Today, PAN joined beekeepers and partners Beyond Pesticides and Center for Food Safety in filing a legal petition that calls on EPA to suspend registration of Bayer’s controversial bee-toxic pesticide, clothianidin.

We also delivered over a million signatures from individuals around the world — including over 20,000 PAN supporters — calling on EPA to take decisive action to protect honey bees from neonicotinoid pesticides before it is too late.

Last month, we introduced PAN supporters to Oluf and Debra Johnson, the organic farmers in Minnesota who have been fighting to protect their crops from pesticide drift for over a decade. We asked the PAN community to help us thank the Johnsons for their courageous perseverance in the face of adversity.

This week our Midwest organizer, Linda Wells, visited the Johnson farm and delivered a book for Oluf and Debra made up of the more than 7,000 signatures and individual thank-you notes from PAN supporters. The couple was beyond grateful. 

A group of rural Californians made the trek to Sacramento Tuesday morning to tell lawmakers just how concerned they are about their families being exposed to cancer-causing soil fumigant pesticides.

Many people in Tehama county live just feet from where fumigant pesticides are routinely applied. At the state capitol, community members presented officials with data showing high levels of a carginogenic fumigant pesticide detected in yards neighboring one of these fields.

Last Saturday, PAN staff marched alongside 700+ people who came out in support of Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to participate in a 3-mile march to the headquarters of Florida grocery chain Publix. CIW and allies called on the retailer to sign the Fair Food Agreement. This agreement would guarantee farmworkers better, safer working conditions and an additional penny per pound of tomatoes harvested. It has already been signed by Whole Foods, Subway and Trader Joe’s, among a host of others.

Today, March 19, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released its platform for the 2012 Farm Bill — Farming for the Future: A Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for the 2012 Food and Farm Bill.

This powerful document lays out a vision of agriculture where safe, nutritious and affordable food is produced by a legion of diverse family farmers. These farmers make a decent living pursuing their trade while sustaining the environment and contributing to the strength of their communities. I hope decisionmakers in Congress are paying attention.