Volunteer Event Co-ordinator, Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture 2012
Pesticide Action Network UK are looking for a volunteer Co-ordinator to work 2-3 days a week beginning 1st February 2012 until 1st April 2012 to co-ordinate publicity and organisation for the Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture, to be held 30th March 2012. This is an ideal opportunity to gain experience working for a small charity and gaining experience of marketing and event management.
Tasks will include:
Developing publicity information and marketing the event
The jury of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal has returned its preliminary verdict on the six agrochemical companies accused of gross human rights abuses. It is damning in its conclusions and calls upon national governments and international institutions to take action to hold the companies criminally responsible for their actions and to ensure that the power of these companies is no longer put before people and planet.
The preliminary verdict and recommendations can be read at the following link: Preliminary verdict
The full verdict will be passed down in two weeks time and we will report further on the outcome and implications then.
Supermarkets wield a huge amount of influence over growers, produce traders and consumers, including in issues of pesticide use. PAN UK is often asked ‘which UK supermarkets are the best on pesticides’? Our first comparison, published in 2009, triggered considerable interest by retailers and ethical investment trackers. The 2009, comparison was based on the information published by the supermarkets themselves. For this updated comparison, we also asked the supermarkets to fill in a questionnaire and offered them the opportunity to talk us through their policies. We also expanded on the earlier version by assessing supermarkets performance in three new areas: Pollinator friendly practices, phasing out highly hazardous pesticides and support to help farmers reduce pesticide use.
PAN UK believes it is important to monitor the policies and performance of retailers on pesticide issues, in order to support and encourage positive change and to let consumers and investors know which are the poor performers. In 2009 we conducted a study comparing the 10 main supermarkets operating in the UK on their policies, plans and actions on a range of pesticide issues important to concerned consumers. Two years on, we felt it was necessary to revisit our comparison, looking for progress.
PAN UK is the only organisation in Britain dedicated to raising awareness of the problems with pesticides.
Pesticides are the only chemicals deliberately made to be toxic and introduced directly into the environment.
They are used in agriculture, in homes, and in urban areas to kill or control insects, weeds and diseases.
Pesticides are used everywhere: in crops and carpets, boats and bananas, and unwanted residues can be found in humans, water, food, air and soil.
PAN UKis part of a global network. We work closely with partners in developing countries, where pesticide problems are sometimes far worse. In developing countries there are as many as three million poisonings and 20,000 deaths each year from pesticide incidents. Unnecessary use puts farmers on an expensive pesticide treadmill. This means that:
Over 800 different chemicals are made globally and sold in tens of thousands of mixtures.
*Some pesticides areacutely toxic, and cause death and ill health
to users, particularly – but not only – in developing countries.
*Chronic exposure to some pesticides can cause
cancer or birth defects. *Some persistent pesticides ‘travel’ from where they are used, and end up in remote .......arctic regions where they may stay for centuries.
*Persistent pesticides are found in the body fat of humans
and wildlife, including in human breast milk,
throughout the globe.
* Other pesticides affect hormone systems and may be
altering the basis of life: tributyltin.can make sea whelks
sterile at infinitesimal levels.
Our projects are designed to tackle these problems in different ways, and at different levels
* Toxic dumps of obsolete pesticides are found throughout Africa, amounting to an estimated 50,000 tonnes.
The Africa Stockpiles Projectaims to clear these hazardous stocks that are polluting the local
and global environment.
* Cotton uses consistently more hazardous pesticides than any other crop. Working with our African partners,
we have identified the pesticide endosulfan causing death and poisonings, and are working for a ban.
*Organic cotton is a reality for small-scale farmers in Africa, and can dramatically improve their income.
We have helped farmers convert.
* Corporate sales strategies encourage poor farmers without training to use hazardous pesticides.
We promote farmer field school training to reduce pesticide dependency and
increase yields and income.
* Europe is the second biggest market for pesticides
after the US. Our campaigns to ban certain very hazardous
pesticides and to encourage least toxic alternatives is
promoting a new approach to regulation. * In the UK many people exposed to even small amounts
of pesticides sufferchronic severe allergic reactions.
We provide practical information and advice to sufferers. * We work in urban areas with high levels of pesticide exposure,
helping local councils reduce their pesticide use, and raising
awareness in schools and communities.
