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Pesticides in vegetables: France does better than Spain
The fruits and vegetables of our daily lives have been scrutinized by the magazine “Que Choisir”. France is doing well, with cleaner products, the result of different cultivation methods. But prices are soaring. – (France 2)
The fruits and vegetables of our daily lives have been scrutinized by the magazine “Que Choisir”. France is doing well, with cleaner products, the result of different cultivation methods. But prices are soaring.
Appetizing fruits and vegetables, grown in France but also abroad, particularly in Spain. Some consumers are wary. Are our fruits and vegetables really healthier? Yes, according to the magazine What to choose. There are half as many pesticide residues in French vegetables as in imported vegetables. For example, there are traces of pesticides in 55% of French peppers, compared to 79% in Spain. So how can we explain these results?
Favor natural methods
In the province of Almeria, in the south of Spain, a huge mosaic of greenhouses. More than 30,000 hectares of land are dedicated to vegetable cultivation. Antonio Zamora’s specialty is peppers, three hectares of yellow and red peppers, intended for export. Helped by a biology expert, he uses fewer and fewer pesticides and favors natural methods. But sometimes, it is necessary to treat, against green bugs for example. He also uses fungicides against fungi.
According to What to choose, we are not always virtuous. In 2019, 100% of French peaches and cherries contained pesticides, unlike those of our European neighbors, who had significantly less.
Among Our sources
Publication of the magazine study What to choose page 6 (Article cross-checked by our own investigation)
Ministry of Ecological Transition
Spanish Ministry of Agriculture
Comparison on Eurostat
(Spain number 1 in pesticide sales in the EU with: 2021 = 76,173 tonnes sold.
France is just behind, with: 2021 = 69,444 tonnes sold.)
Non-exhaustive list