For forty years, PAN has organized alongside those most harmed by the use of toxic pesticides. Together with farmers, farmworkers, rural communities, Indigenous peoples, and countless others, we have fought—and continue to fight—for a healthier and more just food system. We work to end reliance on agrichemicals in order to shift power away from corporate agribusiness and back into the hands of people.

Agrichemicals are central to our work, and our partners trust us to bring that focus into the spaces we share with them. But in addition to naming the damage caused by the agrichemical industry and organizing for justice for those harmed, PAN champions real solutions that support a transition away from hazardous pesticides.

These solutions can be described as part of “agroecology” — a term that PAN affirms as the foundation of a vibrant, healthy, and just food system. Agroecology encompasses many agricultural practices, including organic farming, permaculture, rotational grazing, intercropping, and more, but it goes further than these practices. It incorporates social, cultural, and economic values like farmer to farmer knowledge sharing, co-creation of food systems, and collective land stewardship, providing a powerful path to food sovereignty for communities and countries.

Agroecology has been defined in many ways. For the purposes of our vision, PAN refers to agroecology as a set of principles for food and farming systems in which:

• All people have sovereign access to healthy, safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food;
• Farmers and agricultural workers work with the land to protect, restore, and sustain natural resources and ecosystems;
• Agriculture utilizes ecological management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving adaptation and resilience to climate change;
• Synthetic chemical inputs are reduced or eliminated whenever possible;
• The production, sharing, commerce, and consumption of food is built on a solidarity economy which prioritizes thriving communities, resilient local markets, and worker rights;
• Diverse cultures, identities, and knowledge systems are embraced along with equitable forms of social organization such as collectivity, mutual aid, and leadership by historically marginalized groups;
• Governance structures and power relationships in the food system evolve in ways that shift power away from transnational corporations, and instead center the rights of food producers, workers, and rural and urban communities to define and re-establish just food systems.

PAN advocates for agroecology as a solution to the negative effects of chemical intensive agriculture that drive the converging planetary and societal crises of pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, and failing public health. For this reason, we are pleased to announce an addition to our name: Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network. We will continue to go by PAN in most settings, but now the A has special meaning. Including “Agroecology” in our name recognizes our history of work in the field, and commits us to building momentum for the solutions that have the power to avert the climate crisis while supporting food sovereignty.

Our guiding purpose has not changed: advancing ecological farming has been central to our efforts since our founding as a global network in 1982, and we will continue to be leaders in advocating for pesticide reduction and regulation. We remain committed to our mission: to end reliance on hazardous pesticides and achieve health, resilience and justice in food and farming.

By adding the word “agroecology” to our name, we are making a commitment to support a growing global movement. Our sister PAN Regional Centers in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia and other social movements around the world have long recognized the importance of agroecology; we build momentum for this movement to thrive in the United States. We are grateful for all who are with us in solidarity, and we look ahead with hope and excitement to a world with sovereign food systems founded in agroecology.