81–90 of 138 posts
This is also a consequence of Brexit and the UK aligning with the USA corporate interests.
That said, this is absolutely nothing to do with Brexit - unless Belgium and the Netherlands also left the EU without us noticing. The UK is neither the first nor the only country doing it.
That doesn't make it right, but it does make the Guardian's slant wrong (and I speak as a Guardian reader).
I've caught a few news here & there since Brexit started coming about GB receding from say higher foot safety/quality standards (because of US pressure in that specific article), and then some pesticides articles including this. Is this just a random noise or does generally EU has higher standard for environment & food safety compared to where UK is heading?
I don't agree with it (modern sugar use is evil), but it has nothing to do with lowering food and safety standards as, as mentioned, some EU countries have done the same.
I’m not really sure yet how I feel about this particular case of temporary emergency authorization (which is omitted from the title). I get the chemicals were banned for good reason, but in this case they are trying to prevent a whole commodity sector from collapsing. Tough situation to be in. The larger issue to me is how warped the debate around saving bees and pollinators has become. I get very frustrated every ti…
Here is what I learned about this particular pesticide, from my cousin, who is a farmer who also sometimes plants sugar beets. 1. This particular pesticide comes in the form of a pill, which is planted with the seed. 2. It is very targeted on a particular pest (german name is Rübenrüsselkäfer). 3. Without it, the whole field will be lost. 4. The replacement is a conventional broad band pesticide. It kills everything.…
Soo.... Please correct me if I'm misunderstanding this. If they don't blossom, Bees will not really pick them up from the sugar beets. i.e. this isn't like using the pesticide on a flowering plant where the bees will be picking up the chemical. Interesting? It still seems there would still be some overall impact on groundwater to some level, as well as risks if the crop is planted in rotation with a different crop.
I have no clue whether or not, and how, the bees will pick up this poison from this application. Maybe it gets diluted and never harms bees. Maybe it still gets out and to them.
I tried to look for papers and the first two I found came to opposing conclusions and both of them looked sketchy af.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see your position, and I agree that the problem is more complex than just pesticides are bad, but it's also more complex than saving sugar beets. If this were an invasive species (like murder hornets or malarial mosquitos) problem that could be stopped before it started or a temporary measure to prevent life and death (rather than wealth accumulation) for a significant number of people, I'd have more sympathy. Appl…
But what percentage of UK land is used for growing sugar beet? It must be a small fraction. How many bees are actually going to be in the vicinity of this? I can't see it being a large amount. Regarding "we can just import it", well yes, but if everyone took that opinion then there wouldn't be any farming anywhere eventually.
don't know if you should trust this link, but it's a decent paper: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/7000/files/cp02zi02.pdf
p.s. The paper ends in the late 90s although little has changed other than the closing of the US cane industry in Hawaii.
Why can't they use a non neonicotinoid pesticide instead?
Can you name one that works and isn't worse?
A society of advanced apes with a penchant for destroying their environment decides that a species that is necessary for their survival is better off dead because they don't care for a weird thing called science.
The pesticide was banned by the EU 2 years back. Is there any evidence bees numbers have resurged? I'd be happy to keep this banned, I'm just asking...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But what percentage of UK land is used for growing sugar beet? It must be a small fraction. How many bees are actually going to be in the vicinity of this? I can't see it being a large amount. Regarding "we can just import it", well yes, but if everyone took that opinion then there wouldn't be any farming anywhere eventually.
Sugar beets are only grown where cane is not a viable crop, but end-end they are typically about 2-3x the cost of production. Beet sugar is an awful ecological and economic choice created by putting taxes on the importation of cane sugar. To the extent that it is pure sucrose (and I'm not aware of any alcohols made from beets like rum is from molasses) there isn't any difference in the product either. The US pioneere…