Billie Karel, advocate for pesticide alternatives, answers Grist's questions | Grist | InterActivist

Questions from Grist editors | Questions from readers

Billie Karel, Pesticide Education Project (PESTed).

What kinds of pesticide and toxic-substance changes should I consider making in my life? -- David Zahn, Raleigh, N.C.

For some great ideas and links to get you started, check out this list of 20 Ways to Support Pesticide Reform, Health, and Justice in North Carolina that PESTed recently put together in honor of our 20th anniversary.

In general, I'd recommend that people looking to detox their lives and become more compassionate consumers start simple. Don't reinvent the wheel; lots of people have already done lots of research and put out lots of good guides on what to buy and eat and do -- Umbra for one! Find a few sources you trust, and start with their recommendations. Also, don't stress yourself out about it too much. Remember: stress is toxic, and every little bit you can do to eliminate toxic substances helps!

Congrats on your most recent right-to-know victory! Is there any federal right-to-know legislation in the U.S., or are there any pending bills on this issue? Should we be looking at pesticide reduction as a state-level issue or a federal issue? -- Mia Davis, Somerville, Mass.

Keep your eye on the federal School Environment Protection Act, reintroduced in 2005, and take action to support it when it comes around!

In general, there has been stagnation (and backward movement) on the environment at the federal level over the last few years, so attention has turned to moving effective state- and regional-level efforts forward. The recent passage of the Schoolchildren's Health Act in North Carolina is a case in point. While we can pass state laws that regulate certain aspects of pesticide use and enforcement, ultimate power over pesticide regulation rests with the U.S. EPA, so we need changes at the federal level, too, and badly.

State-level activists across the U.S. should be talking to each other and strategizing right now about how to turn some of their local victories into federal change when power changes hands in Congress. Speaking of which, please vote in next week's elections, everyone!

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How do I get started getting pesticides out of my kids' school? -- Allen Spalt, Carrboro, N.C.

First, I'd talk to a teacher, office worker, custodian, or cafeteria worker at your children's school and ask the following questions: Do they ever see bugs around? Do they ever see people doing pest control, and if so, what are they doing? Do they spray? Do they warn them first?

Then, I'd put a call in to your school system's maintenance director and ask about the pest management program: Who does it? What do they do? Do they use Integrated Pest Management? If so, are there any policies or contracts in place that specify IPM? Can you see them?

If, after having these two conversations, it sounds like there's room for improvement in your school's pest-management practices, get a campaign for safer alternatives rolling by starting a petition to your school board. (This sample language has worked for school systems in North Carolina.)

Bring your petition with you to places where people who like kids are prone to hang out -- PTA meetings, churches, neighborhood associations, the school bus stop, grocery stores, farmers' markets, county fairs, etc. -- and ask for their signatures and support. Ask people you meet to help you get more signatures.

Get your petition signed by a goodly amount of people (you might check your county's board of elections records and shoot for at least as many signatures as the margin of victory in the last election for school-board chair). Then, you and some of your new signature-gathering friends should present the petition to the school board during the public comment portion of a regular meeting. Request a prompt response, and keep showing up at meetings until they give you a good one!

Good luck, and please feel free to call on PESTed for assistance in North Carolina, or if you need help finding support in other states.

And if it turns out your school district's pest-management program is already top notch, why not ask about other environmental issues while you have them on the phone? This kind of community campaign will work for a lot of issues in schools -- not just pesticides. I know few, if any, school systems in North Carolina have begun to look at detoxing their cleaning regimens. Or ask if they would be interested in partnering with local farms to get fresh organic veggies for the kiddies, if the prices were reasonable.

Boy do I have grubs! Lots of 'em. And lots of skunks digging them up too. Is there any environmentally safe treatment for my lawn that won't harm my skunk comrades? -- Doug Thorne, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

What alternatives are there for snail control in an ordinary garden filled with flowers and vegetables? -- Nancy Lewis, San Francisco, Calif.

Pests and the problems they cause vary a lot from region to region, so your best bet is to get in touch with a pesticide group locally and ask for their advice. Check out Beyond Pesticides' state-by-state listings. In Ontario, you might contact Pesticide-Free Ontario.

How did your experience at the Chinese school compare with schools you've seen in the U.S., in terms of pesticide practices? -- Cody Taylor, San Francisco, Calif.

You know, I honestly don't remember there being many bugs around when I worked in China. Kangding Middle School was in a small city at pretty high elevation -- 8,586 feet, to be exact -- and the winter was cold, long, and dry, so I bet that had a lot to do with it. Also, there was no heat in the classrooms, in the students' dorms, or in my apartment, so I was probably a little distracted by all the shivering and tea drinking.

I do remember, however, that my Chinese friends and colleagues were very concerned about pesticide residues on their food. People there commonly peel all their fruits and vegetables to avoid pesticides -- and boy did I get scolded for rinsing and eating apples with the peels still on! Later, I looked into agricultural development projects in China as part of my internship at PANNA and found that Chinese citizens' lack of faith in government food-quality assurance and environmental regulation is probably well-founded. Though recent advances give me great hope, China has not been known for its great environmental protections. But then, neither has the U.S. lately. Luckily, we get to vote here and say whatever the heck we want about our government, and people in China don't. So, dear readers, please remember to get out and vote next week in the midterm elections, and keep on speaking up about changes you'd like to see in our environmental regulations!

What can we do right now (and in the long term) to help protect farmworkers and those living near farms from hazardous pesticide exposure? -- Angela Storey, Seattle, Wash.

PESTed is working to address farmworkers' high rates of pesticide exposure and low levels of political clout in North Carolina. You may have heard about the Ag-Mart case, which brought this really important issue to the front page of the Raleigh paper earlier this year. Three female employees of Florida-based tomato grower Ag-Mart gave birth to children with severe birth defects within a few months of one another in 2005. The moms had worked at Ag-Mart farms in Florida and North Carolina, and state investigations found hundreds of pesticide violations on their farms. It's a tragic, but blessedly public, example of how farmworkers and their families are exploited by their employers because of their relative isolation and lack of political power.

To help protect farmworkers from pesticides right now, support their efforts to take back some political power. Honor farmworker-called boycotts, and buy products that sport a union label. You can always check out the United Farm Workers or the National Farm Worker Ministry to get the latest boycott information.

Show farmworkers some love by volunteering or contributing to organizations that support them, and by remembering them when you eat your supper, or when you're looking for people to come speak at your school, church, or event. In North Carolina, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee is always looking for volunteers to give workers a ride to their union meetings, and a Farm Worker Speakers' Bureau is currently forming to send volunteers to speak to groups across the state about justice for farmworkers. Look for similar opportunities in your area!

Buy locally grown organic food, and ask your farmers about their labor practices. I know what you're thinking -- sure, the workers don't have to use pesticides, but there was just an article in Grist about terrible working conditions on some organic farms. Local farms are probably a lot smaller and less likely to be abusing their workers. And one of the coolest things about buying local is that you can talk to the farmers yourself and let them know that fair treatment of workers is important to you. You could even ask to visit the farm. You probably wouldn't have that luxury if your veggies were coming from a huge farm far away.

What strategies do you recommend for bringing ecologically and nutritionally healthier foods to impoverished urban areas? -- Miranda Ip, San Francisco, Calif.

I think the problem you're talking about is an extremely important one -- how are poor, urban people supposed to eat vegetables at all, much less locally grown organic ones, when only fast-food restaurants and convenience stores are located near them?

In North Carolina, we actually have a really similar problem in low-income rural areas too. What I'm very excited to be seeing around here lately is community groups in low-income areas -- both rural and urban -- setting up their own farmers' markets where the veggies are relatively cheap. People are happy because they're getting better food at a better price, and farmers are happy because they have a local market for their produce and see much more of the profit from those sales than they would selling to a larger grocer or distributor.

I'm also wild about urban community gardening, especially gardening with kids. SEEDS is doing this locally in Durham, N.C., and I'm currently working on finding a good place to start one in Raleigh. Any takers? Please be in touch!

I've also been reading up a lot lately about institutional food-sourcing from local farms as a way to get healthy organic food to the masses, especially to children. The basic concept is that institutional dining facilities such as schools, child-care centers, hospitals, and workplaces are hooking up with local farms to get their veggies directly -- no middlemen involved. Growing Minds in western North Carolina is a great program working to get local foods into schools, and the Farm to School website has information on similar programs across the country.

And of course, if you are not in a low-access situation and you can buy locally grown organic food, do it. When you do, you will be helping a just and sustainable economy grow and flourish right in your own area, which will encourage more competitive prices and help locally grown organic foods to become more readily available to more people.

Is community organizing in the South challenging for a liberal Jewish girl from New York? What lessons have you learned along the way? -- Fawn Pattison, Raleigh, N.C.

Challenge No. 1 is always understanding that you have a challenge, which I think took me a little while to figure out when I first moved to North Carolina! There's no way around it: I'm different than many of the people I work with, especially in rural North Carolina. My white college-educated Jewish Yankee vegetarian self is different for all kinds of reasons, and the most valuable lesson I've learned is to accept that and work from a place of honesty and humility. I don't know how things work here; I don't know what people who've lived in North Carolina all their lives want for themselves, their communities, or their environment. As an organizer, I think it is my job to support people as they figure all that stuff out and learn how to make positive changes in their own personal, political, and natural environments. I bring resources, skills, and time; I try to build relationships with the people I work with and the places I work in; and I ask for a lot of help.

Questions from Grist editors | Questions from readers

The Young and the Pestless

Billie Karel, advocate for pesticide alternatives, answers readers' questions