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Kathryn Gilje

Kathryn Gilje

Endosulfan win: One more for network power

Last week, the nations of the world agreed that the pesticide endosulfan is too toxic for people and the planet to bear. As our staff scientist Karl Tupper reported from Geneva, 173 countries agreed to ban the chemical through the Stockholm Convention, recognizing that innovative farmers across the globe are already growing coffee, cashew, chocolate and cotton without a drop of the deadly pesticide.

Most uses will be gone — around the world — by this time next year. The impact will be profound: children living in India's cashew plantation communities will have fewer birth defects, autism will be less likely in California's Central Valley, and fewer African cotton farmers will suffer deadly poisonings.

A global network that works

This milestone is the fruit of years of organizing with PAN partners around the globe: from Indigenous leaders in the Arctic to grassroots organizers in India; from outspoken health experts in Australia to parents in Florida testing the air for pesticides outside an elementary school.

PAN's global network works, and I'm profoundly humbled to be part of this community.

At PAN, we connect to keep each other energized as we work toward a healthier future

Ever since my first PAN International meeting, hosted by PAN Latin America in Brazil years ago, I've developed deep relationships with people around the world who share a common purpose: build food democracy and sovereignty by ending pesticide reliance, and protect people's health from the undue and often disabling burden of pesticide exposure. I have been amazed by all that we have in common, and this latest victory reminds me again of the power of this aligned and growing network.

New tools to build power

Today, we're formally launching on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, three ways we hope to further enhance our network power. At PAN, we connect to share science-based information, on-the-ground realities and safer solutions. We connect to keep each other energized as we fight for real change and work toward a healthier future. And we connect because this builds democracy.

We've just seen the tremendous power a network has on the global stage; help us strengthen our people-to-people network here at home by sharing the good news. Please join us, if you're inclined toward these tools — and help us connect, deep and wide.

Kathryn Gilje

Kathryn Gilje

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