Triptothecottage (talk | contribs) |
Thefactcorrecter (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} |
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} |
||
'''Georgina Downs''' is |
'''Georgina Downs''' is a campaigner and journalist from the [[United Kingdom]]. After experiencing chronic illness throughout her childhood and adolescence, she launched a campaign against the use of [[Pesticide|pesticides]] in [[Intensive farming|industrial agriculture]].<ref>[http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/cleaner_air_water_land/361015/case_study_campaigning_against_pesticides.html The Ecologist, "Pesticide Nun'']</ref> |
||
==Early life== |
==Early life== |
||
In 1983, when Downs was |
In 1983, when Downs was 10 years old, she moved with her family from [[Pagham]] to a house next to agricultural fields near [[Chichester]]. The nearest field adjoining the house and garden was initially used for [[grazing]] livestock, but shortly after Downs arrived, it was converted to crop land. According to Downs, over the following years, her health gradually worsened as the result of exposure to the pesticides used in the nearby fields. Acute symptoms included sore throats, [[Blister|blisters]] in the mouth and throat, headaches, and [[Influenza-like illness|flu-like symptoms]]. When Downs was 18 she ended up in hospital with chronic health problems including severe neurological symptoms. Medical tests at that time ruled out [[Motor Neurone Disease|motor neurone disease]] and [[Parkinson's disease]] as the cause of her symptoms.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/georgina-downs-britains-erin-brockovich-1900546.html|title=Georgina Downs: Britain's Erin Brockovich|last=Hickman|first=Martin|date=2010-02-16|work=The Independent|access-date=2017-03-26|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|language=en-GB}}</ref> |
||
==UK Pesticides Campaign== |
==UK Pesticides Campaign== |
||
After researching the subject of pesticides and their effects on human health, Downs decided to challenge government regulations. In 2001, she founded a campaign called the UK Pesticides Campaign to |
After researching the subject of pesticides and their effects on human health, Downs decided to challenge government regulations. In 2001, she founded a campaign called the UK Pesticides Campaign (www.pesticidescampaign.co.uk) to highlight the issues associated with pesticide exposure in agricultural areas and the adverse health impacts on rural residents and communities. In 2002, the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP), a government body, was instructed to conduct a study into pesticide practices using evidence supplied by Downs, but dismissed the evidence as inadequate. Late in 2004, the [[Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution]] was requested by the then DEFRA Minister Alun Michael, to conduct a study into the evidence regarding the risks to people from crop-spraying. The RCEP's report agreed with Downs' claim that existing regulations were inadequate but only proposed that a mere five-metre buffer zone be imposed around any agricultural land subject to spraying. Although laws at the time existed to limit the amount of pesticide residues in soils and plants, no laws existed to protect the public from the spraying of pesticides. Regulations for the use of pesticides in the UK required that workers wore appropriate protective clothing and followed prescribed procedures for the handling of toxic agricultural substances. |
||
In 2008, Downs challenged DEFRA in the [[High Court of Justice]], which ruled that the department did not comply with [[European Union]] regulations. The court ruled that Downs had provided "solid evidence" that the existing approach to pesticide regulation was not, as DEFRA had argued, "reasonable, logical and lawful".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/nov/14/pollution-health|title=Campaigner wins pesticides court battle|last=Adam|first=David|date=2008-11-14|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-03-27|archive-url=|archive-date=|first2=|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> |
In 2008, Downs challenged DEFRA in the [[High Court of Justice]], which ruled that the department did not comply with [[European Union]] regulations. The court ruled that Downs had provided "solid evidence" that residents had suffered harm to their health and that the existing approach to pesticide regulation in the UK was not, as DEFRA had argued, "reasonable, logical and lawful".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/nov/14/pollution-health|title=Campaigner wins pesticides court battle|last=Adam|first=David|date=2008-11-14|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-03-27|archive-url=|archive-date=|first2=|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> |
||
However, DEFRA appealed the ruling and it was overturned in the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]] in July 2009. The appeal judge ruled that the High Court justice had substituted his own evaluation of the health effect of pesticides for the evidence provided by DEFRA |
However, DEFRA appealed the ruling and it was overturned in the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]] in July 2009. The appeal judge ruled that the High Court justice had substituted his own evaluation of the health effect of pesticides for the evidence provided by DEFRA.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/jul/07/georgina-downs-pesticides|title=Court's reversal of pesticides decision prompts accusations of whitewash|last=Adam|first=David|date=2009-07-07|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-03-27|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> |
||
⚫ | Downs pointed out that the appeal judges had unlawfully ignored the evidence that she had provided - and that the landmark High Court victory had been based on. She vowed to take the case to the [[European Court of Human Rights]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/8504665.stm|title=One-woman fight against government for pesticide ban|last=King|first=Victoria|date=2010-02-10|website=news.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2017-03-27}}</ref> |
||
In 2016, Downs launched a petition calling on the Prime Minister Theresa May to ban all crop spraying of poisonous pesticides near residents' homes, schools and playgrounds. The petition has been signed by thousands of other rural residents also reporting adverse health impacts of crop spraying in their localities. The petition has also been signed and supported by Hillsborough QC Michael Mansfield, along with other high profile environmentalists including Jonathon Porritt, Gordon Roddick, and Ben Goldsmith, amongst others. See Georgina Downs' UK Pesticides Campaign website www.pesticidescampaign.co.uk for further details relating to the petition. |
|||
Downs has won multiple prestigious awards for her work and campaigning efforts including a British Environment and Media award (BEMA) in 2006, and Cosmopolitan magazine's inaugural Heroine award in 2008, amongst others. |
|||
Downs was also invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in 2008 as a result of her work. |
|||
Since 2006 Downs has also been a registered journalist under both the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) and the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists (BGAJ). |
|||
⚫ | Downs |
||
==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 02:16, 7 April 2017
Georgina Downs is a campaigner and journalist from the United Kingdom. After experiencing chronic illness throughout her childhood and adolescence, she launched a campaign against the use of pesticides in industrial agriculture.[1]
Early life
In 1983, when Downs was 10 years old, she moved with her family from Pagham to a house next to agricultural fields near Chichester. The nearest field adjoining the house and garden was initially used for grazing livestock, but shortly after Downs arrived, it was converted to crop land. According to Downs, over the following years, her health gradually worsened as the result of exposure to the pesticides used in the nearby fields. Acute symptoms included sore throats, blisters in the mouth and throat, headaches, and flu-like symptoms. When Downs was 18 she ended up in hospital with chronic health problems including severe neurological symptoms. Medical tests at that time ruled out motor neurone disease and Parkinson's disease as the cause of her symptoms.[2]
UK Pesticides Campaign
After researching the subject of pesticides and their effects on human health, Downs decided to challenge government regulations. In 2001, she founded a campaign called the UK Pesticides Campaign (www.pesticidescampaign.co.uk) to highlight the issues associated with pesticide exposure in agricultural areas and the adverse health impacts on rural residents and communities. In 2002, the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP), a government body, was instructed to conduct a study into pesticide practices using evidence supplied by Downs, but dismissed the evidence as inadequate. Late in 2004, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution was requested by the then DEFRA Minister Alun Michael, to conduct a study into the evidence regarding the risks to people from crop-spraying. The RCEP's report agreed with Downs' claim that existing regulations were inadequate but only proposed that a mere five-metre buffer zone be imposed around any agricultural land subject to spraying. Although laws at the time existed to limit the amount of pesticide residues in soils and plants, no laws existed to protect the public from the spraying of pesticides. Regulations for the use of pesticides in the UK required that workers wore appropriate protective clothing and followed prescribed procedures for the handling of toxic agricultural substances.
In 2008, Downs challenged DEFRA in the High Court of Justice, which ruled that the department did not comply with European Union regulations. The court ruled that Downs had provided "solid evidence" that residents had suffered harm to their health and that the existing approach to pesticide regulation in the UK was not, as DEFRA had argued, "reasonable, logical and lawful".[3]
However, DEFRA appealed the ruling and it was overturned in the Court of Appeal in July 2009. The appeal judge ruled that the High Court justice had substituted his own evaluation of the health effect of pesticides for the evidence provided by DEFRA.[4]
Downs pointed out that the appeal judges had unlawfully ignored the evidence that she had provided - and that the landmark High Court victory had been based on. She vowed to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.[5]
In 2016, Downs launched a petition calling on the Prime Minister Theresa May to ban all crop spraying of poisonous pesticides near residents' homes, schools and playgrounds. The petition has been signed by thousands of other rural residents also reporting adverse health impacts of crop spraying in their localities. The petition has also been signed and supported by Hillsborough QC Michael Mansfield, along with other high profile environmentalists including Jonathon Porritt, Gordon Roddick, and Ben Goldsmith, amongst others. See Georgina Downs' UK Pesticides Campaign website www.pesticidescampaign.co.uk for further details relating to the petition.
Downs has won multiple prestigious awards for her work and campaigning efforts including a British Environment and Media award (BEMA) in 2006, and Cosmopolitan magazine's inaugural Heroine award in 2008, amongst others.
Downs was also invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in 2008 as a result of her work.
Since 2006 Downs has also been a registered journalist under both the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) and the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists (BGAJ).
References
- ^ The Ecologist, "Pesticide Nun
- ^ Hickman, Martin (16 February 2010). "Georgina Downs: Britain's Erin Brockovich". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
{{cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=
(help) - ^ Adam, David (14 November 2008). "Campaigner wins pesticides court battle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ Adam, David (7 July 2009). "Court's reversal of pesticides decision prompts accusations of whitewash". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
{{cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=
(help) - ^ King, Victoria (10 February 2010). "One-woman fight against government for pesticide ban". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
{{cite web}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=
(help)
Further reading
- Silent Spring, Penguin Books Ltd, 2000; ISBN 0-14-118494-9