Pesticide Action Network's blog

In early October, thousands of concerned community members across the country joined PAN, Toxic Taters, Corporate Accountability International (CAI) and other allies to participate in the “Farm to Family: Pesticide Free” National Week of Action.

The goal of the seven days of concentrated activity was to make an invisible problem visible, and stand with rural communities in potato-growing country to demand that McDonald’s deal with its pesticide problem.

In the midst of September’s busy harvest, California farmers and gardeners received good news from the state capitol. Governor Jerry Brown signed two important amendments to the California Seed Law that critically support the practices of farmers who do not use genetically-engineered (GE) seed or the pesticides that go with them.

This summer, the State Water Resources Control Board announced their plans to get a cancer-causing chemical out of California's water. This is very big news. According to state monitoring data, more than one million Californians may have unknowingly been exposed to the carcinogenic "garbage pesticide" 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP) in their drinking water.

Monsanto’s latest genetically engineered (GE) seeds are wreaking havoc this season in soybean country. “Xtend,” the corporation’s new GE soybean, is engineered to tolerate application of the drift-prone herbicide dicamba. The seed was approved in 2015, and now soybean farmers who did not adopt it are reporting damage to their crops from dicamba drift.

The fate of Monsanto's flagship herbicide in the European Union (EU) remains unclear. Earlier this week, the standing Committee on Plants, Animals Food and Feed declined to extend authorization for glyphosate sales in the region. The sales license is set to expire at the end of this month.