by Flower farmer John Huiberts stands next to a flamingo made of thousands of organic pink hyacinths. At the annual BloemenCorso, or flower parade, where decorated floats travel through 26 miles of fields in full bloom, his electric vehicle is a sign that times are changing in the Netherlands.
“It makes you proud,” said co-owner Huiberts Biologische Bloembollen, who went organic 11 years ago. “They say the chemicals are safe but I don’t know. It took me a few years to get good and healthy bulbs, but I’m glad I’m not using them anymore.”
Huiberts is among a growing number of Dutch flower farmers who are rejecting pesticides because of concerns about traditional floriculture’s effects on biodiversity and the health of those living nearby.
In the last 10 years, Dutch flower farming has grown by a fifth, covering 28,000 hectares of the second most densely populated country in Europe. Almost seven billion bulbs were exported in 2022, mostly tulips and lilies, worth around €1bn (£860m).
A court case this week by residents of a village in Limburg aims to stop one lily bulb grower from planting because of health concerns about pesticides. Last year, an unexpected ruling banned a grower from using pesticides on a Boterveen lily field, citing “substantial evidence” of “a link between pesticides and serious neurological disorders (such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and ALS)” – although it’s an appeal. four substances were allowed to be used.
Jonna Vernes is part of the Boterveen group that plans to appeal to the courts to regulate farming in the future. “It’s scary,” she said. “From the beginning, we were concerned about our health.”
Experts have also sounded the alarm, following a courtroom victory against the use of pesticides in the US and state compensation for wine growers in France who developed Parkinson’s disease after using glyphosate – a herbicide that was given another 10-year license for recent EU use. A critical report from the audit office Noordelijke Rekenkamer said: “It is not clear whether intensive use of pesticides during growing is safe for people, water and nature.”
Professor Bas Bloem, a neurologist at the Radboud University Medical Center, is leading calls for new European testing protocols. “Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world and there is a widespread consensus that it is a disease largely influenced by the environment,” he said. “This includes, but is not limited to, pesticides. Farmers, and people living in the vicinity of farmland are also at increased risk.”
Although the overall use of pesticides has decreased since 2012, consumers still expect flowers to look perfect and export standards to be high, said Martin van den Berg, professor of toxicology emeritus at Utrecht University. “If we compare flower fields like lilies, the use of pesticides is generally much higher than growing corn, wheat or potatoes.
“The more intensively you use the biocides, the greater the impact on biodiversity. And the legislation in the EU asks if the compound is carcinogenic or hazardous to reproduction but the one thing that is certain is that testing for neurodevelopmental effects is not enough: these compounds are not tested sufficiently to tell people at a given dose that you no at risk – especially children and the fetus in pregnant women.”
Investigative journalists Ton van der Ham and Vincent Harmsen said that when they researched gaps in regulation, they encountered resistance and hostility. “The current laws are not protecting Dutch citizens: one million people live within 250 meters of a park,” said Van der Ham. “We are not against the farmers: we are not activists, we are journalists.
“You could call it tulip fever … the fever that drives us crazy … because we want to make money.”
Related: ‘Symbol of polarization’: EU scraps plans to halve pesticide use
Back at the flower parade, chairman Willem Heemskerk wanted to point out that the fair is a form of recycling – which started encouraging people in 1947. “The bulb growers allow us to go into their fields to collect the flowers ,” he said. “This is not a redundant use – it’s a waste product, and 100 million people will enjoy it.”
Jaap Bond, chairman of the Royal General Bulb Growers Association KAVB, said the sector is experimenting with methods such as weed-seeking robots and smart injection techniques. “There is a huge challenge in reducing chemical products,” he said. “Everything used is a legal chemical that is strictly regulated. This is a huge economic sector that is important from an economic point of view, but it is often noted that it is also a symbiosis: bulbs rotate in the ground with potatoes and onions. The lily is really forming.”
However, Professor Bloem believes that flowers are a “luxury product” and that precaution should be a priority. “Especially for flowers, we should ban these pesticides until we have more evidence that shows they are toxic or safe,” he said.
