Daniel Cueff’s failed crusade to ban pesticides in his tiny Breton village lays bare the deep political contradictions at the heart of the agrichemical debate in France.
At first glance, the mayor of Langouët suffered a thumping legal defeat on [August 27]. A court in Rennes said he’d had no right to take the law into his own hands in May and ban all pesticides within a 150-meter cordon of his village.
Dejected by the ruling, Cueff told POLITICO in an interview in his modest town hall office that he was simply outgunned by powerful farmers’ unions and giant chemical interests, and that the health of his 600 villagers is now “screwed.”
But his courtroom defeat, which he says he will appeal, is hardly a clear-cut signal that France will forever support the interests of farmers. In a telltale sign of the way the political winds are blowing, Cueff’s act of resistance has become a national cause célèbre.
[Editor’s note: Experts say there is no evidence that glyphosate, as used by farmers, doesn’t pose a cancer risk.]
Politicians are treading very carefully. They know that Cueff commands deep public support for his campaign against glyphosate, a ubiquitous herbicide that has become one of the most explosive health issues across the EU amid continued debate over whether it causes cancer ….
Read full, original article: Village mayor exposes France’s pesticide schism
