Unbeknownst to many Americans, a majority of soybean, corn, canola and sunflower seeds planted in the U.S. are precoated with neonicotinoid insecticides, also known as “neonics.” Needless to say, since the chemical is taken up systemically through the plant, it cannot be rinsed off.
A 2015 report by the American Bird Conservancy revealed neonics were found in congressional cafeteria food, demonstrating just how pervasive they have become in our food supply.
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The polar bear has become the poster child for climate change. Just picture one of the furry white giants struggling to hang on to a melting ice cap and it’s clear why a fast-warming planet is a bad thing.
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Ever year, farmers in the United States devote at least 80 million acres, a combined landmass three-quarters the size of California, to soybeans. At least half the crop comes from proprietary seeds coated with insecticides and fungicides. These chemicals infuse the plants as they emerge, protecting them from damage by insects and fungal pathogens.
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Neonicotinoid insecticides are water soluble and used to coat the seeds of most corn, soybeans and canola. However, the toxins affect the insects pollinating plants, kill the birds eating the seeds and get into the groundwater; in addition, the use of genetically engineered seed has increased the need for pesticides in the past 25 years.
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Paul Kernaleguen says regenerative agriculture has brought bees back to his farm. “With the flowering species [of plants] we have now, you definitely see more,” he said. He’s referring to the mixture of plants in his fields, near Birch Hills, Sask. Along with his partner, Erin Dancey, he now grows flowers like red clover, phacelia and sunflowers, along with barley, oats and peas they grow to feed their dairy cattle.
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Honey bees are essential for the pollination of flowers, fruits and vegetables, and support about $20 billion worth of crop production in the U.S. annually, Matthew Mulica, senior project manager at the Keystone Policy Center, a consulting company that works with the Honey Bee Health Coalition, told ABC News.
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The environmental benefits of Connexus Energy's solar-plus-storage project are obvious enough, but this time of year, you'll notice something more: prairie grasses and flowers planted under and around the sea of solar panels.
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Campaigners have handed in a letter to the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, calling on him to support the banning of more pesticides which harm the bee population. The European Commission has already banned three pesticides because of their impact on the declining bee population, but campaigners want the commission to go further.
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The nation's most productive agricultural state will ban a widely used pesticide blamed for harming brain development in babies, California officials said Wednesday.
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The global grassroots organization Slow Food was among the groups that called for far greater attention by world leaders to the "debilitating" loss of biodiversity and the disastrous effects the decline is having on food system, which was outlined in a first-of-its kind report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
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