When Sarah Wiener, an organic farmer and celebrity chef, moved to Brussels in 2019 to represent her native Austria in the European Parliament, little did she anticipate that her career move would put a target on her back. Assigned the role of leading parliamentary negotiations on a landmark law aimed at weaning farmers off toxic pesticides, the Green Party lawmaker found herself under relentless pressure from lobbyists — and conservative MEPs — to water down the legislation over concerns that it would put conventional farmers out of business. Initially calling for an 80 percent cut in the use of the most dangerous pesticides, Wiener knew her proposal wouldn't get majority support. But she pushed ahead anyway to shake up the status quo, which she said was being defended by the pesticide industry. Then a letter, signed by “angry winemakers", was delivered to her office in Brussels. In chilling terms, the letter presented Wiener with three options: resign and return to Austria; be committed to a mental institution for at least two years, ostensibly to reflect on her alleged “crime” against the winemakers; or face the prospect that the winemakers might hire a hit man to target her. The law she was working on was defeated in a crushing parliamentary vote in November. Wiener and her fellow Greens voted against the final text after it was watered down by the European People’s Party and other conservative political groups to the point of being "worthless", she said. For Wiener, the threatening letter and other hostile encounters with farm groups grew out of a climate of misinformation fuelled by the agricultural industry and right-wing political factions backing them. Politico

 

 

The death threat against Sarah Wiener MEP (see above) is par for the course for those challenging the pesticide industry. In the run-up to a Swiss referendum on phasing out pesticides, five leading supporters got death threats. Some faced violent attacks. GMWatch

 

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