Thank you 700 times, and pesticide Tweets…
Posted by Gavin on March 02, 2010 in Global issues
If you didn’t know it already, we use Twitter, and we now have more than 700 followers - for this we would like to say a big thank you to all.
If you don’t use Twitter, you might not be aware of how useful it can be as a resource for information and good ideas. Here’s a collection of pesticide information from tweets from us, and tweets we’ve re-tweeted from the past few days. Enjoy!
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Via @cropprotection
News of the EU’s ‘REAL Fake’ competition to raise awareness of the dangers and problems associated with counterfeit and fake products - recognised as a great opportunity for EU agricultural schools to explore counterfeit pesticide issues.
Read more: http://bit.ly/an1svn
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Via @pdjmoo
Germany: New sensing technology from bats and insects helps farmers reduce fertilizer and pesticide use - impressive.
Read more: http://ow.ly/1bQ0D
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Via @ThePhoenixSun
An article exploring the health implications of pesticide drift, and the problems of regulating drift.
Read more: http://bit.ly/9xFbmx
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Via @pesticideinfo
Food organisations form working groups to tackle impact of pesticides legislation - a response to the UK consultation for the Sustainable Use Directive.
Read more: http://bit.ly/9F4Zqk
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Via @pesticideinfo
Food Scare Over Toxic Cowpeas Spreads in China - reporting on the detection of harmful chemical residues on Chinese produce.
Read more: http://bit.ly/cZUcmO
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Via @TheAngryindian & @GMWatch
Is WWF the only international green group to be picketed by its peers? An article describing critism of WWF for their involvement in spy production in Latin America.
Read more: http://bit.ly/c2wXPF
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Via @cropprotection
Pesticide red tape may prove ‘a blight on potato sector’. UK concern over the potential impact of new pesticide legislation on potato yeilds.
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Via @pesticideinfo
Colony Collapse Disorder: the real crisis ahead, ‘agricultural collapse disorder…’. A view that bee Colony Collapse Disorder is infact casued by the nature of bee farming.
Read more: http://bit.ly/bzGcJg
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Via @canadaguy
Children in Latin American countries found exposed to DDT - a legacy of anit-malaria pesticide use.
Read more: http://www.enn.com/health/article/41028
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Via @pesticideinfo
Tomatoes that taste like Holland, farming with scorpions, & at least one goodreason why you should not taste pesticides. Actually the previous post on this blog - when you’re done here, why not have a read.
Read more: http://bit.ly/aDuR1Y
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Via @HealthandEnv
NGO facing legal challenge after apparently discovering unacceptable pesticide levels in wine.
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Via @scgardeningnews
Cultural controls are best, but if you must spray, use less toxic insecticides. Some basic advice on home and garden pesticide use.
Read more: http://bit.ly/LpNYO
Some of our followers…
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Comments(0)WWF: balancing food and environmental security
Posted by Helen Dunnett on April 08, 2009 in Environment
At the recent Forum for the Future of Agriculture (see previous posts below), we spoke to Matthias Meissner of the WWF in Berlin.
We asked him for his views on balancing food and environmental security. He sees it as imperative, but that it should be done by encouraging capacity for farming in the developing world, rather than insisting on increasing productivity, say via the use of technology. View the full interview below.
BirdLife: others should provide training to farmers, not just industry
Posted by Helen Dunnett on January 27, 2009 in Farming
At the Forum for the Future of Agriculture (see previous posts below), we spoke to Ariel Brunner, BirdLife International’s EU Agriculture Policy Officer, about the importance of farmers having the right knowledge when applying technology, and the ways in which farmers can acquire this knowledge (he talks about training, incentives and regulation). He highlights that, so far, industry has perhaps played the biggest roll in providing this training to farmers, but considering their clear vested interest, others should be involved to a greater extent. View his comments by clicking below.
Views from the Healthy Foods Summit
Posted by Helen Dunnett on October 10, 2008 in Environment, European Regulation, Food & health
We attended the Healthy Foods Summit in London earlier this week with our trusted handycam. Following the keynote debate on food production, we spoke to two of the panel members, Helen Browning, Food and Farming Director at the Soil Association and Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive of LEAF, an association that specialises in integrated farm management techniques, and the moderator, Dominic Dyer of the Crop Protection Association, to get a full spectrum of views on the ongoing revision of the European pesticides regulation.
Please click on the respective images below to see some snippets from each interview.
2008 wine – an interesting aftertaste
Posted by Helen Dunnett on March 31, 2008 in Food & health
What a shame! I missed all the buzz around the pesticides in wine story. Not only because I was somewhat distracted after a few glasses of Chateau la France, but mainly because I was on holiday. Pan Europe have had great success in the media recently after launching a new report claiming the presence of pesticide residues in wine. Looking at my RSS feeds this one bounced around Europe several times. Industry responded but it appears their response wasn’t half as media sexy (or can I say addictive?) as Pan’s. No change there then! If you missed this one, overviews of the story may be found here: Pan Europe, ECPA, EurActiv, Wine & Spirit.com, Yahoo!, DW-World.
Week without pesticides
Posted by Helen Dunnett on March 20, 2008 in Environment, Food & health
Elsewhere on the web, heated debates are taking place as to the official first day of Spring, historically the 20/21st March, however there is no question in the minds of the French activists MDRGF (Movement for Rights and Respect for Future Generations) who are organising their third year of ‘Week without pesticides’ in France today. Since its debut in 2006, this event has grown in popularity across France and this year is also supported by various European countries.
During 10 days, associations, farmers, companies and NGOs will hold various activities to educate the public on health and environmental risks due to pesticide use and prove that viable alternatives to chemical treatments exist. They have a handy map of France and Europe pinpointing where the events will take place until 30th March.
For more information visit the campaign site.