Credit: AP /Jim Mone
A government scientist has accused the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of suppressing his research that criticized a commonly used kind of pesticide that’s been linked to the widespread death of bees, Harvest Public Media reports.
At the heart of the matter are neonicotinoids pesticides or “neonics,” which are used on almost all corn and canola crops, most soybeans, cotton, wheat, and a number of other smaller crops in the US. If the government were to formally recognize the danger (or inefficacy) of the pesticide, it would have huge impacts on American agriculture, the food supply—and a number of mega-corporations.
Jonathan Lundgren, a senior research entomologist at the USDA, has published several papers on both the ineffectiveness and potential dangers of such technology-based pesticides. In March 2014, he also reviewed a report for the Center for Food Safety that criticized the overuse of neonics, finding that they do not actually provide farmers with economic benefits when […]
A galactically criminal act. Instead of the EPA we might call it the PPA with the first word being Profit. The local nurseries know about neonicotinoids…. but on an industrial scale: operational ignorance. How deep into the hole of corruption need we plummet before uttering the word.