Working In These Times Pesticide Threat Looms Large Over
Farmworker Families No matter how good your next meal tastes,
it's likely it made society ill. A new analysis by the Pesticide
Action Network North America (PAN) draws a disturbing connection
between pesticides in our food system and serious health
problems among women and children. The report reviews empirical
research linking agricultural chemicals to birth defects,
neurological disorders, childhood cancers and reproductive
problems. Some of these chemicals make their way into the foods
we eat, but they are more acutely concentrated in the
environments surrounding farmlands. Children in or near farming
areas can be exposed through myriad channels, from contaminated
soil to the air in playgrounds. But children in farmworker
communities are especially at risk. While the report confirms
the growing public concerns about health risks permeating our
food chain, it also shows how socioeconomic inequalities can
shovel many of the worst effects onto exploited