We thought this week needed a little extra activism. Congress has just interviewed Michael Regan for the job of EPA Administrator. And while the Biden Administration has already agreed to review the last administration’s decision to rollback bans on the “brain-harming chemical insecticide chlorpyrifos and their reduced protections for farmworkers from pesticide drift.”

While these are steps in the right direction, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is asking that they take even more aggressive steps toward protection from harmful chemicals and insecticides. They are gathering signatures for a petition they will be sending to the White House, asking for the banning of:

• Aldicarb is a neurotoxic insecticide that was approved for use on oranges in the final days of the outgoing administration, despite it being withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2010 and being banned in more than 100 other countries.
• Paraquat, the deadliest pesticide still in use in this country today, is in its final stages of reauthorization at the EPA. Among its side effects, chronic exposure to paraquat increases risk of Parkinson’s disease.
• Atrazine, dicamba, glyphosate, isoxaflutole and sulfoxaflor are all pesticides that have been approved for continued use (or had uses expanded) within the last year, though they pose unacceptable and unnecessary risk to farmers, farmworkers, rural families, children and pollinators (see our previous blog post, “Save The Honeybees!”).

Read the full petition here and consider signing to move us toward a safer and healthier future!

And until these necessary steps are taken to limit or ban the use of these harmful chemicals, we can do our part by “voting” with our wallets. By choosing organic in the food that we eat and the wine that we drink (even the things we wear!), we can let corporations know that we do not support their use of these chemicals, and urge them to do their part to change their practices, bringing about the change we want to see. We at The Organic Wine Company have been supporters of the Pesticide Action Network since 1984 when Véronique first had the pleasure of meeting them. They are doing incredible work in the fight for a healthier and more sustainable future. You can visit their website here if you’re interested in seeing what else they are currently working on.