France Seeks to Cut Pesticide Use in Half

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France Seeks to Cut Pesticide Use in Half

Written by Mother Jones |

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France Seeks to Cut Pesticide Use in Half

Over in France, a farmer has successfully sued Monsanto for pesticide poisoning. The farmer claims he suffered a raft of neurological troubles after inhaling the agrochemical giant's Lasso herbicide while cleaning his sprayer in 2004. The court's ruling against Monsanto "could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides," according to Reuters.

All very interesting, but what caught my eye was this background bit toward the end of the story:

France, the EU's largest agricultural producer, is now targeting a 50 percent reduction in pesticide use between 2008 and 2018, with initial results showing a 4 percent cut in farm and non-farm use in 2008-2010.

Wait, France has a national policy in place to slash pesticide use within less than a decade? That's news to me. So I did a little digging and found that back in 2008, the French government rolled out a plan called Ecophyto 2018 in...

Read the entire article @ Mother Jones
http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/02/france-eu-monsanto-pesticide-ban

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