This brief summarizes the science on a third critical principle of regenerative agriculture that receives comparatively little attention: minimizing use of pesticides.
Since neonicotinoid insecticides were rst intro- duced in the 1990s, U.S. agriculture has become 48 times more toxic to insect life, according to a new study in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One.
We need a massive expansion of diversified, organic and ecologically regenerative farming systems. These are based on practices that draw carbon out of the atmosphere and produce abundant, nutritious food using less energy and water.
In this peer-reviewed study, we compared pesticide levels in the bodies of four American families for six days on a non-organic diet and six days on a completely organic diet. We found that an organic diet rapidly and dramatically reduced exposure to pesticides in just one week.
Friends of the Earth and our allies across the country conducted this testing to discover if pesticide residues are present in foods commonly eaten by children and families found at the top four food retailers in the United States: Walmart, Kroger, Costco and Albertsons/Safeway.
If Bayer and Monsanto are allowed to complete their proposed $66 billion merger, the economics of food, farming and the environment will be radically altered. Competition in agriculture will never be the same.
This report has found that the pesticide industry is stifling urgently needed reforms that would help these essential pollinators survive and rebuild their numbers.
Farming for the Future details the science that demonstrates that organic and agroecological farming are fundamental to feeding all people, now and into the future.
The industrial food and agricultural sector spent hundreds of millions of dollars from 2009 to 2013 on communications efforts to spin the media, drive consumer behavior and advance its policy agenda.