Fwd: PANUPS: Unite for Change

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PANUPS

 

PANUPS: Unite for Change

Mon, 08 Mar 2004 12:30:30 -0800

 

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P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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Unite for Change

 

March 8, 2004

 

Join us April 2-4, 2004, for the 22nd National Pesticide Forum; Unite for

Change: New Approaches to Pesticides and Environmental Health, at the Clark Kerr

Conference Center, University of California, (UC) Berkeley. This year's program

highlights the emerging coalitions of parents, pesticide activists, farmworkers,

cancer survivors and many others working to reverse the widespread chemical

contamination in our bodies, our food, our air and our planet.

 

Conference sponsors are PANNA, Beyond Pesticides, Californians for Pesticide

Reform and the Society and Environment Division of the Environmental Science,

Policy and Management Department, UC Berkeley. This year the conference has been

expanded to include activists from Canada and Mexico, where work is underway for

local pesticide bans and around trade issues important for the entire region.

 

With more than 20 workshops and three plenaries, the gathering is an opportunity

to gather the latest information on current campaigns and emerging science, and

to share ideas with a wide range of people knowledgeable on environmental health

issues.

 

Sandra Steingraber, author of well-researched and poetic books on the science

and the experience of living with chemical pollution (Living Downstream,

Post-Diagnosis, and Having Faith: an Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood) will

give the keynote address. Also featured will be Howard Lyman, author of Mad

Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat.

 

A plenary on Freedom of Speech for Scientific Research features three

outstanding researchers that reported on the risks of pesticides and genetically

engineered crops, and were highly criticized for their findings. A second panel,

The Power of Local Action, features activists from Canada, where more than 50

local pesticide bans are changing gardening practices in homes and public parks,

officials in San Francisco applying the Precautionary Principle to environmental

policymaking, and others working on toxics-reduction strategies. A third panel,

From Seed to Table and Beyond: Thinking systemically about social change and the

food system, will look at the food system as a whole as well as the broad

institutional basis of corporate power. The panel will focus on the implications

of the " big picture " for pesticide and food systems activists in developing

successful strategies for change.

 

Unite for Change will offer 20 workshops on pesticide related health and

environmental issues. Subjects range from asthma to West Nile virus, and skills

training sessions include, Selling Your Message to the Mainstream, and Catching

the (Pesticide) Drift. Below is a sampling of workshops organized by PANNA,

representing only a portion of the full schedule:

 

Body Burden, Drift and Household Dust: Making Strategic Pesticide Monitoring

Choices: Panelists will present current projects and technologies for monitoring

for pesticides and for analyzing existing data. Discussion will focus on how

data from each type of monitoring can promote policy change and the potential

for using the various approaches in a complementary way.

 

International / Global Pesticide Trade: New Tools, Partners & Campaigns:

Presenters will look at the changing global pesticide trade and the impact of

trade agreements such as those in Central America on pesticide regulation.

 

Strategy Session on Systemic Change: This session will discuss ways to address

the root causes of pesticide use, agricultural biotechnology and other social

and environmental harms without abandoning current work on symptomatic issues.

 

Communities United Against Pesticide Drift: Presents activists from California

and North Carolina with success stories in the fight against airborne pesticide

drift in the regulatory arena and in enforcement against violators. The workshop

will focus on successful strategies and encourage discussion on ways to organize

for successful actions against drift.

 

Home and Garden Pesticides: A Wedge Issue?: A majority of urban residents (and

voters) have personal concerns about pesticides and health, particularly for

children. Information on the health and environmental justice issues of home

pesticide use can be a critical step for achieving overall pesticide use

reduction and bans. This interactive workshop explores home hazards, neighbor

notification, the recent experience with prohibiting cosmetic use of pesticides

in Canada, a new campaign at NCAP, and a public housing campaign in Los Angeles.

 

Lessons from Pesticide-Specific Campaigns: Methyl Bromide, Lindane and Arsenic:

This workshop will explore the benefits and pitfalls of pesticide-specific

campaigns by looking at ongoing work on three chemicals. With updates on

national and regional organizing efforts for each campaign and discussion on

avoiding a " chemical-by-chemical " approach, in which banned pesticides are

replaced with equally (or more) damaging products.

 

Pesticide Activism in Canada and Mexico: Voices from the North and South:

Activists will discuss opportunities for strengthening regional coordination.

Canadian organizing for local bans of " cosmetic " pesticide use will be

highlighted, as well as work underway in Mexico with women and indigenous groups

on the dangers of pesticide use and promoting local organic markets.

 

See conference information on the PANNA website (http://www.panna.org/), which

will be updated as the schedule develops, or call PANNA at (415) 981-1771.

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting on

pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media. It's

produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and

non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to

pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all

contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

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Back issues of PANUPS are available online at:

http://www.panna.org/resources/panups.html

 

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Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)

49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA

Phone: (415) 981-1771

Fax: (415) 981-1991

Email: panna

Web: http://www.panna.org

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