Free Trade Agreements and pesticides: health and employment at risk
Monday, July 10th at 4pm, at the Sala Piccola Protomoteca, Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome.
The conference “Poisons at the Door – Food, health and environmental risks in the new global market”, organised by Navdanya International, will be held on Monday, July 10th at 4pm, at the Sala Piccola Protomoteca, Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome.
The core theme of the event will be the impact of Free Trade Agreements, such as CETA, on our food and production systems, with a focus on pesticides and their negative effects on consumers and workers. The most recent research data on pesticides residues in imported Canadian products will be given. Also, there will be a presentation of the recent report, prepared by Navdanya International, A Sud and CDCA: “Poisons in our Plate”, on the use of glyphosate in Italy and the world, along with further data on pesticides effects on human health.
The event, promoted by Esclab association, will feature the following speakers:
Dr Vandana Shiva, scientist and environmental activist;
Pinuccia Montanari, Councilor for the Environment at Rome Municipality;
Daniele Diaco, President of the Environmental Commission of Roma Capitale;
Dr Patrizia Gentilini, oncologist and hematologist of ISDE Italy.
Associations will be represented by:
Monica Di Sisto, spokesperson of Stop Ttip Italy, Ruchi Shroff, Navdanya International, Marica Di Pierri, A Sud.
Moderator: Manlio Masucci, journalist.
Production and quality of food represent the priorities of the new century. International finance, following the recent crisis, decided to massively invest in food production and distribution. It is therefore crucial to understand the dynamics of food commodification process, driven by large private industrial conglomerates that pay more attention to production quantity rather than its quality, and to its profits rather than its sustainability. The growing industrialization of the sector will have deep impacts on millions of workers and consumers in Europe and worldwide, while multinationals corporations continue to pressure national governments to get more and more favourable regulations: CETA, the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada, is currently under discussion at the Italian Parliament for final approval, while in Europe the approval process for glyphosate continues, a herbicide classified by IARC as possibly carcinogenic, particularly used in Canadian wheat crops.
The event “Poisons at the door” aims to analyse these issues with particular attention to the quality of food systems, which is likely to be affected by the superficial nature of politics and the inattention of public opinion.
For further information and interviews:
Esclab/Navdanya International Press Office
+39 328 6334318
+39 349 494 3082
