Home › PAN Updates<>
in
<>
<>
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS)
A Weekly News Update on Pesticides, Health and Alternatives
See PANUPS archive for complete information.
October 29, 2009
- Obama’s double standard on ag
- Ireland bans GM crops & prioritizes organic ag
- Melting glaciers release DDT & other POPs
- Drift Catcher gets airtime
Obama’s double standard on ag
Sustainable agriculture advocates from around the country are organizing to protest the Obama Administration’s nomination of Islam Siddiqui, a former pesticide lobbyist, as chief agriculture trade representative at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Siddiqui is currently a vice president at Croplife America; this new appointment will give him broad influence over U.S. ag trade policy. Croplife is an agrochemical industry trade group representing Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Dow Chemical, among others. Croplife’s regional partner notoriously “shuddered” at Michelle Obama’s organic garden and launched a letter writing campaign in protest. Pesticide Action Network joins a broad coalition of partner groups including National Family Farm Coalition, Food & Water Watch, Farmworker’s Association of Florida, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, Food Democracy Now!, Greenpeace, and Center for Food Safety in calling on President Obama to withdraw Siddiqui’s nomination and reconsider his administration’s contradictory commitment to corporate-controlled industrial agriculture abroad while supporting sustainable ag through various domestic projects. Politico, FOX News, Reuters, HuffPo and Grist have covered the controversy surrounding his nomination.
Dr. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, senior scientist at PAN, noted the double standard of ostensibly advocating for more sustainable food at home while Siddiqui’s appointment in fact advances an agenda that undermines developing countries’ capacity to feed themselves: “Putting a CropLife official and former lobbyist in charge of U.S. agricultural trade policy sends the worst kind of message to the world. This appointment tells the world that the U.S. will continue to value the interests of our chemical pesticide and biotech industries over any serious concern for public health, the environment or the well-being of farmworkers and communities around the world. We will be calling on the Senate Finance Committee to reject this nomination.” The nomination contributes to a string of pro-industry, pro-pesticide international food and agricultural initiatives announced since Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack took office. While Obama’s domestic agricultural agenda appears to include support for both industrial and organic food systems, the international agenda has been largely oriented toward pushing expensive technologies – owned by U.S. and European corporations – as part of U.S. foreign policy. In more hopeful news for domestic sustainable agriculture, last week saw the appointment of Molly Jahn, Dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to the position of undersecretary of research, education and economics at the USDA. Dr. Jahn’s previous work demonstrates a commitment to science rooted in community needs, and included a plant breeding program for vegetable varieties needed by the organic farming community.
takeACTION Sign the petition to reverse Siddiqui’s nomination before Nov. 4th| Digg This
Ireland bans GM crops & prioritizes organic ag
between Fianna Faíl and the Green Party. Unlike similar bans in other European countries that allow for trial uses of GM field crops, Ireland’s policy will expressly prohibit the cultivation of any kind of GM crops. The island’s geographic location and offshore winds prevent contamination by wind-borne GM pollen drift, making it an ideal candidate for such a ban. This, in combination with the rigor of the new labeling system, will provide a selling point for Ireland to market GM-free foods.
shareMORE Greenpeace Video GM Crops: The World’s Greatest Scam? |
Melting glaciers release DDT & other POPs
determine the pathways of the POPs in the Alps and how much they retained their toxicity. The release of these pesticides in an Alpine setting could affect the quality of water in rivers such as the Rhine and the Rhone that originate in the Alps, as well as have localized impacts like entering the food chain through fish from nearby lakes, irrigation facilities and even artificial snow on ski slopes. A May 2008 PANUPS reported on the high concentrations of DDT found in penguins in the Antarctic. This latest evidence from Europe further solidifies the link between climate change and release of POPs pesticides many miles from where they were used.
<>
<>
<>
<>
<>
shareMORE Alaska Community Action on Toxics report (PDF) on POPs exposure in the Arctic |
Drift Catcher gets airtime
<>
During Monday’s commute hour, PAN’s Drift Catcher was featured on California public radio’s QUEST series, which explores science and environmental issues. KQED reporter Sasha Khokha talked with Pesticide Action Network staff scientist Karl Tupper and Lindsay, California, community activist Luis Medellin about the effects of pesticide drift on farming communities and how they are using Drift Catchers to address the problem. As explained in the 5 minute segment, pesticide drift incidents are common occurrences in central California’s farming regions. Khokha talks to elementary school students who were sprayed while waiting for the bus, and then interviews Medellin and Tupper about community efforts to monitor chlorpyrifos drift using Drift Catchers. Breathing, ingesting, or touching chlorpyrifos can cause neurological effects stemming from the inhibition of cholinesterase, an enzyme necessary for the proper transmission of nerve impulses. Accute symptoms include weakness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and dizziness. At higher doses, tremors, convulsions or respiratory paralysis may occur, sometimes leading to coma and death. In utero exposure to chlorpyrifos has been linked to developmental delays and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Chlorpyrifos was banned for residential uses in 2000, but remains widely used in agriculture.
The Drift Catcher project covered in the radio segment builds upon an earlier study in Lindsay in which PAN and community groups measured chlorpyrifos in the air and chlorpyrifos metabolites in the urine of local residents. The new project, which is a collaboration between PAN, Commonweal, community groups, and the California Department of Public Health, will test a much larger number of urine samples than in the previous study.
<>
<>
<>
shareMORE Sasha Khokha’s Reporter’s Notes and photo essay |
<>
<>
<>
<>
Bookmark and share this page:<>
<>
<>
<>
<>
<>