It is Time for Our Elected Officials to Take the Climate Crisis More Seriously, and Support a Holistic Approach to Farming!

“The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states in its strongest terms yet the need for action to reduce emissions, and one of the key strategies it outlines for policymakers is agroecology.

Defined in the [IPCC] report as a ‘holistic approach’ to farming, agroecology as a practice includes techniques such as intercropping and planting cover crops, integrating livestock and trees into landscapes, and deploying organic farming methods to enhance biodiversity and soil health, while eliminating dependence on external inputs like pesticides and synthetic fertilizer. It’s a nature-based solution that can ‘contribute to both climate mitigation and adaptation,’ the IPCC stresses. It’s also a solution grounded in an embrace of the human rights of Indigenous and small-scale producers, as articulated in the 13 principles of agroecology from the United Nation’s High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition.

EPA Bans Chlorpyrifos On Food Crops!

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) just shared some great news! For the first time since it was approved in 1965 – Chlorpyrifos, the pesticide that can permanently damage the developing brains of children, causing reduced IQ, loss of working memory, and attention deficit disorders, will not be used on food crops in the U.S Chlorpyrifos is now banned from use on any food sold in the U.S. (see Final Rule here and EPA summary here). This is worth celebrating! It’s finally putting of science and the health of people over the profits of big agro-chemical companies. Food will be safer for our families. Farmworkers will be safer when working in the fields. Our rivers, lakes, and drinking water will be safer without chlorpyrifos running off fields into waterways. Even wildlife will be safer – birds, fish, and bees – without chlorpyrifos. Yay!!

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