollinis’ petition. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 22.10.24
(5) Dario Dongo. TFA, PFAS. From pesticides to drinking water. FT (Food Times). October 17, 2024
(6) Dario Dongo. Impact of pesticide adjuvants on bee olfaction. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 7.1.24
(7) Dario Dongo. #SaveTheBees, civil society calls for true pesticide-free ecological transition in EU. FT (Food Times). June 17, 2022
(8) Marta Strinati. Special Eurobarometer 2022 on food safety. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6.1.23
(9) Dario Dongo. The tentacles of finance on food sovereignty and our food. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 31.3.24
(10) Marta Strinati. Pesticides in the bedroom. The analyzes of the ICE Save Bees. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 21.9.21
(11) Marta Strinati. The health benefits of organic diet, scientific review. FT (Food Times). 13.11.24
(12) Dario Dongo, Jacopo Govi. Agroecology, how and why. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 14.11.24
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
