Buy organic food to help curb global insect collapse, say scientists
By vast
Published: April 5, 2019
Category: Organic Farming and Food, The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter
A global review reported in The Guardian has linked intensive farming and pesticide use with declining insect populations. Scientists emphasize that buying organic food and taking political actions to slash pesticide use are key steps that can rein in the damage.
“It is definitely an emergency,” said professor Axel Hochkirch of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. “This is a real, global, dramatic problem.”
Professor Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex added, “There are a lot of studies that show organic farming is better for insects than intensive farming. It is quite logical.”
Subsidies for intensive agriculture need to be reformed, Hochkirch said. “You need to change the system of how farmers are paid. It is not the farmer who is to blame, it is the system.”
Mowing lawns less frequently and eliminating fertilizers in gardens will also help. The UK government has a 25-year environmental plan to help restore vital insect species; it banned three neonicotinoid pesticides last year, but overall pesticide use is still on the rise.
Some MPs are backing an amendment to set a target for pesticide cuts.
Source: The Guardian
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