“I thought I was doing well”. Every day, for 20 years, Marylène Souchard, a former farmer, worked with pesticides. “Sowing is done in spring and autumn. “You’re in contact with pesticides all the time.” she notes. The farmer did not know the dangers of pesticides. At 41, Marylène is in early retirement due to disability. Headaches, dizziness, she had to stop working because she could no longer walk. “I was in a wheelchair, but I don’t regret having been a farmer. It’s the most beautiful job in the world,” she said with a hint of a smile.
“If I had known, I would have done differently”
With his collective “Health and pesticides“, Marylène Souchard denounces the lack of information from the State but also from agricultural professionals, on the dangers of pesticides. The collective brings together health professionals, victims of pesticides and 18 Sarthois associations. “If I had known, I would have done differently. I would not have used these products. I wouldn’t have had premature children, perhaps. I wouldn’t have had a rotten body” she overwhelms herself.
All these pains linked to pesticides are recognized by doctors, but not by public authorities. It’s a regret for her. “The illness screwed me up. Other farmers must not suffer this, so the public authorities must support them. Doctors must be heard. We must inform!”
Farmers affected by certain diseases
Among farmers, four diseases are recurrent due to exposure to pesticides. “Prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease,” quotes Françoise Besnard, general practitioner in Le Mans.
In Sarthe, only 6.4% of agricultural land is organic. “There is a lack of producers and organic foods“, laments the doctor. These pesticides then end up on our plates. “People who have low purchasing power turn to low-end products which are, for the most part, ultra-processed“, she notes. To change the modes of production, we must change our modes of consumption. “If the citizen refuses to buy certain products, these products will no longer exist in stores” says Françoise Besnard.
