Tackling toxic myths on pesticides and food security

Key policy targets to reduce pesticide use, included in Europe’s Farm to Fork strategy, are being challenged by vested corporate interests seeking to prolong access to the European market. Big agribusiness and proponents of industrial agriculture are using the war in Ukraine as an excuse to lobby to extend the use of toxic pesticides in Europe and undermine the proposal for a new EU Pesticides Regulation. They argue that reduced pesticide-use will add to the supply challenges created by the war because it will result in lower yields and higher prices

Arguments to continue using pesticides would do little to boost global food supplies, but would instead be disastrous for nature, and would undermine efforts to ensure the sustainability of food production in the European Union.