Environmental movement dumps 1 ton of beet pulp for MR headquarters: “Belgium does not care about European ban on pesticides” | Brussels
BrusselsThis morning, activists from the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion (XR), disguised as bees and with the slogan “No bees – No food”, dumped a ton of beet pulp in front of the MR headquarters in Brussels. With this action, the use of pesticides is banned in Belgium, because they are bad for bees. According to XR, agricultural use makes excessive use of “use authorizations” to justify the use of these banned substances.
XR has not specifically chosen to dump beet pulp, because beet cultivation is one of the most important production sectors in our country and is very pesticide-intensive. Among the killer pesticides used in this sector are several molecules of the neon icon family, added Sulfaxoflor, first promoted as a harmless alternative but later banned by the EU only two months ago.
1 in 3 threatened with extinction
The activist group says Belgium is a bad student when it comes to preserving its pollinating insects. According to a study by the University of Bergen, a third of our country is in danger of extinction, 12% is already extinct. The cause is the ubiquity of pesticides in our food production and we even find them on our plates. According to a PAN Europe study, our fruits and vegetables contain the highest levels of pesticides in the EU. The country is where the most pesticides are exported.
“Of crucial importance”
“It is critical to understand that our future depends on the future of insect pollinators for two reasons. First, because 75% of our food production depends directly on their pollination work. Second, because their disappearance could affect the entire food chain, the existence of many other animals and plants is under threat,” said Xavier, of Extinctionbellion.
XR demands the Belgian government immediately stop issuing authorizations for the pesticides banned by the European Union and initiate a rapid transition to sustainable agriculture.
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