Cornucopia’s Take: Pesticide drift is a known problem for organic farmers—and it’s also a problem for the health of all children. These toxic synthetic pesticides are not allowed in organics.
In California’s farm belt, ‘pesticide drift’ has residents worried about their health
CBC News
by Kim Brunhuber
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Residents want new laws to protect 500,000 children who go to school near fields sprayed with pesticides
Four-year-old Roberto Diaz is a round little fellow who strides confidently out into the yard. It’s early, before most daycares would open. However this one in Courtland — 35 kilometres north of Sacramento in California’s agricultural heartland — is for the children of the mostly poor, mostly Latino, farm workers, whose shifts in the fields often start before dawn.
But those who care for these kids believe they may not be safe here.
According to Rosalva Beas, a caregiver at the daycare, there’s danger in the wind. Beas looks through the fence, past the playing kids, towards the distant pear orchards.
