Communities on the front lines of pesticide exposure fight for change
CALIFORNIA – A three-part series on pesticide use in California finds that rural communities of color and farmworkers are disproportionately exposed to some of the most dangerous chemicals approved for use in agriculture. This series is produced by Environmental Health News (EHN), a publication of Environmental Health Sciences, and palabra, a nonprofit multimedia platform of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
According to a press release, the series – which is available in English and in Spanish – also reveals how grassroots activism has led to a first-of-its-kind, statewide system to provide advance notification of pesticide application beginning in 2024, according to a press release from Palabra and EHN. That’s potentially a big win for communities that have been left in the dark about the toxic chemicals contaminating their air, soil and water. But activists who pushed for the notification system are worried that its final design won’t reflect the input of those most in need of the information.
“California is regarded as a national leader on pesticide regulation and reform, but our series shows how the state – and thus the country – are still failing to protect the public, particularly the most vulnerable, from harmful exposures,” Autumn Spanne, manager of the EHN en Español initiative, said in the release. “At the same time, efforts like the advance notification system offer hope for change, if those charged with protecting the public will listen to what activists have been saying for decades.”
Produced in partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ multimedia storytelling platform, palabra, and collaborating with the community news outlet Voices of Monterey Bay, the series takes a critical look at the current state of pesticide regulation in California and nationally, and considers how far the new statewide pesticide notification system will go toward protecting the most vulnerable communities and workers, per the release.
In approaching this series, Palara and EHN sought to center the work and voices of frontline activists and organizers moving the needle on stronger pesticides protections. Before commencing reporting, they met with residents of impacted communities to find out what they consider to be the gaps in information about pesticide exposure, its health effects and ways to take action. Both news parties assembled a team of bilingual journalists from the Salinas and San Joaquin valleys to investigate community-driven solutions that tap into a deeper history of pesticide activism, according to the release.
“It matters who tells you the story, and by working with journalists that are part of the community, we know the trust and the care is there,” said Valeria Fernández, palabra’s managing editor, in the release. “We also wanted to center those who turned towards activism to fight for environmental justice: women, campesinas, mothers and working class people effecting change from the ground up.”
Read the series on Environmental Health News in English and in Spanish, and at palabranahj.org. Follow the conversation on Twitter and Instagram at #Adrift (English) and #Aladeriva (Spanish).