Skepticism, Science & Pseudoscience

HuckleB

(35,773 posts) Tue Oct 13, 2015, 12:22 PM Oct 2015

Organic Industry Works To "Replace" Neonics With Even More Toxic Pesticides

http://risk-monger.blogactiv.eu/2015/06/17/save-the-bees-ban-these-two-toxic-pesticides-immediately/

"...

Those who think a natural toxin (and thus acceptable for organic farming pest control) is less damaging or toxic than well-tested synthetic pesticides are quite frankly very stupid. Cue our friends at the UK organic lobby, the Soil Association, who illegally granted special permission to organic farmers to use azadirachtin on apples. Azadirachtin is a natural pesticide (it is also called neem or neem oil after the tropical tree from which its toxins are extracted) with a long history of use in organic farming. It is approved as an organic pesticide in most EU countries despite lack of data (but not as a pesticide in the UK).

Now the problem is that last week the European Commission concluded that azadirachtin, commonly used by organic farmers in Europe, is seriously fatal to bumblebees even at “concentrations 50 times lower” than the recommended levels for organic farmers. The study showed that only 30% of the bumblebees survived exposure at any dose level of azadirachtin. Azadirachtin may be natural and promoted for organic farming but it is deadly to bees (although perhaps in an organic way).

...

And what do our jokesters at Pesticide Action Network have to say about azadirachtin? PAN recommends this organic bee-killer as an alternative to several neonicotinoids. So a toxic chemical used in organic farming that wipes 70% of bumblebees out at concentrations 50 times lower than the recommended organic farming levels is considered as a safer alternative than well-tested neonicotinoids. This type of lobbying should be criminalised (but large-scale bee deaths don’t count for much in a court of law).

I really don’t get this at all. When faced with the possibility that the data on neonicotinoids is not sufficient to be certain that they cause no potential risk to honeybees, the activists in DG Santé go full-frontal precaution. And yet faced with its own clear evidence of a natural pesticide used by organic farmers that literally exterminates bumblebees at very low doses, and everybody in Michael Flüh’s unit sheepishly look away. How do you spell stupid???

..."

The more time we have to observe the organic industry, the more we find its unethical practices to be, uh, really, really, really, really unethical.

2 replies

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Highlight:

Organic Industry Works To "Replace" Neonics With Even More Toxic Pesticides (Original Post) HuckleB Oct 2015 OP

But it's natural and organic and stuff like that! progressoid Oct 2015 #1

How 'Organic' Agriculture Evolved From Marketing Tool To Evil Empire HuckleB Dec 2015 #2

progressoid

(50,743 posts)

1. But it's natural and organic and stuff like that!

Reply to HuckleB (Original post)

Wed Oct 14, 2015, 03:29 PM

Oct 2015

HuckleB

(35,773 posts)

2. How 'Organic' Agriculture Evolved From Marketing Tool To Evil Empire

Reply to HuckleB (Original post)

Thu Dec 3, 2015, 05:07 AM

Dec 2015

http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2015/12/02/how-organic-agriculture-evolved-from-marketing-tool-to-evil-empire/

"...

After a spate of setbacks for the anti-genetic engineering movement, including the FDA’s approval last month of a faster-growing, genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, the organic industry (which finances most of it) is leading an assault on university scientists who research and advocate for genetically engineered crops. Devoid of any systematic scientific evidence to back up claims of organics’ nutritional, health or environmental superiority, industry executives and their fellow travelers are disparaging modern genetic engineering (which organic categorically rejects) by leading a variety of smear campaigns.

...

But the opposition were neither persuaded nor persuadable, and pounced. The anti-genetic engineering activists and their organic industry benefactors subjected Folta to a vile hate campaign. He became the object of professional and personal harassment, his email accounts were hacked, and he and his wife were threatened with physical violence, simply because his expertise and advocacy run counter to the organic industry’s narrative (and financial well-being). On November 4, Folta announced that he was “bowing out of the public science conversation,” a loss to us all.

Other scientists were maligned simply for writing articles about genetic engineering for a science website. In a hatchet job published in the Boston Globe, Harvard University professor Calestous Juma was accused of “failing to reveal a connection” to Monsanto. The connection? A single email from a Monsanto executive asking Juma and other scientists to write an article on their area of expertise. Neither Juma nor any of the other scientists was paid and none championed or even mentioned Monsanto. But in the eyes of the anti-genetic engineering Mafia and their sympathizers in the media, a simple email exchange constitutes a nefarious “connection.”

...

A splendid editorial in the prestigious journal Nature Biotechnology got to the nub of the issue: “Smear campaigns against those speaking out against scaremongering on [genetically engineered] crops highlight why support for scientists involved in public outreach is so important.”

..."

Certainly, the article offers hope that the organic is really struggling to get its marketing across, and its increasingly vile acts are those of desperation. I'm not so sure that's true, however. Still, good piece.

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