Impact of Pesticides on Public Health and Environment

The European Commission highlighted the impact of pesticides on public health and environment during a webinar organised as part of the European Green Deal Campaign.  The webinar took place on Tuesday, 15 September 2020 from 11:00 to 12:30 via Zoom and shared live on EU Infopoint Facebook page.

During the webinar Associate Professor Wayne Grant Carter from Nottingham University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences talked about the impact of pesticides on public health and the environment as well as control procedures and reduction strategies of pesticide use. Hans Muilerman
from Pesticide Action Network Europe highlighted the impact of pesticides on the environment and the actions for the reduction of pesticide use by 2030 as part of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, while Reşat Değirmenci from the Department of Agriculture drew attention to the current local situation and recommendations. 

The European Green Deal is the EU response to the environmental crisis. We need deep changes in the way we live, from our energy system and the way we use land, buildings, cities, transport and food. The Farm to Fork Strategy is at the heart of the European Green Deal aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly. 

Background:

The European Green Deal is the EU’s new growth strategy. The European Commission aims to assure a high level of food safety and animal & plant health within the EU through coherent Farm to Fork measures and adequate monitoring, while ensuring an effective internal market. The central goal of the European Commission's Food Safety policy is to ensure a high level of protection of human health regarding the food industry — Europe’s largest manufacturing and employment sector. The Commission's guiding principle, primarily set out in its White Paper on Food Safety, is to apply an integrated approach from farm to fork covering all sectors of the food chain. 

The EU Farm to Fork Strategy will enable the transition to a sustainable EU food system that safeguards food security and ensures access to healthy diets sourced from a healthy planet. It will reduce the environmental and climate footprint of the EU food system and strengthen its resilience, protecting citizens' health and ensuring the livelihoods of economic operators. The strategy sets concrete targets to transform the EUs food system, including a reduction by 50% of the use and risk of pesticides, a reduction by at least 20% of the use of fertilizers, a reduction by 50% in sales of antimicrobials used for farmed animals and aquaculture, and reaching 25% of agricultural land under organic farming.