Great news for bees - time to say goodbye to fipronil! #SOSbees

It’s party time for bees and other species, because, starting today, the chemical pesticide fipronil can’t be used anymore in agriculture across Europe.

Fipronil is a common pesticide used in agriculture and sparked an international food scandal last summer because the toxic substance was used illegally in chicken stables, contaminating eggs and eggs derivatives. So far, 26 European countries and 23 non-EU countries — in total 49 countries — have been affected. The extent of the contamination shows how our food and agriculture system is broken. It’s time to leave toxic substances behind and rethink the food we eat and produce.

Wheat in Ecological Farm in France. 21 June, 2017.

With the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to be debated soon in the EU,  we will have a chance to discuss how to promote ecological farming and avoid further food scandals and to stop the decline of bees and other species.

Luís Ferreirim is a Food for Life campaigner with Greenpeace Spain