PAN North America Pesticide Action Network North America • advancing alternatives to pesticides worldwide Fall 2009

Climate Change & Agriculture Contents Features Climate Change and Agriculture 9 Feeding the World, Cooling the Planet Marcia Ishii-Eiteman & Margaret Reeves 14 EPA to Investigate Role of Pesticides in Climate Change 15 Weather, Pests and Pesticides 16 Asian Farmers and Activists Respond to the Food and Climate Crisis 17 Climate Change Accelerates Toxic Threat in Arctic 18 Growing Greener Biofuels Jim Kleinschmit & Julia Olmstead 9 16 17

Departments

PAN’s 2009 Health & Justice Solutions Stories from the PAN Network Award Winner Rodale’s Remedy: Demand Working to Keep the Land & People Together Carol Dansereau: Organic and Heal the Planet The Land Stewardship Project Farm Worker Pesticide Project Tim LaSalle Pictured: Organic dairy farmer Bill Gorman

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First Word Campaign Reports Last Word 1 First, the Weather 4 Atrazine and the 21 Securing Our Food in a Kathryn Gilje Health of the Heartland Time of Climate Crisis 5 Endosulfan Ban Gains Vandana Shiva, excerpted News Global Momentum from the book, Soil Not Oil 2 EPA to Re-assess Health Dangers of Methyl 6 Drift Catching in Africa: Iodide • California Summit on Climate and Report from Senegal Agriculture • Bayer to Cut Production of Karl Tupper

“Bhopal Poison” • Global Harvest Initiative: 7 Chemical Reform is o n t h e c o v e r Thunderstorm More Failed Hunger Solutions • Bhopal Key to U.S. POPs Treaty looms high over rural Nova Scotia. Disaster: 25th Anniversary Ratification Photo by Shaun Lowe. PAN North America Volume IV, Number 3 Fall 2009 First, the Weather A member publication of Pesticide Where I come from, weather winds up in just about every conversation. Action Network North America. Views “Cold enough for you? Oh no, this is mild. Don’t you remember when…?” expressed herein are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent those of PAN A cultural phenomenon of the upper Midwest, and among farmers and International or PAN North America. farmworkers everywhere, weather defines our lives. Weather determines Permission granted to reproduce portions the daily to-do list and frames possibilities. Spring might set up a perfect of this publication, provided the source environment to plant ambitious crops—tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, (Pesticide Action Network North America) is acknowledged. squash—stretching to the horizon. And a late spring freeze or mid- summer hailstorm can destroy that bounty within hours. Pesticide Action Network North America combines science and community-led Weather—and its long-term companion, climate—is top of mind for us campaigns to force global phaseouts of highly hazardous pesticides. We promote solutions all now, and people around the world face the shocks associated with our that protect the health of com­munities and rapidly warming planet. Communities are ravaged by increasingly extreme the environment. PAN North America is one events. Farmers see change in temperature and precipitation that require of five independent regional centers of PAN adaptation and threaten food supply. In the U.S., we face the reality that International, a worldwide network of more than 600 organizations in 90 countries. our habits and systems are a grave cause of the dangers, and we seek ways to Our work advances environmental justice, change course. sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. Executive Director: Kathryn Gilje Agriculture, it turns out, is fertile ground for changing course. Communications Director: Heather Pilatic Managing Director: Steve Scholl-Buckwald The good news is that ecological agriculture and food sovereignty— Consulting Editor: Gar Smith solutions PAN and our partners have been promoting for decades as Design: Brenda J. Willoughby the antidote to pesticide and corporate dependence—can both feed the Contributors: Beverly Becker, Medha Chandra, world and cool the planet. And people around the world are increasingly Brian Hill, Kristin Schafer, Chela Vázquez clamoring for a shift in this direction. The bad news is that the same agrichemical corporations that brought us Board of Directors Ellen Kennedy, Pres. Polly Hoppin toxic pesticides and industrial food are offering technological fixes that, as Calvert Group, Maryland Lowell Center, Massachusetts we’ve seen already, will fail to deliver, leaving communities and our planet in Michael Picker, V.P. Lincoln Crow Strategic Shawna Larson debt. Communications, Pacific Environment, California Alaska In this issue you’ll find science, analysis and stories at the nexus of Jennifer Sokolove, Secy Nikiko Masumoto Compton Foundation, Masumoto Family Farm, agriculture, pesticides and climate change. We detail the links between California California farming systems and climate, and the impacts climate change will have on Sandra ‘JD’ Doliner, Clara Nicholls global toxics. And we offer a glimpse into the state-of-play for agriculture Treas. Univ. of California, Opus 4, North Carolina Berkeley, Div. of Insect vis-à-vis national and international policy. Biology, California Martha Guzman California Rural Legal Ana Duncan Pardo You’ll also find stories of celebration: of a hero in the struggle for safer, fair Assistance Foundation, Toxic Free North Carolina, California North Carolina agriculture—this year’s Health & Justice Award winner, Carol Dansereau; Jonathan Harrison Ted Schettler and reports of real progress in eliminating dangerous pesticides. Thank you Rubicon National Social Science and Environmental Innovations, California Health Network, Michigan for joining in the campaign for food democracy and a cooler planet. Judy Hatcher Amy Shannon Environmental Support Charles Stewart Mott Center, Virginia Foundation, Illinois —Kathryn Gilje, Executive Director

our CFC number is 11437 Pesticide Action Network International PAN has autonomous a f r i c a e u r o p e l a t i n a m e r i c a regional facilitating centers PAN Africa PAN Europe RAP-AL 49 Powell Street, #500 in Africa, Asia and the Dakar, Senegal pan-europe.info Buenos Aires, San Francisco, CA 94102 Pacific, Europe, Latin pan-afrique.org Argentina 415-981-1771 America and North America. PAN Germany rap-al.org [email protected] Hamburg, Germany panna.org A primary strength of PAN a s i a /pac i f i c pan-germany.org is the collaboration among PAN Asia n o r t h a m e r i c a Printing by Autumn Press with soy-based ink on New Leaf the regional centers with & the Pacific PAN UK PAN North America Sakura: 100% De-inked Recycled, 50% Post-Consumer Waste, more than 600 NGOs in Penang, Malaysia London, UK San Francisco, USA Processed Chlorine Free. 90 countries. panap.net pan-uk.org panna.org News

EPA to Re-assess chemicals, and especially without fumi- While the summit also covered pending Health Dangers of gants. Over the next few months, the federal Climate Security Act legislation, DPR will consider and respond to the the policy discussion focused on Califor- Methyl Iodide findings of the panel. nia’s landmark 2006 Global Warming In late September, an independent Sci- Solutions Act (AB32), which calls for o n t h e w e b www.panna.org/ entific Review Panel convened in Sac- fumigants/mei cutting global-warming emissions to ramento, California, to evaluate the sci- 1990 levels by 2020. A major concern ence behind the proposed use of a new, was how to correct AB32’s failure to carcinogenic pesticide—methyl iodide. California Summit on acknowledge industrial agriculture’s role In 2007, the U.S. EPA concluded that Climate Change and in generating greenhouse gases and the health standards could be met during Agriculture potential of organic farming practices methyl iodide applications by the proper to mitigate climate change. use of masks and keeping workers away On October 1, the California Climate from newly fumigated fields. However, a and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) On October 2, PAN Staff Scientist Mar- 2009 report from the California Depart- convened a two-day summit on the garet Reeves joined 20 speakers in a day- ment of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) University of California’s Davis campus. long strategy session to identify priorities concluded that using the new fumigant The event drew more than 150 farmers, for policy action. One critical issue was poses “significant health risks for work- academics, state officials and nonprofit whether cap-and-trade systems (which ers and the general population” and organizations concerned about the essentially allow businesses to buy a called for procedures to reduce exposure impact of climate change on environ- license to pollute) can be improved to by as much as 3,000-fold to meet health mental health, food and farming, and benefit communities most affected by and safety standards. the lives of agricultural workers. controls on greenhouse gas emissions and to help small and medium-sized According to the Fresno Bee, Arysta The “Climate Change and Sustainable farmers whose sustainable innovations Corporation (methyl iodide’s manu- Agriculture” conference was hosted by offer the best hope for slowing climate facturer), “asked the [DPR] for permis- California Certified Organic Farm- change. sion to use the powerful chemical in the ers, Community Alliance with Family o n t h e w e b www.calclimateag.org lucrative California market.” “This is Farmers, Ecological Farming Associa- worth going to the mat over,” Pesticide tion, Occidental Arts and Ecology Cen- Action Network Scientist Susan Kegley ter and the Center for Food Safety, with Bayer to Cut told the Bee, claiming that methyl iodide support from Californians for Pesticide U.S. Production of is “toxic and exposure to it is almost Reform and Pesticide Action Network. guaranteed.” “Bhopal Poison” Topics ranged from state-of-the-art sci- Bayer Cropscience, the owner of a West ence to agriculture’s potential response During the first day of the Sacramento Virginia plant that produces methyl to, and mitigation of, climate change — meetings, the review panel of eminent isocyanate (MIC, the same chemical scientists from across the country took with a focus on near-term policy options. EPA’s and DPR’s risk assessment to task. The summit addressed the As hearings resumed the next morning, challenge of measuring the EPA led off by announcing that it how different farming There are many ways to was prepared to reopen its decision on methods and soil types methyl iodide pending the outcome of can reduce greenhouse gas support a pesticide-free world emissions and increase the the panel’s decisions. double your impact! soil’s ability to sequester Matching Gifts Ask your employer about a Matching The Scientific Review Panel also heard carbon. It also explored the Gift program. from Pesticide Action Network, Cali- need to establish standards fornia Rural Legal Assistance Founda- with which to audit and Workplace Giving through Earth Share tion, Californians for Pesticide Reform, reward beneficial changes and your employer is an easy way to Líderes Campesinas, Natural Resources in farming practices. support our mission and programs. Defense Council, Pesticide Watch, the Participants discussed Vehicle Donations turn your old car, boat, United Farm Workers and other public farmland preservation, or truck into cash for PAN. Hassle-free interest groups. Jim Cochran of Swan- farm-based biofuels and and tax-deductible. ton Berry Farm offered his perspective changes in livestock man- as a long-time strawberry grower, sug- agement (grass-fed cows Learn more at www.panna.org/support gesting that it is time to move toward produce far less methane or call 415-981-1771 ext 309. sustainable production without toxic than corn-fed cows).

2 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 news

Bhopal Disaster 25th Anniversary On December 3, 1984, Union Carbide’s plant in Bhopal, India, exploded, exposing more than 500,000 people to 42 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate gas. It is estimated that 8,000–10,000 died within 72 hours. Over the past 25 years, another 25,000 have died from gas-related diseases. The survivors — and, now, their children — continue to suffer from health problems while waging an unrelenting struggle for justice. Get involved with the 25th Anniversary Day of Action! Learn more at www.studentsforbhopal.org.

released from the Union Carbide plant santo, Archer Daniels Midland, John that is responsible for massive green- in Bhopal, India, in 1984), will substan- Deere and DuPont. house gas emissions,” observed PAN tially cut production of the deadly poi- Senior Scientist Dr. Marcia Ishii-Eit- son. Last year, an explosion sent shrapnel The U.S. Working Group on the Food eman (a co-author of the IAASTD flying near an aboveground tank built Crisis called the Global Harvest agenda a report). to store 40,000 pounds of methyl iso- rehash of “failed solutions from the past” cyanate (MIC). An estimated 50,000 and pointed out that the symposium’s Ben Burkett, president of the National to 90,000 pounds of MIC were released panels were dominated by individuals Family Farm Coalition and a Missis- in the accident that killed thousands of “who have consistently pushed chemi- sippi farmer, noted the lack of farmers’ Bhopal residents in a single night. cal-intensive production, unproven bio- voices at the symposium. “The main technologies and ‘free’ trade as solutions agribusiness funders of the Global Har- A $25 million safety upgrade will to feeding the world.” vest Initiative control much of the inputs eliminate aboveground storage of MIC farmers depend upon to produce food,” within a year. John Bresland, chair of Working Group members, including Burkett said. Criticizing the “increasing the federal Chemical Safety and Hazard PAN, characterized the conference corporate control of our seed and fer- Investigation Board, said Bayer’s action as a “missed opportunity” to address tilizer industries,” Burkett noted how “will lessen the risk to the public and the the findings of the UN’s International “farmers can no longer save their own work force from an uncontrolled release Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, seeds nor afford the expensive geneti- of MIC.” Maya Nye, spokesperson for Science and Technology for Develop- cally modified seeds pushed on them.” People Concerned About MIC, a local ment (IAASTD) — an alternative path watchdog group, called the 80% reduc- to global sustainability that calls for Dr. Molly Anderson, coordinating lead tion “a good thing” but pointed out “the investing in agroecological sciences and author of the IAASTD’s North America danger still exists.” biodiverse farming to replace the corpo- and Europe Assessment, warned that rate monopolies of the food system. The the “dominant agricultural practices are IAASTD warns that chemical-intensive endangering the planet and that increas- production has adverse health and envi- ing yields alone will not reduce the hun- The Global Harvest ronmental effects, while biotechnology ger of millions.” Anderson dismissed the Initiative: More Failed mainly benefits transnational corpora- Global Harvest Initiative’s “business as Hunger Solutions tions rather than the world’s poor. usual” approach and challenged U.S. policymakers to “look instead to the On September 22, a Global Harvest “Ironically, it is large agribusiness cor- IAASTD report for the best solutions Initiative symposium was convened in porations such as those sponsoring the to address food security.” Washington, D.C., to “address world Global Harvest Initiative that have hunger.” The event (which claimed to helped create today’s hunger, environ- o n t h e w e b “Business as Usual is have enlisted some of the “best thinkers” mental and climate crises —by bring- Not an Option,” www.panna.org/mag/ in agriculture, food security and hunger) ing us corporate-controlled, water- and summer2008/agriculture/business-as- was sponsored by agri-biz giants Mon- energy-intensive industrial agriculture usual-is-not-an-option

PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 3 Campaign Reports Atrazine and the Health of the Heartland What a difference some noise makes. In late August, June 2008 showed atrazine contamination at 33.83 the New York Times and Washington Post reported ppb—more than ten times the legal limit. In July, on the scandal over atrazine in the U.S. water sup- the National Institutes of Health reported low birth- ply. In September, the Natural Resources Defense weights in babies whose mothers were exposed to Council (NRDC) released a report criticizing atrazine levels as low as 0.1 ppb. the EPA’s inadequate regulation of atrazine, the Huffington Post published an exposé, and a lawsuit “These results show something is going on even with over atrazine-tainted water in the Midwest gained very low levels,” PAN Staff Scientist Karl Tupper told momentum. Although the Bush Administra- the Peoria Journal Star. “The use of atrazine needs to tion had already reviewed this pesticide, the EPA be ended. The amount of atrazine used in this country announced on October 7 that it plans to re-evaluate is way out of control.” Meanwhile, Syngenta seems the chemical—welcome news for scientists and unconvinced. Its website boasts: “Syngenta believes in communities alike. atrazine, its effectiveness, its safety, its importance to agriculture—in the U.S. and worldwide.” The Swiss The herbicide has been found in 71% of U.S. company has just opened a state-of-the-art North drinking water, with disturbing levels detected most American headquarters in Minnesota.

often in the Midwest. Atrazine-laced water has of Syngenta Courtesy been linked to higher risk of birth defects, low birth weight, breast and prostrate cancers. More than a decade ago, University of California, Berkeley, researcher Tyrone Hayes discovered low levels of atrazine appeared to cause hermaphroditism in frogs. Syngenta (atrazine’s main manufacturer and the funder of Hayes’ research) tried to suppress his findings. A recent medical study from South Korea links low-level exposure to decreased metabolic rates and abnormal weight gain in lab animals. Atrazine was banned in the European Union in 2003. Local water agencies—which are required to report That same year, Syngenta held more than 50 private atrazine levels averaged over several months—typi- meetings with Bush-era EPA decision-makers. Today, cally find contamination levels below the legal limit atrazine ranks second only to glyphosate (Roundup®) of 3 parts per billion (ppb). But the NRDC report as the most widely used herbicide in the U.S. revealed that weekly tests found spraying-season spikes that drove concentrations well over the legal The October decision marks a significant reversal limit. Residents of McClure, Ohio, for instance, from the EPA’s previous position (which was re- were told that their highest level of contamination affirmed as recently as June). “There are new scientific in 2008 was 3.4 ppb, while internal EPA results for findings that deserve attention,” Stephen Owens, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Preven- tion, Pesticides and Toxic Substances told the Times. “We’re going to engage our scientific panels in actively reviewing the work of this office under previous administrations.” PAN, Beyond Pesticides and other Online Resources groups met with Owens shortly after his appointment, urging long-overdue action on pesticides. Get Involved Pesticide Database Sign up for Action Alerts at PAN’s guide to in-depth toxicity What’s next? St. Louis Attorney Stephen Tillery has filed a class-action lawsuit asking that Syngenta and and regulatory information. www.panna.org/subscribe other manufacturers compensate Illinois’ water dis- www.PesticideInfo.org tricts for the cost of removing atrazine from the water Breaking News supply. In November, the EPA will announce its plan Read our weekly updates: “What’s On My Food?” for re-evaluation, with a decision expected by Septem- Pesticides in the News and A new guide to pesticide ber 2010. In December, PAN and the Land Steward- PAN in the News. residues on food. ship Project will co-release a report on atrazine. PAN will remain deeply engaged in the national regulatory www.panna.org/resources/panups www.WhatsOnMyFood.org review, while seeking partnerships to build a healthy heartland in the United States.

4 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 campaign reports

Endosulfan Ban Gains Global Momentum

On October 16, after a heated debate, an interna- the production and distribution of hazardous tional expert scientific panel concluded that the pesticides, and the original primary maker of neurotoxic pesticide endosulfan requires global endosulfan—announced it would “stop the sale action to prevent further harm to human health and of…endosulfan by the end of 2010.” The July 7 the environment. The decision by the Stockholm announcement came after people in 16 countries Convention POPs Review Committee sets the stage swapped their old cotton underwear for a free for a global ban of the chemical under the treaty. pair of organic underwear and, as a protest, sent their rumpled castoffs to Bayer. Some Euro- “We’re thrilled endosulfan is one step closer to pean activists conducted public demonstrations elimination,” said PAN North America’s Karl Tup- dressed only in their skivvies. Pants to Poverty, per, reporting from the POPs meeting in Geneva. an organic, fair-trade clothing company, led the “Alternatives for this chemical have been in use for campaign with a coalition of partners, including years, and no one can deny the harm it’s causing Pesticide Action Network. around the world.” The panel acknowledged that endosulfan is persis- tent in the environment, is transported though the air to the polar regions where it bioaccumulates in the food chain, and is of such high toxicity that it is a threat to humans and wildlife. India is the world’s largest remaining manufacturer of endosulfan and the government itself owns a major endosulfan factory. In what is now regarded as one of the world’s worse pesticide incidents, the aerial spraying of endosulfan on cashew nut planta- tions in Kerala, South India, resulted in hundreds of deaths and chronic illnesses including birth defects of nearby villagers. “Endosulfan is poisonous and indefensible. This decision puts the world on notice that production and use of endosulfan must stop,” said Dr. Meriel Watts of PAN Asia and the Pacific. “For the sake of protecting their own people and the health of the planet, China, India, Israel and South Korea should cease manufacturing this poison.” In July, thousands of Indian farmers and workers joined demonstrators worldwide who sent old underwear to Bayer demanding the company and During the meeting, the Review Committee mem- the Indian government halt production of endosulfan. Pants to Poverty ber from India tried to delay and block the decision. In the final moments, India refused to agree to a consensus decision and forced a vote to be taken. Bayer’s decision and the POPs Review Com- India was the only country to vote against the mittee ruling come after years of campaigning proposal to proceed with the evaluation. Before the against endosulfan by PAN and our allies. The meeting PAN and the International POPS Elimina- pesticide has become a symbol of persistent pol- tion Network expressed concern about allowing a lutants, and is linked to autism, birth defects and country such as India with a clear conflict of inter- male reproductive harm. Bayer also has pledged est to participate in the decision making. to “progressively replace” pesticides deemed “extremely and highly hazardous” by the World If the Stockholm Convention process proceeds as Health Organization. it did with the recent listing of lindane, another prime PAN campaign target, endosulfan would be “It’s great to see a major player like Bayer step formally listed for global elimination in early 2011. up and do the right thing,” observes Tupper. “Their example will put pressure on the handful Bayer to end sales of small, generic pesticide manufacturers that are of endosulfan in 2010 still pushing this deadly chemical, particularly those in India.” Even before the Geneva decision, Bayer Crop- Science—one of six multinationals that dominate o n t h e w e b PAN’s Endosulfan Campaign

PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 5 campaign reports

Drift Catching in Africa by Karl Tupper

s e n e g a l —For almost seven years, our scientists and grassroots Executive Director Dr. Abou Thiam activists have used PAN’s inexpensive Drift Catchers to collect is concerned about pesticides drifting air samples in U.S. communities, revealing how pesticides drift from small-scale vegetable farms into from fields and into homes, playgrounds and schools downwind. the villages that abut these fields. Also Evidence obtained by these studies has helped win many reforms, of concern is the aerial application of including a state-sponsored air-monitoring program in Washington, insecticides for locust control by govern- buffer zones in California, and a more progressive mosquito control ments of the Sahel—the grassland region board in Colorado. that stretches across the continent below the Sahara desert. But pesticide drift is a problem everywhere and the risks are espe- cially grave in developing countries where poverty, lack of educa- In July, I travelled to Senegal to deliver tion and lax enforcement of regulations can result in the careless three Drift Catchers to our PAN Africa application of excess amounts of pesticides. In Senegal, PAN Africa colleagues in Dakar. During my visit, I conducted a hands-on training with the staff and gave a series of Drift Catch- ing presentations to students at Cheikh Anta Diop University (where Abou is a professor). During a visit to a small- plot farming village outside Dakar, my presentation was translated into Wolof for an enthusiastic group of farmers who raise crops for Dakar’s markets. They have no tractors for plowing or water pumps for irrigation—just shovels, hands, hoes, buckets and sweat. And sometimes pesticides. While organic and ecological pest management practices are on the rise, many farmers still rely on pesticides sold by the roadside. At the village I visited, empty pesticide bottles littered the rows of onions and cabbage alongside the low cinder-block walls surrounding the village. The scene was reminiscent of California’s San Joaquin Valley where homes often are right next to (or even surrounded by) orchards and fields. But in the U.S., one doesn’t see the empty bottles since their proper disposal is mandated by law. The friendships and working relation- ships established with Abou and his staff deepen the already strong ties between PAN North America and PAN Africa. This trip marked the initial collaboration between our Regional Centers to intro- duce Drift Catching in other countries. Bringing grassroots air-monitoring to Africa advances PAN’s suite of Commu- nity Based Monitoring projects. CBM, one of PAN International’s core strate- Cheikh Bamba Sagna of PAN Africa (in red shirt) demonstrates the use of a Drift gies, is designed to bring the stories of Catcher to small-holding IPM and organic farmers near Sangalkam, Senegal. Valerie Breese those most affected by pesticides to the

6 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 campaign reports

attention of decision-makers. Drift Catching in Sen- egal will complement other CBM activities, including survey-based monitoring of agricultural practices, which have been hugely effective in documenting the on-the-ground realities of pesticide use and abuse in some of the world’s poorest countries. Drift Catching in Africa faces many challenges, including unreliable electricity and the small num- ber of laboratories capable of analyzing the samples. Generators, solar cells and batteries can provide the power needed to run the Drift Catcher’s pump (equal to a 120W bulb). With the number of professors and graduate students at the university excited about the project, the lack of analytical capacity should be overcome. When it comes to implementing creative solutions to the problems endemic to the region, Abou and PAN Africa are proven veterans. And now, Drift Catching promises to add a powerful new tool to PAN Africa’s efforts to keep winning important protections for the continent’s peoples.

Staff Scientist Karl A. Tupper directs PAN’s As students look on, PAN’s Karl Tupper adjusts a Drift Catcher during a Environmental Monitoring Program. demonstration at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. Valerie Breese

Chemical Reform is Key to U.S. POPs Treaty Ratification Reform of the U.S. law governing toxic new legislation. “Americans deserve humans and animals. Inclusion of such chemicals is gaining momentum. In to know that products they rely language would be a key step toward late September, EPA Administrator Lisa on…are safe and will not harm their U.S. ratification of the Stockholm Jackson announced that the agency is families.” Convention on Persistent Organic Pol- eager to work with Congress to rewrite lutants (POPs treaty). “We want to see the 33-year old Toxic Substances Con- Although TSCA does not govern this country ratify the POPs treaty in trol Act (TSCA). pesticides, Pesticide Action Network a way that puts the U.S. not just at the has joined the broad coalition of table, but able to play a positive leader- “Over the years, not only has TSCA organizations supporting fundamen- ship role,” explains Schafer. “To do this, fallen behind the industry it’s sup- tal overhaul of the nation’s chemical we need to get our own house in order posed to regulate,” says Jackson, “it’s policies. “Reform of U.S. chemicals on persistent chemicals—and that proven an inadequate tool for provid- policy is long overdue—and is means taking action on POPs rather ing the protection against chemical absolutely essential to protecting the than waiting for the rest of the world.” risks that the public rightfully expects.” health of families and ecosystems To help guide the process, EPA has around the world,” says PAN Senior Twenty-one chemicals have been tar- released a document on “principles Policy Analyst Kristin Schafer. “We’ll geted for elimination under the POPs for reform” prepared by the Obama be pushing for reform that outlaws treaty to date, and 167 countries had Administration. the most dangerous toxins, spurs ratified the Convention as of October. the adoption of safer products and Before the U.S. can join the Conven- Congress appears ready to move restores U.S. global leadership on tion, both TSCA and the nation’s forward with reform efforts as well. chemicals policy.” pesticide law (the Federal Insecticide, “America’s system for regulating toxic Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) must substances is broken,” says Sena- PAN is calling for specific provisions be amended to allow the U.S. to imple- tor Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who that would trigger a phaseout of toxic ment the treaty. together with Senator Barbara Boxer chemicals that persist in the environ- (D-CA), has committed to introducing ment and accumulate in the bodies of o n t h e w e b www.saferchemicals.org

PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 7 PAN’s 2009 Health & Justice Award Winner

Carol Dansereau: Farm Worker Pesticide Project PAN is delighted to honor Carol Dansereau, executive director of the Farm Worker Pesticide Project, as the winner of this year’s Health & Justice Award. The award recognizes individuals who have “committed their life’s work or endured great personal sacrifice to help end the use of hazardous pesticides and promote sustainable, fair alternatives.”

Since receiving her University of Michigan law families by publicizing studies documenting the degree in 1984, Carol Danserau has worked exclu- health impacts of pesticide exposures, helping to sively for nonprofits devoted to protecting people build state and national alliances, and pushing for and the environment from toxic pollution— stronger regulations and enforcement. including Environmental Action in Washington, D.C., and the Michigan Environmental Coun- In 2006, when state agencies dismissed commu- cil. She spent 11 years at the Washington Toxics nity concerns about pesticide drift in Washington’s Coalition in Seattle, including nearly three years apple-growing region, Carol helped residents of as executive director. Carol spearheaded Coalition Yakima Valley test the air themselves. Pesticide efforts that led to Washington State’s precedent- Action Network and FWPP collaborated on a setting Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins phaseout Drift Catching study that found dangerous levels rule. She was instrumental in focusing attention of chlorpyrifos in the air and published the find- on how toxic chemicals harm children’s health and ings in a joint report, “Poisons on the Wind.” The on the ability of common pollutants to disrupt the report, along with FWPP’s organizing, led the endocrine system in people and wildlife. Department of Health to implement mandatory air testing throughout the state. “Air monitoring gives us much-needed scientific evidence,” Carol notes. “The farmworker community is shining a light on a huge public health problem that has been ignored far too long. “I want every person to be free from chemical trespass and to enjoy life unimpaired by toxic exposures,” Carol says. “I’m driven by both a sense of justice and a reverence for life. What inspires me is the amazing people I get to work with— community members and allies who are dedicated, brilliant, courageous and fun. What frustrates me is the appalling lack of attention to the most serious pollution problems—those where people aren’t paid well and face challenges like language barriers and racism. We need to be united in insisting on justice and clean environments for all people.” Carol Dansereau addresses pesticide issues during an FWPP “reality tour” of Washington State’s Yakima Valley in May 2009. E. Elisondo Through each stage of her varied career, Carol has distinguished herself as an activist who works tire- lessly with modest compensation while managing Farm Worker Pesticide Project to win significant environmental and social justice victories. Carol and FWPP have been close allies In December 2003, while representing farmwork- with PAN on campaigns to eliminate acutely toxic ers on pesticide issues at Columbia Legal Services, pesticides, most recently in October as part of a discussions with the farmworker community coalition that petitioned the EPA to protect chil- prompted Carol to help launch the Farm Worker dren from pesticide drift. Pesticide Project. FWPP’s mission is to reduce and eliminate farmworker exposure to pesticides. Co- Announcing the award, PAN Executive Director led by the farmworkers it serves, the organization Kathryn Gilje wrote: “It is especially fitting that we provides resources to laborers and their advocates, honor Carol and the Farm Worker Pesticide Project, forges coalitions to address pesticide hazards and a farmworker-based organization doing great work promotes reform through advocacy, organizing, on a very small budget while contributing to victo- education and research. For the past six years, ries in Washington State and across the country.” Carol and FWPP have worked to end the egregious toxic exposures endured by farmworkers and their o n t h e w e b www.fwpp.org

8 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 Climate & Agriculture For 27 years, Pesticide Action Network has been working to replace dependence on hazardous pesticides with safe, sustainable and equitable food and agricultural systems. Climate change, and the response of agrichemical companies to it, now threatens that outcome. Climate and agriculture are inextricably connected — not only by biology, chemistry and physics, but also by power, money and politics. The same companies that brought us toxic pesticides, GMOs and global warming are now positioning themselves as climate saviors. But their expensive, inadequately tested and unproven technological solutions are destined to fail. The good news is that ecological agriculture and food sovereignty —solutions PAN and our partners have been promoting for decades as the antidote to pesticide and corporate dependence — can both feed the world and cool the planet. In this series of articles, we connect the dots between pesticides, agriculture, climate, health and the future of food.

Feeding the World Cooling the Planet by Marcia Ishii-Eiteman and Margaret Reeves

Agriculture is at a crossroads as we face an unprecedented array of converging crises of climate change, water scarcity and energy consumption. This year, the number of people suffering from hunger passed one billion. We have not so much a global food crisis as a global food system in crisis. An organic rice Far from solving the challenges of poverty, hunger and the destruction of natural resources, many farm in West Java, of the industrial agricultural practices, policies and institutions installed over the past 60 years have Indonesia. Irrigated worsened them. The convergence of these interlocking crises urgently requires new approaches that rather than flooded paddies conserve address the root causes of the failure of the globalized industrial food system. Fortunately, we have water and produce the capacity to produce adequate supplies of healthy food, while building ecological resilience, assur- fewer greenhouse ing social equity and cooling the planet. gasses. organikganesha

PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 9 climate & agriculture

Climate and Agriculture: Cooking the Planet By the Numbers As a result of climate change, some island countries are already fac- Three primary agricultural contributors ing nightmare scenarios, with entire populations seeking relocation. to GHG emissions are: carbon dioxide Intense droughts, floods and fires have killed tens of thousands of people, caused immeasurable damage and are threatening agricultural (CO2) from using fossil fuels for energy, transportation and production of pesticides livelihoods. and fertilizers; nitrous oxide (N2O) primarily Agriculture currently contributes an estimated 10–12% of total global released from chemical fertilizers; and methane anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. When indirect (CH4) mostly from livestock production. contributions—such as deforestation and conversion of grasslands to • Agricultural emissions, narrowly defined, intensive crop or livestock production—are included, the figure soars constitute 10–12% of global GHG emis- to roughly one third of global emissions. sions. Petrochemical production and distri- bution plus fossil fuel use in farm operations Petrochemical production, distribution and use in agriculture are also are responsible for another 3.2% of global carbon costly. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides disrupt key ecosys- emissions. tem functions of soil biota, decreasing the soils’ ability to sequester carbon, cycle nutrients, break down greenhouse gases like methane • Land use changes contribute up to an ad- and maintain water-holding capacity. ditional 17%, bringing direct and indirect agricultural emissions to roughly one third of total global emissions. Global trans- portation of agricultural inputs and goods increases that percentage.

• Agriculture is responsible for 60% of N2O emissions (primarily from nitrogen fertil- izers) and 50% of CH4 emissions (from ruminant animals during digestion and decomposition of manure and, to a lesser extent, water-intensive rice cultivation). Agriculture’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels and land use change are the top two fac- tors responsible for today’s massive global increases in CO2. • Roughly 50-70% of U.S. agricultural GHG emissions come from the production of No-till and no herbicides: Rodale Institute’s economical crimper-roller kills cover livestock, fruits, vegetables and grains: 10% crops mechanically, providing a living-mulch mat that acts as a barrier against weeds, from food processing; 5-15% from transpor- conserves moisture, protects soil and beneficial microorganisms. Rodale Institute tation; and an additional percentage from shopping, cooking, refrigeration and waste. Also at issue are the global politics of trade that drive deforestation • The global warming potential of methane is and land degradation. Pressured by global trade rules, international 25 times greater than that of carbon dioxide; financial institutions’ loan requirements (and massive national debts nitrous oxide is nearly 300 times more po- that require repayment in foreign currency), disadvantaged develop- tent; the fumigant pesticide sulfuryl fluoride ing countries are frequently compelled to convert natural resources (Dow’s Vikane®) is 4,780 times more potent. like forests and grasslands into commodities for trade in the global market—a process that releases more GHGs. In Latin America, • The production of synthetic fertilizers and deforestation is driven by the pressure to intensify cattle and soybean pesticides has been estimated to consume production to meet national export goals (and by investors attracted almost 40% of the energy used in all of U.S. to high commodity prices further inflated by speculation). In South- agriculture. It takes five tons of carbon to east Asia, large-scale landowners clearcut forests to plant oil palm for make one ton of nitrogen fertilizer. agrofuel production. This market-driven destruction releases massive • Carbon dioxide emissions from organic amounts of CO2, while displacing rural communities and destroying agricultural systems are 48–60% less than the food and livelihood security of millions. industrial agricultural systems. • Ecological management of soils to seques- Follow the money ter carbon has the highest proven potential Who benefits? Historically, industrial agriculture has benefited to reduce agriculture’s GHG emissions, transnational corporations, wealthy countries and local elites—those contributing an estimated 89% toward that who can afford the costly inputs required to realize the full potential potential. of high-maintenance crop varieties. Meanwhile, poor and marginal-

10 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 climate & agriculture ized communities and ecosystems have experienced massive harm. Now, Global Assessment multinational corporations are hoping to capture market share by exploit- Calls for Agroecological ing climate change as a new sales opportunity. The large biotech firms are launching massive advertising and lobbying campaigns that warn Solutions of impending doom brought on by increasing population and climate In the most comprehensive assessment of change—while implying that calamity can be averted by the purchase of global agriculture to date, the UN- and their products. World Bank-sponsored International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Many of the biggest chemical pesticide manufacturers also make geneti- Science and Technology for Development cally engineered (GE) seeds. More than 80% of GE seeds on the market (IAASTD) concluded that investing in are designed to be used with chemical weed-killers, sales of which have agroecological farming is one of the best ways skyrocketed as a result. Nearly 40% have been engineered to contain to improve yields while protecting public insecticidal genes (some seeds are now “double-” or “triple-stacked” con- health and building cropland that is resilient taining genes for both pest- and herbicide-resistance). Notably, none of to climate change. these products has fulfilled the promise to end world hunger. Agroecological farming includes political, As of 2008, Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, BASF and others had cultural, social and economic dimensions filed 532 patents for “climate-related genes,” touting the imminent arrival and integrates state-of-the-art science with of a new generation of seeds engineered to withstand heat and drought. traditional and community-based knowledge. This attempt to control the global market by patenting more genes for Agroecological innovations tend to be low- proprietary seeds will further restrict the age-old practice of farmers saving cost, readily adaptable by small and medium- seeds with desirable traits (a practice that may prove even more important scale farmers, and likely to advance social as the climate changes in unpredictable ways and demands more, not less, equity while conserving natural resources. farm-scale diversity). Despite this latest gene-grab, none of these compa- Methods include crop rotation, habitat nies has yet been able to engineer any kind of yield-increasing or “climate- diversification, agroforestry, mixed livestock/ ready” seeds. Their promises to end world hunger—through drought-, crop/fish systems, contour planting and heat- and salt-tolerant seeds and crops with enhanced nutrition—have ecological pest management. Agroecological proven empty. farming is highly productive and yields are often better than those of conventional While these companies expect to reap billions in profits, they can never farms, particularly in developing countries eradicate hunger nor successfully address climate change because their and during episodes of drought, flood, premise—that agriculture can be managed like a factory in which known, storms and extreme temperatures. controlled inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and machines, result In Central America, small-scale farmers in known outputs—is faulty. Corporations will never be able to control using agroecological methods were better the fundamental but increasingly variable inputs of temperature, sun and able to withstand the devastating effects rain, nor their interactions with living organisms. Farmers, however, can of Hurricane Mitch—losing less soil and adapt to changing conditions if they maintain flexible, ecologically resil- money than those farming conventionally. ient farming systems. Regrettably, the practice of substituting chemical Increased biodiversity tends to support the fertilizers for biologically-based soil fertility has already destroyed much of conservation of pollinators and natural our soils’ productive and climate-mitigating capacity. enemies, enabling least-toxic, ecological pest management. Crop diversity also supports Cooling the planet economic stability, more diverse diets and improved health and nutrition. Fortunately, we have options. The good news is that agriculture is the one sector affecting climate change that has the potential to go from being The IAASTD’s findings have been a problem to becoming an essential part of the solution. This requires a confirmed by numerous scientific studies. rapid and decisive shift from industrial monocultures towards mosaics of An Essex University review of 286 projects agroecological farming that sequester carbon in soils and help build their in 57 countries found that agroecological water- and nutrient-holding capacity. This transformation will require farming achieved average production integrating state-of-the-art science with local and Indigenous knowledge, gains of 79% per hectare. All the projects innovation and experience in biodiverse, ecological, place-based farming achieved increased water efficiency and 77% that is energy- and water-efficient and integrated into local and regional showed significant reductions in pesticide food systems. These solutions have been highlighted in the landmark use. Similarly, a University of Michigan reports of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Sci- examination of nearly 300 studies worldwide ence and Technology for Development (IAASTD). found that organic agriculture outperformed conventional practices by 57% and a 2008 We need to do more than simply tweak our industrial agricultural UN Conference on Trade and Development systems. Atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses must and UN Environment Programme report be rapidly reduced to near–pre-industrial levels. Decades of research by judged organic farming more likely to the Rodale Institute demonstrates that regenerative organic farming can meet African food security needs than ­mitigate a significant portion of the GHG emissions of industrial farm conventional production systems.

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More Half-Baked operations (by sequestering large quantities of carbon in fertile, humus-rich Solutions from the soil), reduce nitrous oxide (by eliminating use of chemical fertilizers) and reduce methane (through properly managed pastures and the activity of a Corporations that Are healthy soil microbial community). Baking the Planet Increasing the ability of farmers and agroecosystems to adapt to the increas- ingly harmful effects of climate change is also of vital importance. As it Genetically Engineered Crops turns out, the same soil-regenerating practices that mitigate GHG emis- Genetically engineered crops that can sions can enable farmers to better survive the droughts, floods and extreme resist climate change do not exist. Despite weather patterns associated with climate change. more than 10 years of research and untold millions of investment dollars, the industry Farmers who draw on their own experience, that of fellow farmers and has failed to introduce a single GE crop assistance from extension agents versed in agroecology can develop solu- capable of overcoming climate stress or tions appropriate to their locale that diversify and enhance productivity banishing hunger, malnutrition and poverty. under varying and unpredictable conditions. Such place-based solutions These genetically uniform, one-size-fits-all are also more conducive to localized control of production systems and the solutions are incapable of adapting to the revitalization of local food economies. unpredictable conditions associated with climate change (for example, fluctuations in temperature, rainfall, pest and disease Growing agroecology and food democracy at home pressures, increasing severity of storms and What is at stake? Our willingness to move rapidly towards ecological agri- other extreme weather events). culture—and to democratize control of our food systems—will determine The costs of investing scarce research whether or not we can overcome the converging threats of climate change, dollars in high-input technologies with a water scarcity, increasing social inequity and the approaching exhaustion of high failure rate are enormous—especially fossil fuels on which the global food economy is currently based. when this steers resources from chronically We need decisive action that builds local and national capacity in agroeco- underfunded research in ecological and logical farming and that rebalances power in the food system. For example, organic agriculture. Furthermore, corporate the U.S. administration should go beyond USDA Deputy Secretary Kath- seed patents concentrate control over the leen Merrigan’s “Know Your Farmer” initiative and Michelle Obama’s sym- seed sector, limit the availability of seed bolic gesture of planting an organic garden at home, with concrete steps to: diversity and bind farmers to the industry’s products. The industrial agriculture package 1. Establish a national framework for the implementation of agroeco- of GMOs-plus-petrochemicals exacerbates logical production, with priority funding for agroecological research, GHG emissions and disrupts crucial extension and education. ecological functions of the soil such as nutrient cycling, building and maintaining 2. Provide financial incentives and rewards for agroecological, soil structure, and water retention. resource-conserving and GHG-mitigating farm practices, and for reducing reliance on fossil-fuels for energy and chemical- and Herbicide-based no-till farming water-intensive production methods. These rewards could include No-till practices are often touted as one credit lines, crop insurance, income tax exemptions and payments for of the best means to sequester carbon in ecosystem services. the soil. However, no-till practices are 3. Increase market opportunities for farmers adopting climate- frequently accompanied by high levels of friendly, agroecological practices. Encourage food labeling to herbicides—most commonly Monsanto’s identify fair and sustainable production with affordable third-party weed-killer Roundup® (glyphosate) and certification of production methods and fair labor standards. Syngenta’s atrazine. This chemical-based 4. Revitalize local and regional food systems through the establish- approach generates GHGs through ment of democratic food policy councils, farmers’ markets, local food herbicide production, transport and processing and urban agriculture projects, and public agency procure- application. It also contaminates surface ment of fresh, local and organic produce. Engage small-scale farm- water and destroys the mychorrhizal fungi that are crucial to nutrient cycling ers, food-system workers and rural community members (especially and maintenance of a healthy soil with women) in shaping state and national climate and agricultural policy. the capacity to sequester carbon. USDA 5. Use full-cost accounting measures to evaluate and compare the research has shown that a minimal tillage social, environmental, climate-related and economic costs of con- practice involving organic soil management ventional vs. agroecological farming systems. Revise policy priorities (and occasional tillage to incorporate accordingly. organic amendments) sequesters far more 6. Revise laws of ownership, access and control to protect small- carbon and builds greater soil fertility. scale farmers’ rights to own land, access water, and save, exchange and Source: Rodale 2008. The Organic Green plant seeds freely. Protect forests and grasslands from clear-cutting Revolution. DemandOrganic.org and conversion to industrial agricultural uses. Abolish intensive live-

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stock operations. Establish and enforce strong dent Obama has appointed two “Big Ag” power conflict-of-interest rules and anti-trust regula- brokers to two of the most influential offices that tions to reduce corporate influence over public will shape food and agricultural policy at home policy and to break up monopoly control of the and abroad. Roger N. Beachy, a former Monsanto food system. research collaborator, now heads the National Institute of Food and Agriculture while Islam A. 7. Establish fair regional and global trade Siddiqui (Vice President for Science and Regu- agreements that uphold the right of peoples latory Affairs at CropLife America) is slated to to democratically determine their own food and become Chief Agriculture Negotiator for the U.S. agricultural policies. Ensure that national and Office of Trade. international climate solutions guarantee social and ecological justice and do not harm public This is more than the latest episode in a long or environmental health. historical confrontation between the uniform, Unfortunately, nothing currently moving through corporate-controlled industrial model of quick-fix Congress or the administration even begins to agriculture and the flexible, knowledge-intensive address these imperatives. Neither the Kerry-Boxer approach of regenerative agroecological systems. Senate bill nor the Waxman-Markey House bill rep- The stakes have been drastically raised as the cata- resents a serious attempt to ratchet down our GHG clysmic consequences of climate change rapidly emissions. Neither provides meaningful mecha- bear down on us. Which approach will prevail nisms to shift from GHG-emitting agriculture to depends in part on whether clear-sighted lead- carbon-sequestering, ecologically-based farming. ers can shrug off the campaign contributions and Both contain massive giveaways to polluting special influence peddling of Big Ag and take decisive interests. action to upend industrial agriculture. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Clinton, Agriculture Our future also rests on the actions of millions of Secretary Vilsack, representatives of the industry- organic farmers and supporters around the world, Farmers in Rio friendly U.S. Agency for International Develop- who are not only feeding the soil but also, in the Bravo, Mexico, words of Vandana Shiva, “feeding freedom.” were left high-and- ment and philanthro-capitalists like the Gates dry when a drought Foundation, are all aggressively touting GMOs as Drs. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman and Margaret Reeves, swept through their the solution to global hunger and climate-induced senior scientists at PAN North America, work on region in 1996, threats to food production. Far from laying out drying up rivers and climate, agroecology and fair food systems. Marcia irrigation channels. a new national vision to guide a rapid transition is a plant-insect ecologist by training; Margaret a Jack Dykinga / U.S. Dept. towards ecologically sustainable agriculture, Presi- soil ecologist. of Agriculture

13 climate & agriculture U.S. EPA to Investigate Role of Pesticides in Climate Change Drawing on research compiled by Duke University • The combined stress of climate change and scientists and the National Institute of Environmen- pesticide use. Just as “cocktails” of pesticides are tal Health Sciences, a coalition of environmental often more toxic than their individual toxicities groups including Pesticide Action Network has would suggest, so too can the combined effect asked the EPA to review the relationship between of pesticides and climate change prove to be pesticides and climate change. While it is known greater than the sum of the individual effects. that manufacturing pesticides and fertilizers gener- Craig Segall of the Sierra Club is driving the coali- ates greenhouse gases and that industrial agriculture tion that submitted a letter in March to Dr. Debra depletes soil while releasing carbon, there are other Edwards, director of EPA’s Office of Pesticide important pesticide-related climate-change effects Programs, asking for a review of the issue. After an that EPA regulators need to consider. These include: August 6 meeting between the coalition and EPA • The release of previously deposited persistent staff, it was generally agreed that the pesticide- pesticides from polar ice as the climate warms. climate connection needs to be investigated. The Senate Agriculture Committee has taken an interest • Changes in global transport patterns of wind- as well. The next steps will most likely involve con- and water-borne chemicals. vening one of EPA’s expert Scientific Advisory Panel • Increased spread of pests creating pressure to processes. Ultimately, this could result in across- intensify use of pesticides. the-board improvements in the way EPA does risk assessment for pesticides. • Increased pesticide exposure for people and ecosystems exposed to “exceptional” events such Based upon the work of hundreds of scientists, the as flooding. EPA itself has concluded that the effects of climate • The concern that at least one widely used change “include sickness and death” and that global pesticide can actually cause climate change itself warming threatens “virtually every facet of the liv- (see box below). ing world around us.”

Dow’s Greenhouse Gas The only currently known example of a pesticide that of times more climate-changing emissions. EPA’s best directly contributes to climate change is the fumigant course—and the one the law demands—is to deny the sulfuryl fluoride (Dow’s brand-name Vikane®). Vikane experimental use permit, as the climate impacts of is a greenhouse gas that is 4,780 times more potent sulfuryl fluoride make its use unjustifiable. than CO . Dow Agrochemical has applied to EPA for 2 o n t h e w e b www.panna.org/fumigants/so2f2 permission to apply 35,000 pounds of sulfuryl fluoride gas on 65 acres of test plots. If only 10% of the gas escaped into the air, it would have the global warming impact of driving a car 23 million miles or 930 times around the world. Pesticide Action Network, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Environmental Health, Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club have issued a joint-appeal to the EPA to deny the experimental permit, noting that “climate change is perhaps the best (and worst) example of a cumulative-effects problem — emissions from numerous sources have combined to create the most pressing Though Vikane is currently not permitted in agriculture, it environmental and societal problem of our time.” is commonly used for structural fumigation. Here a home in Oakland, California, is tented to kill termites. After a few If EPA were to approve agricultural use of Vikane, this days, the extremely potent greenhouse gas is released into could easily result in the annual release of hundreds the open air. Jan Buckwald

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Weather, Pests and Pesticides Mosquitoes are the “stars” of a rogues’ gallery of approaches also employ two strategies promoted disease vectors that includes lesser luminaries such by WHO—larviciding with natural biocides and as ticks and rodents. Mosquitoes can spread dengue using inexpensive physical barriers like bed nets to fever, yellow fever and malaria (a disease that kills reduce contact with mosquitoes. Kenya, Mexico, almost one million people annually and puts 2.5 bil- Vietnam and many other countries have successfully lion people at risk), while a tick can transmit 11 controlled mosquitoes without utilizing pesticides major diseases including Rocky Mountain Spotted as a silver-bullet solution. Fever and Lyme Disease, the most common vector- borne illness in the U.S. Ticks also can be defeated without the use of toxic enya, Mexico, Climate change scientists predict that disease-carry- chemicals. DEET, a com- KVietnam and ing insects may adapt to warming temperatures by monly recommended many other countries expanding their range—a prospect that pesticide repellent can cause adverse manufacturers hope will lead to increased profits. effects to the nervous have successfully In some regions, increased rainfall will increase the system and University of controlled mosquitoes breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Climate change is Florida researchers have without utilizing expected to expand the areas suitable for Plasmodium recently reported that ticks falciparum, the parasite that causes 98% of malaria in have developed resistance pesticides as a silver- Africa. In some regions, climate change is expected to two major commercial bullet solution. to extend the transmission season for exposure to pesticides sold for treating the parasite, which could, in turn, prompt calls for pets—permethrin, a chemi- increased indoor use of pesticides—including DDT. cal found in many pesticides An emergence of malaria in Africa’s cooler highlands and repellents that is very dangerous to cats, and may be an early sign of mosquitoes shifting habitats fipronil, found in Frontline®. Again, the best path is to cope with rising temperatures. prevention: avoid overgrown areas, dress appropri- ately and remove ticks and fleas as soon as they are The World Health Organization (WHO) recom- discovered. mends controlling mosquitoes with 12 insecti- cides—including DDT—and promotes Indoor As climate change raises new health challenges, Residual Spraying as an effective method of insecti- global governments need to provide their public cide delivery. Unfortunately, these pesticides all are health systems with the means to implement these either cancer-causing or “moderately hazardous” to community-based responses. PAN is calling on the human health. Eight are among PAN’s list of Bad U.S.—as an important provider of aid in Africa, Actor pesticides—chemicals that share one or more Asia and Latin America—to cease support for haz- of the following characteristics: highly acutely toxic, ardous pesticides and shift to funding proven and cholinesterase inhibitor, known/probable carcinogen, effective public health strategies. known groundwater pollutant or known reproduc- tive or developmental toxicant. o n t h e w e b PAN Pesticide Database, pesticideinfo.org; Climate Change and Human Treating a climate-driven rise in insect-borne diseases Health: Risks and Responses, WHO, www.who.int/ by ramping up pesticide applications can have disas- globalchange/publications/climchange.pdf trous, long-term consequences for human health, yet this is the approach favored by the Stockholm Con- vention’s new Global Alliance, which has pledged to “bring to market new formulations of existing pes- ticide classes” by working to address “barriers to… Provide for a safe and commercialization.” (The Convention’s collaborators in this effort include the chemical pesticide lobby sustainable future CropLife and the U.S. EPA.) Join the PAN Sustainers Circle with a monthly or quarterly pledge, or Fortunately, many successful systems-based create approaches do not rely on pesticides for malaria a legacy gift for you and your family by control. These safe, sustainable programs depend on including Pesticide Action Network in public health programs that work with local com- your will or trust. munities to control disease transmission by clearing Learn more at www.panna.org/support stagnant water to remove mosquito breeding sites or call 415-981-1771 ext 309. and relying on community-based monitoring for the early detection and treatment of infection. These

PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 15 climate & agriculture

Asian Farmers and Activists Respond to the Food and Climate Crisis

p e n a n g —Peasant farmers, Indigenous peoples, Vijay Jarhdhari, an Indian farmer and community agricultural workers, fisherfolk and social activists leader. “In my region, there is a severe drought convened in Malaysia in late September to propose going on and rice and other water-intensive crops agricultural solutions to the global food and climate have failed. However, traditional drought-resis- crisis. The meeting, organized by Pesticide Action tant varieties of millet and amaranth crops have Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP), drew 113 survived.” people from 22 countries. The 2008 food riots that rocked many of the world’s poorest countries dramatized the food inse- curity that can arise when local crops are replaced by export-driven cash crops and agrofuels. PAN AP Executive Director Sarojeni V. Rengam stressed the need for “solutions based on the principles of peoples’ food sovereignty, such as the communities’ right to decision making on food and agricultural policies.” The conference culminated with an endorsement of the People’s Protocol on Climate Change (a docu- ment developed through community consultation, rather than the top-down corporate trade solutions that steered the global climate treaty known as the Kyoto Protocol). The People’s Protocol faults the Kyoto agreement for ignoring corporate industrial- ization as a root cause of climate change:

“The Kyoto Protocol does not truly involve grassroots communities and peoples who are Sharing of grassroots experiences and best practices. From left to right: Sakiul worst-affected, especially in the South. It has Millat Morshed (Bangladesh), farmer Vijay Jarhdhari (India) and Dr. Charito Medina grossly neglected the severe damage to their (Philippines). Choo Chon Kai / The Network of Oppressed People livelihoods, well-being and welfare. It does not consistently and coherently adhere to While global warming has been linked to melting the vital developmental principles, especially glaciers and rising sea levels, changes in historic people’s sovereignty over natural resources.” weather patterns, including increased floods and droughts, are altering agricultural cycles, with dev- The People’s Protocol calls for the world’s nations to astating impacts on crops and farmers’ livelihoods. abandon corporate-controlled high-input, biotech- Filipinos had a taste of climate disaster when Tropi- based production and to support biodiversity and cal Storm Ketsana flooded Manila. PAN AP board agroecology as the best long-term solutions to member Dr. Romy Quijano had to wade through alleviate the food crisis and the ravages of climate waist-deep waters to reach the plane that carried change. him to Penang. The severe flood claimed hundreds of lives and displaced more than 380,000 people. Professor Anwar Fazal, a founder of Pesticide Action Network, observed that the triple crises of food, Irene Fernandez, chair of PAN AP and founder of climate and global financial integrity “offer us an Tenaganita, a women’s and migrant workers’ group, opportunity for transformational change.” Fortu- told the conference: “We must move to sustain- nately, as Consumers Union Senior Scientist Dr. able production and lifestyles. The change must be Michael Hansen noted, “peasant movements have immediate, otherwise the crisis will be too acute to come together to put forward community-based manage and [more] lives will be lost. The poor, the solutions to counteract the unsustainable solutions farmers, the agricultural workers and fisherfolk will of the pro-biotech giant corporations.” be acutely affected.” o n t h e w e b PAN AP, www.panap.net/338.0.html; “Biodiversity-based ecological agriculture is the The People’s Protocol on Climate Change, www. community’s answer to climate change,” noted peoplesclimatemovement.net/content/view/13/26

16 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 climate & agriculture Changing Climate Accelerates Toxic Threat in Arctic Images of polar bears struggling to survive as ice With the earlier onset of ice breakups, polar bears fields melt beneath them capture the urgent real- are eating more seals caught swimming in the open ity of climate change. Scientists now confirm that water. Since these seals eat higher on the food chain the Arctic’s wildlife are not only losing than ice-bound seals and accumulate higher habitat as climate patterns shift, but levels of contaminants, the polar bears they’re also becoming more con- inevitably take in more toxins. Mean- taminated with toxic chemi- while, some of the ice-bound seals cals, leaving them less able are becoming more contaminated to cope with collapsing as changes in sea-ice conditions ecosystems disrupted by shift their diets toward cod, climate change. their most contaminated food source. According to a 2007 International Panel This poses an immediate on Climate Change threat to the health, culture report, the shifting and livelihood of Indig- climate is increasing enous hunters who rely on toxic exposure in the fish and game for survival. Arctic in several ways. Traditional diets are an Warming temperatures essential part of cultural iden- release toxic chemicals tity. These diets have evolved long trapped in perma- to increase chances of survival frost (including breakdown in the harsh polar environment products of DDT) and and are known to reduce the risk of increase the “uptake, transport diabetes, heart disease and obesity. The and deposition behavior of many of increasing concentration of toxic chemicals these chemicals.” Shifting wind currents in the Arctic is a cruel by-product of the industrial increase the volume of persistent chemicals (like the model that has placed this once-pristine region on pesticides endosulfan, lindane and DDT) that are the frontline of the planet’s climate calamity. deposited in the Arctic after traveling from farms and factories in Europe, Asia and the U.S. These o n t h e w e b Alaska Community Action on Toxics, climate-driven changes in the dynamics of the Arc- www.akaction.org; Ecology and Wildlife: Climate Change and the Arctic Diet, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ tic’s complex food web are increasing chemical loads pmc/articles/PMC2717154 among high-level predators, including whales, seals and, ultimately, humans. Polar bear image by Jan Will.

PAN Goes to Copenhagen for the Climate Summit In early December, PAN will be attending the 15th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change in Copenhagen. We’re preparing several initiatives spanning almost two weeks. They include the pre-conference “People’s Assembly” (convened to ratify the People’s Protocol on Climate Change, which will be presented to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on December 9) and the alternative “Klimaforum09,” where PAN AP’s Clare Westwood and PAN North America’s Heather Pilatic will lead a workshop on “Building Community Resilience to Climate Change through Food Sovereignty and Ecological Agriculture.” Check www.panna.org for the latest news.

PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 17 climate & agriculture

The political, social, ecological, energy- and climate-related impacts of biofuels are complex. Civil society groups around the world, including Pesticide Action Network, have raised concerns about the destructive impacts of current large-scale production systems, particularly “agrofuels” that displace food crops. As the authors of this analysis explain, small-scale, localized biofuel production in the U.S. presents slightly different issues, while having its own challenges. Growing Greener Biofuels

by Jim Kleinschmit and Julia Olmstead, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

he biofuels industry is now fast-growing trees harvested by that meet agreed-upon sustainability becoming large and mature laborers working for less-than- indicators and contribute to our shared Tenough to have a big impact subsistence wages. But without a way goals. Ideally, biofuels will be made on energy, climate and economic to qualitatively distinguish between in the same region in which they are goals, but whether that impact is fuels—judging them, for example, used. If biofuels are imported, it must positive or negative depends largely on environmental performance, only be under very strict sustainability upon what policies we pursue. Done global warming contributions and and equity standards. These must right, biofuels have the potential to community impacts—it’s difficult to include not only environmental reduce greenhouse gas emissions, see the path under existing policies to criteria around soil, water, climate enrich wildlife habitats and boost rural sustainability for biofuels. and biodiversity, but also social and economies. But taken in the wrong Much of the international debate over economic considerations covering direction, biofuel development will biofuels has focused on production labor rights, fair trade protections and threaten water and soil resources and mandates set by the U.S. and the promotion of community-owned food security while doing little to European Union. These mandates, and locally-scaled biofuel facilities. slow climate change. Considering the when fulfilled in part by imported Some of these qualitative policies strong role of policy in determining biofuels, have led to forest and are already in place, but much more biofuel development, it is up to the perennial landscape destruction as land needs to be done. The latest version stakeholders—farmers, producers, is cleared for biofuel crops. It is crucial, of the RFS and changes in subsidies rural residents and energy users—to then, that production mandates like provide more support for cellulosic determine shared goals for the sector, the U.S.’s Renewable Fuel Standard be ethanol and other advanced biofuels. and what policies will best support limited to domestic production. After And a program in the 2008 Farm those outcomes. all, the RFS is ostensibly designed to Bill—the Biomass Crop Assistance Many of the problems associated reduce U.S. dependence on foreign Program—will help farmers grow with biofuels primarily lie with the energy sources. other crops, including perennial grasses industrial agricultural and energy In the U.S., where corn is grossly and woody plants, for bioenergy and model under which most biofuels overproduced, converting to diverse, “next generation” cellulosic biofuel are produced—as well as with a perennial cropping systems for production, which will contribute corporate-led global trade system that biofuels is an option. The deep roots to better water quality and wildlife doesn’t care how or where those fuels of perennial plants hold carbon in, habitat. are produced. harvesting can be done more than once But even these more sustainable To contribute to sustainability goals, a year, and replanting is infrequent types of emerging biofuels will not biofuel feedstocks must be produced in (alfalfa, for example, can thrive for fulfill their potential if they are ways that do not degrade land or water five seasons before replanting). Ideally, seen as a substitute for, rather than resources. Many people consider “first biofuel farmers can grow a mixture supplement to, deep cuts in energy generation” biofuel feedstocks like corn of grasses, legumes and other plants and fuel consumption. Socially just to be inherently unsustainable, but that mimic ancient prairies, using no and environmentally sustainable the answer is not quite that simple. pesticides or synthetic fertilizers and biofuel development will need to be Corn can be part of a multi-year, far less energy. paired with significant strides in fuel sustainable crop-rotation system that Biofuel policy must go beyond conservation, higher efficiency vehicles maximizes soil quality and soil carbon production quotas to focus on and reduction in miles driven for it to storage, reduces fossil fuel inputs and environmental, social and economic truly contribute to more sustainable minimizes pest and disease pressure. performance. Instead of just transportation. But monocultural corn production, mandating the number of gallons to be which requires heavy doses of fossil produced and assuming that will get Excerpted and adapted from a longer fuel-derived fertilizers and pesticides, us the broader benefits we seek, state article entitled “Navigating the Maize,” will never be a sustainable feedstock. and federal policies should require that which appeared in the Izaak Walton Nor will Brazilian sugarcane or ethanol and biodiesel are made in ways League’s Outdoor America, Spring 2009.

18 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 Solutions Demand Organic, Heal the Planet by Tim LaSalle, Rodale Institute At the Rodale Institute, we have a saying: “Healthy Soils, Healthy Food, Healthy People, Healthy Planet.” To us, this epitomizes the promise and opportunity of organic agriculture to reverse the negative impacts of chemical agriculture—polluted soils, polluted food and excess greenhouse emis- sions. In the past 62 years, the Institute has been advancing regenerative agriculture and learning along the way that, if you invest in the future of healthy soil, you ensure the future of the planet. Organic agriculture is the best tested and most available strategy for capturing and storing atmo- spheric carbon dioxide. In addition to climate stabilization, organic agriculture’s ability to seques- ter carbon prevents erosion, improves food qual- ity and increases yields during times of both low and high rainfall. Widespread adoption of organic agricultural practices is economically beneficial— creating productive jobs and promoting investment In Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, near Kutztown, the Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial has compared organic and conventional approaches side-by-side for in sustainable farming. More organic food being more than two decades, demonstrating that sustainable farming is better for the produced, sold and consumed effectively mitigates farmer and the Earth. Rodale Institute the expensive challenges of food safety and polluted waterways. synthetic fertilizers for plant nutrients. The organic We need to abandon agriculture’s addiction to legume system depends on cover crops, intense chemical pesticides and nitrogen-based synthetic rotation and tillage to manage pests and fertility. fertilizers. Organic farming uses neither of these The organic manure system receives composted toxic substances, keeping soils free from chemicals manure and cover crops for nutrients, and uses till- proven to be harmful to our cells, from the womb age for weed control. throughout life. Our industrial system’s manu- facture and widespread use of synthetic, fossil- During the transition to organic and the first 14 fuel-based materials pollutes our air with nitrogen years of organic production, the legume system that destroys Earth’s ozone layer and dissolves in sequestered an average of about one ton of CO2 in atmospheric vapor to form acid rain. This nitrogen the soil per-acre-per-year, while the manure system also leaches into streams and rivers, acidifying water, added about two tons of CO2 per-acre-per-year. and creating aquatic dead zones that are incapable Since then, Rodale’s field experiments combin- of sustaining life. ing composted manure and cover crops have sequestered CO2 at average rate of about 3.75 tons As members of our local and global ecosystems, per-acre-per-year. These results demonstrate that we must reconsider agriculture’s role. This requires organic farming methods in our temperate climate systems-thinking that evaluates the impact of all can generate robust carbon sequestration compared agricultural practices in the immediate and long- to industrial practices and are capable of mitigating term context. If we consider an ecological frame- 10–40% of annual global carbon emissions. work, we recognize that continuing to damage our soil quality damages our health and ultimately our It is a critical time in human and climate history biological capacity to produce food. to make these necessary changes to our systems of food and fiber production. For a healthy planet, we must begin with healthy soils. We must Demand A 28-year study of organic crops Organic. Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial® is North America’s oldest comparative scientific study of Tim LaSalle is CEO of the Rodale Institute in organic agriculture. Since 1981, an organic legume Kutztown, Pennsylvania, a nonprofit engaged in system and organic raw manure system have been research and advocacy around the world. compared to non-organic fields. The non-organic o n t h e w e b www.rodaleinstitute.org system relies on herbicides for weed control and Also see www.demandorganic.org

19 s t o r i e s f r o m t h e p a n n e t w o r k The Land Stewardship Project Working to Keep the Land and People Together

A handful of multinational corporations are seeking to In its 27th year, LSP has 2,500 household members gain increasing control of our farm and food systems, from around the country. Their members are farm- no matter what the impacts on people and the land. ers, urban and rural people who envision farm and Such control exploits natural resources, rural commu- food systems that are socially just and environmentally nities and public health—and has borne an industrial sound, that produce healthy food, respect farm workers food machine that is threatening our global climate. and are profitable to farmers. But an increasing number of people are becoming LSP works towards this vision by, for example, mentor- aware of the negative consequences of such control ing new farmers in its Farm Beginnings® program. Brad of our food systems, and are seeking to bring about and Leslea Hodgson are Farm Beginnings graduates change. One group that has long been working to cre- who now raise beef on pasture in an environmentally ate secure, healthy and fair food and farming systems sensitive part of southeast Minnesota. Pasture-based is the Land Stewardship Project (LSP). A grassroots systems, which LSP heavily promotes, utilize the deep organization based in the upper Midwest, LSP takes roots of perennial grasses to keep greenhouse gases out on this corporate power. Their mantra says it all: of the atmosphere. “We wanted to start farming using Never discount the power of people when it takes on the sustainable, low-input, low-impact techniques,” says power of money. Leslea. “No one else was offering any instruction on how to do this.” LSP also engages farmers to develop policies that reward stewardship of the land. In 2002, LSP helped create the Conservation Security Program. The first of its kind, the program rewards farmers for producing clean water, sequestering carbon and creating wildlife habitat on working farmlands. As part of the 2008 Farm Bill, LSP worked successfully to have what is now called the Conservation Stewardship Program dramatically expanded. Organic dairy farmer Bill Gor- man serves on LSP’s Federal Policy Committee and is enrolled in CSP. “Very often farmers using good stew- ardship practices were at a disadvantage when it came to federal farm payments,” Bill says. “CSP is helping to turn that around.” LSP and Pesticide Action Network are now collabo- rating to train the public spotlight on the herbicide atrazine and its primary producer and apologist, the Land Stewardship Project farmer members in Dodge County, Minnesota, Syngenta Corporation. In December, LSP and PAN celebrate their victory blocking a factory dairy farm planned for their county. will publish a joint report to highlight the problem. The power that LSP brings to the issue is evidenced by the on-the-ground change they stimulate: Minnesota LSP has shown there are better ways to produce our farmer and LSP member Greg Erickson dropped atra- food—ways that improve the environment, produce zine and other agrichemicals after tests showed his well nutrient rich food and are profitable to farmers. water was contaminated. “I drilled a new, deeper well Founded in 1982, LSP has been working with farmers and so then I was able to keep using chemicals. Prob- to make such sustainable systems a reality on more lem solved,” Greg says. “But really the problem was not farms, at first aiming to reduce soil erosion. But as solved—my neighbor was still drinking my chemicals the farm crisis grew later that decade, LSP soon began from his own shallow well. So I went organic. I’m here working with farmers to stop the record number of to protect this land and to be a good neighbor.” This is farm foreclosures. LSP’s work during the farm crisis of the type of stewardship ethic that is at the heart of the the ’80s established their culture of listening to farm- Land Stewardship Project. ers about the challenges they face and then engaging them and others in organizing to change the unjust o n t h e w e b Information about how to get policies that favor corporate interests over those of involved, including becoming a member, is at family farms and land stewardship. www.landstewardshipproject.org.

20 PAN North America Magazine Fall 2009 I know our work together is getting results. Here’s my donation.

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Industrialized, globalized agriculture polluted with nitrates and pesticides. crops have no diseases, our soils are is a recipe for eating oil. Oil is used The globalized food system is resilient to drought and our food is for the chemical fertilizers that go to causing destruction at every level. delicious. pollute the soil and water. Oil is used Biodiversity is being destroyed in to displace small farmers with giant favor of monocultures of corn, soy The solution to climate change tractors and combine harvesters. Oil and canola. Food has been reduced to and the solution to poverty are the is used to industrially process food. a commodity. same. Food, economic justice and And oil is used to transport food energy equity demand more small farther and farther from where it is Over the past 20 years, I have built farms. How land is used, and how produced. Navdanya, India’s biodiversity its ownership is distributed, is part and organic farming movement. of the politics of climate change. Industrial systems of food production Navdanya’s work has shown that Localization of food systems to use ten times more energy than we can grow more food and provide reduce food-miles is a climate- ecological agriculture and ten times higher incomes to farmers without change imperative. It is also a more energy than the energy in the destroying the environment and food-sovereignty and human-rights food produced. Industrial agriculture killing peasants. We can lower imperative. in the U.S. uses 380 times more the costs of production while energy-per-hectare to produce increasing output. We have done We do not need to go the Monsanto rice than a traditional farm in the this successfully on thousands of way. We can go the Navdanya way. Philippines. farms and have created a fair, just and We do not need to end up in food sustainable economy. dictatorship and food slavery. We can Chemical industrial agriculture is create our food freedom. based on the idea that soil fertility is At the Navdanya farm, we have been manufactured in fertilizer factories. feeding the soil organisms. They, Adapted from Soil Not Oil: Environmental This was the idea that drove the in turn, feed us. Our farm is fossil Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis (South Green Revolution, introduced in fuel-free—oxen plow the land and End Press, 2009). Vandana Shiva, a physicist, eco-feminist and philosopher, India in 1965. Today, the Green fertilize it. Every step in building has worked with PAN groups for two Revolution has faded in Punjab. a living agriculture sustained by a decades. She is the author of a dozen Yields are declining. The soil is living soil is a step toward mitigating books including Manifestos on the Future depleted of nutrients. The water is and adapting to climate change. Our of Food and Seed.

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