|
Citizens on the Move for Land and Food Without Poisons!
The campaign is targeting
the unethical practices of many transnational corporations (TNCs) as they move
to take control of local and regional food supplies and agricultural production
systems. As an alternative, the Caravan advocates genuine agrarian reform to
achieve food security, social justice and land and food without poisons.
Subject: Citizens on the Move for Land and Food Without Poisons!
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 09:59:25 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read a PANUPS article entitled: People's
Caravan 2000--Citizens on the Move for Land and Food Without Poisons! The
article is dated November 14, 2000.
On November 13, 2000, the People's Caravan--"Citizens
on the Move for Land and Food Without Poisons!"--began the long march from
India to Bangladesh and the Philippines. The Caravan, comprised of thousands of
farmers, landless peasants, farmworkers, and pesticide reform and anti-genetic
engineering activists, is marching to draw attention to the devastating impacts
of globalization on the Asia Pacific region. Events in support of the Caravan
are also being held in Indonesia, Korea and Japan.
The campaign is targeting the unethical practices of many
transnational corporations (TNCs) as they move to take control of local and
regional food supplies and agricultural production systems. As an alternative,
the Caravan advocates genuine agrarian reform to achieve food security, social
justice and land and food without poisons. Caravan activities will inform
farmers and consumers of local initiatives towards a more sustainable, healthy
agriculture that embraces local and traditional knowledge and practices.
The People's Caravan will bring farmers from many countries
in the region together to discuss and compare the effects of globalization on
their lives. Farmers will develop strategies to resist the pressure to shift
from traditional farming practices to export-oriented crop production, a system
underpinned by increasing landlessness, hazardous pesticide use and introduction
of potentially unsafe and inadequately tested geneticallyengineered crops.
The Caravan will also focus on the November 15-16, 2000,
meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in
Brunei. Central to the Caravan's concerns is the wide-scale promotion of
pesticides by APEC and the United States--with no concern for resulting
environmental and human health impacts--as part of an effort to push national
agriculture towards export crop production for the world market .
The Caravan starts in India on November 13, moves to
Bangladesh on November 19, and arrives in the Philippines on November 26.
In the Philippines, farmers will also participate in a seed
exchange with traditional homegrown, indigenous seed varieties. This exchange
will celebrate seed diversity and traditional farmers' rights to seed and will
challenge corporate trends to monopolize seed systems through hybridization,
patents and global takeovers of local and international seed companies. Farmers
in the Philippines will be joined by farmer representatives from India,
Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Thailand. On November 30, Caravan
activities will commemorate "One Year Since Seattle."
The People's Caravan is organized by Pesticide Action
Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP); the Tamil Nadu Women's Forum (TNWF) and
the Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED), India; UBINIG (Policy
Research for Development Alternatives) and the Nayakrishi Andolon (New
Agriculture Movement), Bangladesh; the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KMP)
(Peasant Movement of the Philippines); in collaboration with SHISUK, Bangladesh;
CIKS and PREPARE, India; Gita Pertiwi, Indonesia; NESSFE, Japan; CACPK, Korea;
and Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, USA.
For more information, visit the People's Caravan Web site
at http://www.poptel.org.uk/panap/caravan.htm.
Source/contact: PAN Asia & the Pacific, P.O. Box 1170,
10850 Penang, Malaysia; phone (60-4) 657-0271/656-0381; fax (604) 657-7445;
email panap@panap.po.my.
Well Mr. Helliker,
Why do you continue to promote/allow only the use of your
"registered" POISONS to "control" pest problems in
California?
Respectfully, Stephen
L. Tvedten
|
