Is Bayer using South Frontenac Community Services for green washing?

Wolfe Erlichman | Aug 22, 2018

The story about solar-powered gardening at the Grace community garden in your August 16 edition is certainly good news. The story, which I assume was submitted by South Frontenac Community services, points out that a solar-powered watering system was installed thanks to a grant from Food Banks Canada which is "generously supported by Bayer Inc..." Your readers may know that Bayer makes aspirin, but they may not know that Bayer is a multi-billion-dollar company that recently paid $66 billion to purchase Monsanto, which makes the pesticide Roundup. Bayer makes its own pesticides and Canada is proposing banning some of them because they may be responsible for the deaths of aquatic insects and bees.

There is no doubt that solar-powered watering systems in community gardens are a good thing, but Bayer's sponsorship may be green washing in order to make the selling of pesticides and genetically modified seeds more acceptable. After all, community gardens are less than a drop in the bucket when they are compared to the worldwide sales of genetically modified seeds and pesticides for industrial agriculture.