Buy organic food to help curb global insect collapse, say scientists

[turbinetree]

Urging political action on pesticide use is another way to help stem ‘collapse of nature’

Buying organic food is among the actions people can take to curb the global decline in insects, according to leading scientists. Urging political action to slash pesticide use on conventional farms is another, say environmentalists.

Intensive agriculture and heavy pesticide use are a major cause of plummeting insect populations, according to the first global review, revealed by the Guardian on Monday. The vanishing of insects threatens a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, the review concluded, because of their fundamental importance in the food chain, pollination and soil health.

“It is definitely an emergency,” said Prof Axel Hochkirch, who leads on insects for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature,the global authority on the status of the natural world. “This is a real, global, dramatic problem.”

“If you buy organic food, you make sure the land is used less intensively,” he said. “There are a lot of studies that show organic farming is better for insects than intensive farming. It is quite logical.” Prof Dave Goulson at the University of Sussex, UK, also backed buying organic food.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/13/buy-organic-food-to-help-curb-global-insect-collapse-say-scientists


I don't know about you, but no machine or human can pollinate plants faster than bees...................

[MH1]

1. Yeah, anyone defending pesticide raised produce wants to talk about "nutrition"

which is a complete red herring.

The reasons for going organic have zero to do with nutrition. It's irrelevant. But that's how they always try to steer the argument. If they can make you believe that there is no additional value to you personally of eating organic, then you won't spend the extra money, they hope.

People need to understand the environmental imperative. If they can afford it, they need to do the right thing. Leave the pesticide-farmed produce for those who can't afford organic at this time. If enough of us do it, economies of scale bring the price more in reach for more people.