Friends of the Earth Canada warns public about organic pesticides on garden center plants

Friends of the Earth Canada is calling on Ontario Minister of the Environment Chris Ballard to investigate the sale of flowering plants containing organic pesticides. Their trial lawyer group Ecojustice filed an application under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, requesting the Minister of the Environment investigate the sale of plants containing organic pesticides by garden centers in contravention of the Ontario Pesticides Act. 

Okay, that last part isn't true. Well, the trial lawyers are true, environmental groups are a huge employer of attorneys, but they are not worried about the organic pesticide they found on plants from plants sold at RONA, Canadian Tire and Home Depot garden centres in Ottawa. They are only worried about Imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid that has been a target of anti-science fundraising campaigns. But if bees are important, why leave out the dangerous one that is sold as "organic"? Unlike neonicotinoids, which have only been found harmful to bees in activist brochures, organic-certified Spinosad is “highly toxic” to bees.

And yet it is on these plants, though Friends of the Earth does not express their concern about it. The question becomes, if bees are important, and consumer awareness about pesticides on plants they buy in stores is really their goal, why pick and choose pesticides to raise the alarm about?  Why not list them all, especially if the organic one is the most toxic? 

The organic food buying public are increasingly becoming jaded about misinformation campaigns by Friends of the Earth and industry front groups like Organic Consumers Association. They are concerned that Environmental Working Group is promoting poor health by claiming fruits and vegetables manufactured using non-organic-certified pesticides are harmful to health. They want these groups to start being positive again. If Friends of the Earth and their trial lawyers would call out toxic pesticides made by their clients as being harmful.