Member Login

In community, we are stronger

  • Print
Details
Published on Wednesday, 23 November 2016 14:45
Written by editor
r1 ... PAN PAN Our continued work is more important than ever

Dear Paov,

Like you, we’ve been wrestling with what the Presidential election means for our country in the coming months and years. What we know is that we can’t put our blinders on and proceed with business as usual. We also know that our work for justice — in our food system and beyond — is more important than ever right now.

The President-elect’s first steps have included giving the reins of the Environmental Protection Agency transition to an outspoken climate change denier who thinks pesticides pose no cause for concern — and who has a history of dismissing science for the profit of chemical industries. It looks like corporate lobbyists will be given even more control of public agencies under the new administration. This is unacceptable.

Still, I am filled with hope. In the midst of what feels like very dark days, people are showing up for each other, supporting water protectors at Standing Rock, asserting that Black Lives Matter and extending themselves to neighbors and strangers. We need all of this and more. As the chair of PAN’s board of directors told us, “In community, we are stronger.”

The PAN community is a powerful force, in the U.S. and internationally. I am honored to be part of it. Our work for a just food system and just world began decades ago, and it will continue — rooted in courage, collaboration and generosity.

As the new administration comes into office, our renewed focus at PAN North America will be:

  • Doubling down on state-based policy priorities identified by those most directly harmed by pesticides. We have made important progress here, and can keep winning.
  • Challenging industry's control of our food system so that the way our food is grown supports healthy, prosperous communities — not just shareholder profits.
  • Exposing efforts to undermine scientific integrity and demanding that policy decisions at all levels of government are based on sound, independent science.
  • Standing with those most at risk from a systematic effort to roll back civil and human rights across the country.

r2

Login Form