We need a system where the landless get control of the land, and agrarian reform becomes an integral part of the change we’re working towards. We need a system where agroecology is widespread, and not industry-backed agroecology but a people-to-people kind of movement building.
PAN board member Kyle Powys Whyte shares thoughts and reflections around wild rice harvesting, a practice that exemplifies Indigenous peoples’ leadership on food & farming in the U.S. Learn more
PAN's new communications associate on the ground in Iowa, with a view of the challenges and opportunities ahead. Learn more
In mid-August, I joined PAN as the organization’s new communications associate. Starting a new position is always an adjustment, and this one came with a move to Iowa, and as a Southern California girl who recently finished graduate school in México, the move to the Midwest was a big one!
In early October, the California Farmer Justice Collaborative (CFJC) was thrilled to celebrate two years of The Farmer Equity Act addressing the historical inequalities in California’s agricultural system.
Last week, California got great news from the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) — use of the brain-harming pesticide chlorpyrifos will be forbidden in California after December 31, 2020. Chlorpyrifos has been linked to severe and permanent brain damage in young children, including ADHD, IQ loss and autism. It has also been the source of several farmworker poisonings in the state.
Note: This blog was updated on October 30, 2019, to reflect (positive!) developments in the Paulo Freire Training Center Case.
While images of the devastating fires in the Amazon circulate the globe, an influential agroecology training center is being targeted for closure by Brazil’s new federal government — led by President Jair Bolsonaro — with its sights set on silencing social movements.
I saw a fellow Anishinaabe friend recently and asked after their work. Knowing that I was referring to their office job, they looked amused by my question and responded: "I just got back from two weeks of wild rice harvesting."
In the United States, women own or co-own roughly half the agricultural land in the United States; 52% of restaurant workers are women, and 36% of farmers are women. We know that women are integral to food production, processing, and preparation in the U.S. and globally, and we see that women are leading efforts to transform food and farming toward a system characterized by sustainability, health, and justice.
October 1 marked the beginning of 2019’s 16 Days of Action on Agroecology, a global event spearheaded by our partners at PAN Asia and the Pacific (PANAP). This year’s global campaign will focus on youth’s role in agroecology, with the theme, “Youth March On for Agroecology and Food Sovereignty!”
