The writing was on the wall. It had become clear to my partner Tammy and I that we would have to make some drastic changes if we wanted to continue to successfully raise quality fruits and vegetables on our farm. Changes in weather patterns combined with multiple pesticide drift incidents clearly required that we seek alternative growing strategies.
The last few months have shown us just how important our Pesticide Action Network (PAN) global network motto, "A healthy world for all," actually is.
Our farm sees pollinators as important employees, and we do what we can to pay them by providing food and habitat throughout the year.
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This is big news. Bayer, following its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto, will pay up to $10.9 billion to settle nearly 100,000 individual lawsuits alleging that exposure to the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup causes cancer.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone, but especially for essential workers. Farmworkers have been some of the hardest hit of these workers, having to cope with the pandemic on top of the systemic injustices that are embedded in our food and farming system.
For years now, pesticide industry giants have been peddling their genetically engineered (GE) technology kits: modified seeds and the herbicides that go with them. Clear evidence shows this system is dangerous, brittle and failing, yet these corporations are now doubling down.
Right now, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is considering a request from Monsanto (recently acquired by Bayer) to approve a new GE corn seed engineered for use with five — yes, five — different herbicides. This is a truly terrible idea.
