Every day there are roughly 1,347 stories I wish we could cover in Daily Grist. Here’s one that didn’t make the cut today, but that I can’t get out of my head: in an effort to bring its rules in line with the U.S., Canada is getting ready to raise allowable levels of pesticides on food.
Canadian authorities say it’s just an effort to smooth out trade relations, and will be decided on a case-by-case basis. But critics say Canada and the U.S. already use more pesticides than Europe, making the new plan lu-di-crous. “We should look to equal or surpass the best in the world, not only measure ourselves against the U.S.,” says eco-lawyer David Boyd. Word.
Another choice quote, from a spokesman for the Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward Island: “”I think it’s part of the move toward a cheap food policy in a globalized food economy, which I am personally convinced is not the way to increase prosperity for Canadian farmers.”
Scary stuff.
