Bring Farm Workers' Voices to the Table
Send “farm workers talk about pesticides” video to pesticide task force
On January 6th, a new state pesticide task force will convene in Raleigh. Their charge is to make recommendations for improving pesticide safety rules and programs in North Carolina, so that everyone who works or lives on a farm will be better protected from toxic pesticides. The group – The Interagency Task Force on Agricultural Pesticide Exposure – is made up of fourteen experts from various state agencies, including Pubic Health, Agriculture, Environment and Cooperative Extension. But when the task force meets this week, there’s one important perspective that will be missing: farm workers. North Carolina’s more than 150,000 migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families are among the people most directly and seriously affected by pesticides. Many of the task force members have probably never encountered a migrant farm worker and may not know much about the realities that affect workers’ lives. You can help them learn a little more about the people their decisions will affect. Take action today: Send the task force this short, powerful video of farm workers talking about their experiences with pesticides on the job, and their hopes for change. Toxic Free NC produced this video in 2009, with help from Student Action with Farmworkers’ Into the Fields internship program, after interviewing two dozen different North Carolina farm workers. |
"Farm workers talk about pesticides" web video by Toxic Free NC intern Laura Valencia, 2009. Take action to bring farm workers' voices to the table when experts meet in Raleigh this month to discuss pesticide safety reforms. >>Send this video to members of the new NC Pesticide Task Force >>Join our Ambassadors for Just & Sustainable Agriculture program, and bring farm workers' voices to your representatives this winter. >>Support our work. Donate today! |
Take Action
Please send members of the new NC task force on pesticides a link to this powerful video of farm workers speaking in their own words about pesticides, so they can better represent this group of people. The task force's first meeting is Wednesday, January 6th so please send your message before then!
>>Here is sample text to use for your email.
>>Click here to automatically set up an email message to all 14 members of the task force, or if that link doesn't work for you, here's a list of all the task force members' email addresses for easy copying and pasting into your favorite email program: Billy.Green@ncmail.net, Bob.Bruss@ncagr.gov, james.burnette@ncagr.gov, Clyde_sorenson@ncsu.edu, Douglas.Campbell@ncmail.net, elizabeth.freeman@ncmail.net, jparks@arhs-nc.org, kevin.beauregard@labor.nc.gov, lejackai@ncat.edu, Manly.Wilder@ncmail.net, richard.reich@ncagr.gov, TUTORR@ecu.edu, Sheila.Higgins@ncmail.net, Wayne_Buhler@ncsu.edu
>>If you would prefer, you can email members of the task force individually. A full list of the members with their affiliations and email addresses is below.
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Please contact Toxic Free NC at or (919) 833-1123 to let us know you're taking action, or if you have any questions. Thank you! |
Sample Letter
Instructions: Copy and paste the text below into the body of an email to members of the NC Interagency Task Force on Agricultural Pesticide Exposure. Please feel free to customize your letter's subject and text, and be sure to add the information [IN BRACKETS].
Dear members of the Interagency Task Force on Agricultural Pesticide Exposure,
Thank you for serving on the new Interagency Pesticide Task Force that is being led by the NC Department of Agriculture. You have an important job in considering the hazards posed to North Carolina’s farm workers by pesticide exposure, and a great opportunity to make changes that will improve safety on the job and protect families.
There are many improvements in the system that could make farm workers and their families safer: Farm workers need more showers to be able to wash off pesticide residues from the workday. They need access to telephones so that they can call health and emergency services when necessary. They need to be able to report pesticide dangers without fear of being punished or fired. And we need penalties strong enough to act as a deterrent from practices that could put workers and their families at serious risk of harm.
Of course, I am not a farm worker – I’m just a North Carolina citizen and consumer who cares. But North Carolina’s farm workers are talking about their experiences with pesticides, and their hopes for change – check out this important video and hear what workers have to say about their exposure to pesticides at work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLWcA4TFiBA&feature=related
If you do not work directly with farm workers in your position, then I encourage you to learn all you can about the tens of thousands of migrant farm workers who work so hard to provide food for our tables, and what you can do to improve their dangerous working conditions.
Sincerely,[YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS HERE]
Background Information
The Interagency Task Force on Agricultural Pesticide Exposure will hold its first meeting on January 6th. This task force is made up of fourteen people from various state agencies who are charged with considering the hazards posed by workplace pesticide exposure, and making recommendations for improvement. This group is a continuation of a previous task force, the one called by Governor Easley in 2008 to investigate pesticide hazards to farm workers in the wake of the Ag-Mart disaster.
Last time around, the Task Force met for three months, producing some small (but important!) steps forward for reforms that protect workers on the job – including protecting farm workers from retaliation, and improving the records that growers must keep when they spray pesticides and workers are present. The tasks it left unfinished have been assigned to this new group, which is led by the NC Department of Agriculture.
Members of the Interagency Task Force on Agricultural Pesticide Exposure:
Billy Green, State Monitor Advocate Bob Bruss, Risk Assessment & Environmental Fate Team Manager Jim Burnette, Director, Pesticides Division Clyde Sorenson, Professor of Entomology Doug Campbell, Epidemiologist Elizabeth Freeman-Lambar Jerry Parks, Health Director Kevin Beauregard, Assistant Director |
Louis Jackai Manly Wilder, Assistant Secretary Richard Reich, Assistant Commissioner for Agricultural Services Robin Tutor, Interim Director Sheila Higgins, Occupational Health Nurse Consultant Wayne Buhler, Extension Specialist |