France Pulls An All Out Ban on Pesticides in the Public
By Heather Callaghan
January 2, 2017
French Ban on Pesticides a Long Time Coming…
At the very end of 2016, AP News reported that “children will soon be able to frolic in the grass without risk of intoxication.”
“Pesticides will be banned in all public green spaces from Sunday while non-professional gardeners will no longer be able to buy pesticides over the counter,” they reported.
This pesticide ban covers public forests, parks and gardens, but local authorities are still allowed to use pesticides in cemeteries for some reason. A ban of pesticides in private gardens will be complete by 2019. French lawmakers have adopted a “green initiative” that also includes a ban on plastic bags for vegetables.
France has been building up for this ban on pesticides for a long time; particularly with Monsanto’s Roundup. Too many incidents involving corporate recklessness have encroached on the French heritage and it just can’t be tolerated any longer.
Monsanto Went Too Far With France…
As bloated chemical companies put pressure on European farmers, science and politicians to continue to support GMOs and the mega doses of pesticides they come with, skepticism began to rise. Pesticides and fungicides have been found in fine French wines and then an organic farmer was inexplicably threatened with imprisonment for not spraying his vineyards. Then, a French court found Monsanto guilty in poisoning a farmer with their chemicals.
Perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back was the French study by Gilles-Eric Séralini that fed rats GMOs past the typical 90-day mark only to find them with massive tumors. The study retraction did not convince people otherwise. In 2014, France banned GMO cultivation. France vigorously joined the wave of GMO opt-outs among European nations.
Earlier this year, France’s National Assembly just voted to totally ban the bee-killing pesticides known as neonicotinoids. Last spring, ANSES — French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety — sent manufacturers a letter of intent to withdraw its authorization for herbicides containing glyphosate with the adjuvant (additive) tallow amine.
More recently, the EU decided not to back an extension on the use of glyphosate, striking a major blow to the multinational corporation. Then, a French study found hundreds of glaring conflicts of interest in studies that spread glowing reviews of GMOs.
Indeed, France has had a long history of conflict with chemical companies as they try to hang on to the last shreds of their heritage. Big Ag chemical companies can only push a nation so far before they realize what they’ve lost.
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