Six local councils have confirmed that they use potentially harmful pesticides in public areas and more than 40 others have failed to declare their preferred way of killing weeds and shrubs, raising suspicions that they also make use of the harmful chemicals, the Clean Food Movement said this morning.
CFM is a gathering of 21 NGOs, organisations and people that share the common philosophy and that are concerned with the current affairs of our food system and the environment.
Group spokesperson John Portelli said the six local councils that have admitted to using pesticides are the Zejtun, Naxxar, Marsascala, Kalkara, Floriana and Balzan local councils. 19 councils said they used motorized grass cutters but 44 others have not declared what method they used.
Mr Portelli was speaking at the ‘March against Monsanto’ held this morning in Valletta. Monsanto is a leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed and of the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand.
The group says that, according to research, the genetically modified foods produced by Monsanto and other producers can lead to serious health conditions such as the development of cancer tumours, infertility and birth defects. Monsanto executives wield strong power within the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the company has been, for far too long, the benefactor of corporate subsidies and policical favouritism. The US Congress has recently passed the so-called ‘Monsanto Protection Act’, which bans courts from halting the sale of Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds. Apart from the health hazards to humans, GMOs have also been found to damage eco-systems.
CFM is advocating a number of solutions, including ‘voting with your dollar’ by buying organic food and boycotting Monsanto-owned companies that use GMO in their products and labelling of GMO products so that consumers can make an informed choice. They are also advocating the repealment of the ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ and calling on governments to further scientific research on the health effects of GMOs. Monsanto executives and the politicians who support them should also be held accountable and the public should be informed about the company’s secrets. Another ‘solution’ is for people to take to the streets and show the world and Monsanto that they will not take these ‘injustices’ quietly.
The Clean Food Movement this morning issued a declaration requesting the Prime Minister to protect Maltese citizens, especially vulnerable groups, from the dangers of the poisonous chemicals found in pesticides that are still abundantly applied in Maltese public spaces. The public, the group said, should also be informed about the use of such chemicals and the adverse effects they could have.
CFM is calling on the government to enforce Malta’s National Action Plan for the Sustainable use of Pesticides 2013-2018 which, among other things, says the use of pesticides should be minimized or prohibited in specific areas, including public spaces, residential zones, public and private gardens, urban open spaces, hospitals, schools and any location accessible to the public.
The legislation also says pesticides should be used at a distance from water paths and sources, a minimum of 30 metres away from the coast and bathing waters and that they should be applied at times of lowest human activity wherever possible.
The group also referred to news articles from the past months that relate to concerns over various alleged abuses in local food production. “It is being noted that till this very day Malta lacks an accredited laboratory that can carry out tests on food for chemical residues and GMOs that can be presented as evidence in the courts. Since all the tests have to be assigned to a foreign laboratory, this is creating an unwarranted latency in the food control system, encouraging abuse by some unscrupulous producers and processors. It is evident that the authorities are also lacking an efficient and effective enforcement structure to guarantee the continuous safety of the food we consume.”
Back in April, The Malta Independent had reported that the government would not ban the use of glyphosate unless the EU imposes a ban or introduces new procedures related to its use.
The Malta Competition and Consumers Authority was asked to react after a German study contradicted a World Health Organisation report which concluded that glyphosate was to be classified as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans. Glyphosate is the main ingredient of Roundup, a weed killer that is used in Malta. The WHO report found sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals and also found that it caused DNA and chromosomal damage in humans.