Biden and Brussels are still at loggerheads over food production, despite a face-saving communiqué in November.
Indeed, while the U.S. pleads for moderation, France promises to spend its six-month EU presidency pushing “an accelerated phase-out of pesticides,” with serious consequences for food security and the environment.
In picking up Trump’s baton, Biden is angering European (and American) environmentalists but is revitalizing American leadership in another way. Farmers across the developing world are counting on Washington to fend off EU-imposed pesticide bans that would devastate their livelihoods.
Curbing pesticides sounds admirable, but flies in the face of the science underpinning food production. Were the EU model implemented worldwide, the U.S, Department of Agriculture (USDA) warns food prices would rise by up to 89 percent, and 185 million more people would face food insecurity.
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Ultimately, this battle boils down to different views of individual choice. EU officials like Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides argue their rules encourage production methods which benefit farmers and consumers.
U.S. consumers who pay a premium for organic, non-GMO products might agree, but in Europe (and in Kenya), these changes are being forced upon the whole sector, with neither farmers nor consumers getting a say.
