California’s Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) just published a draft plan that would allow the CDFA to spray any pesticide anywhere, at any time, for any pest, with no opportunity for public input – indefinitely [1].
Under the guise of its mandated mission to prevent the introduction and spread of injurious insect pests, plant diseases and noxious weeds in California, this overarching, dictatorial proposal is clearly an insidious covert ploy to overtly destroy organic farming in the state of California, an egregious assault on public health and a racket. It is an irresponsible, unconscionable mandate for chemical toxin industrial manufacturers to sell and apply poisons – cancer causing, pollinator- bird- and bee-killing pesticides and herbicides throughout the state of California, and a trial run to, if successful, apply the same toxic martial spraying laws across the entire United States [2-4].
If approved, this blank check to spray pesticides would apply to pesticides demonstrably linked to cancer, birth defects, mutagenesis and the collapse of honeybee populations. The plan would also directly threaten California’s air, waterways, and the booming organic farming industry by forcing farmers to spray organic fields as part of mandatory statewide programs.
Astonishingly, CDFA asserted that organic farms can just “switch” to conventional farming if their fields are contaminated, an irresponsible, preposterous, egregiously ignorant and maddening statement that deliberately disregards the years of hard work, the rivers of money spent, the labor and the sacrifice that it took those organic farmers to eliminate the poisons that had accumulated over a half century of irresponsible application of neurotoxins and systemic pesticides and herbicides on plants, soil and water, and to rebuild the soil to health and fertility – all needed to make the transition from deadly destructive poisons to organic, life, water, soil, air and biodiversity-preserving farming. The dedication, labor, sacrifice, sweat and tears from the organic farmers would simply set aside with the strokeof a pen.
The blanket spray of pesticides and herbicides would also constitute an unconstitutional violation of the freedoms of every American citizen and every resident of the state of California.
This must come to an end. I strongly urge every citizen of the great State of California to stand and live up to h/is/er responsibility, throw out of office the current horde of complicit and corrupt officials that are in the pockets of industrial moguls, and elect people who genuinely use the power of the office they hold, and the sacred trust from every citizen, not for death and destruction, not for the financial health and profit of the chemical toxic industries, the merchants of death and poisons, but for the public benefit, our health and our prosperity.
[1] California Department of Food and Agriculture. Draft Program EIR. https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/peir/#doc. Accessed Oct 24, 2014.
[2] California Department of Food and Agriculture. Draft Program EIR – Request for Public Comments. https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/peir/#doc. Accessed Oct 24, 2014. Tell the CA Dept of Food & Ag you “absolutely oppose the proposed Statewide Pest Program.” Deadline for public input and to post comments is Oct 31, 2014. Posted comments will be part of the permanent public record.
[3] Earth Justice. California Releases Draft Plan For Unlimited Future Pesticide Spraying. https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2014/california-releases-draft-plan-for-unlimited-future-pesticide-spraying. Accessed Oct 24, 2014.
[4] Institute for Responsible Technology. https://action.responsibletechnology.org/p/dia/action/public/ . Here’s where you can contact them: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/peir/#comment
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