VIDEO  Running time 70 mins

Andre Leu is an Australian organic farmer, an internationally recognised speaker, the author of ‘The Myths of Safe Pesticides’ and “Poisoning Our Children”. He was past President of IFOAM (The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements). and presently he is the international director of Regeneration International. As a child, Andre suffered from the effects of the chemicals used on the family farm and was often ill. This experience led him to become an organic farmer and for the past 40 years has worked in all areas of organic agriculture, from growing crops, pest-control, weed management, marketing, and post-harvest transport to grower organisations, developing new crops and education – not only in his home country Australia but across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa.

In this presentation, Andre details the myths associated with so-called safe pesticides. He claims there are about 80.000 of which only a few hundred have been tested. Toxicologists claim that this testing is not thorough and is done in isolation. Thousands more untested chemicals are being used and mixed to make dangerous cocktails and no one’s testing for the synergies between these chemicals. So the product that a farmer buys and uses is a cocktail of different chemicals and is used to grow our food.

Andre then turns to the alarming effects that pesticides are having on the health of the population, particularly on the health of children. Andre claims that in the farming communities alone, he sees all the illnesses in the families. For instance, the amount of cancers, particularly breast cancer; the amount of children born with a whole range of problems like autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, schizophrenia spectrum, neurodegenerative diseases, and heart disease. His research into pesticides provides compelling listening as he presents his findings. Share with friends.

Chapters:

1. Disclaimer
2. The Parents Guide to the Myths of Safe Pesticides
3. Myths of Safe Pesticides 1
4. Myths of Safe Pesticides 2
5. Poisoning our Children

Andre’s presentation is part of the Organic Agriculture Association’s (OAA) 1-day seminar Pesticides: Safety Myths and Farming Without Pesticides. Farming Secrets acknowledges OAA for allowing filming of the event and thank the event sponsors.