Unless plans are halted, aerial spraying of the Monterey/Santa Cruz regions will begin in June and in the Bay Area, in August. Because the formulation of the spray has still not been disclosed to the public, we can only guess at its potential health effects citizens will suffer. If the spray formula is similar to what was applied to the residents of the Monterey/Santa Cruz region, we do have some idea of what to expect.

I have experienced pesticide poisoning first hand, unfortunately, and I think it is crucial that people learn to recognize the symptoms so that if they see a loved one, a spouse, a child, an elderly parent exhibiting signs of this health damage, they will know what is happening. Unfortunately, too many of the people on the Central Coast had no idea what was happening to them in 2007.

Different pesticides cause different immediate symptoms in humans. Some primarily irritate mucous membranes, eyes and skin. Other cause severe intestinal disorders. Still others affect the functions of the brain and nervous system. *I am not a medical professional. The following information is based on personal experience and my own research.

If the spraying is not halted, be on the look out for symptoms like these in your dear ones:

Difficulty Breathing/Shortness of Breath - It may feel like you just can’t get a deep breath, that there is pressure being put on your lungs or throat.

Athsma/Respiratory Attacks - Wheezing, inability to breathe fully. Many people on the Central Coast who had never before had asthma had their first attack in life when the spraying began.

Vomiting / Diarrhea - It is likely the body’s attempt to rid it self of the poison that causes the stomach and intestinal system to work to empty itself. Several people on the Central Coast reported uncontrollable vomiting that lasted for multiple days.

Swollen Glands and Sore Throat - If you’ve ever had a bad throat infection, you may be able to recall what it feels like when your throat glands become painfully swollen. My lay person’s understanding of this is that glands can become extremely swollen from exposure to toxins, and pesticide poisoning can cause the throat to be terribly sore.

Awful Taste in Mouth - Exposure to pesticides frequently causes a metallic, bitter or rotten taste in the mouth.

Skin Irritation and Rashes - Severe pesticide rashes are ghastly, frankly, wherein the skin erupts in sore, red bumps. Symptoms of irritation can be milder too. Skin may feel itchy.

Eye and Nose Problems - Eyes and nose may sting or have heavy discharge due to pesticide poisoning. Sinus and eye infections may result.

Dizziness - Whether this is caused by damage to the inner ear or simply a lack of fresh air, I have never been able to determine, but people may become very off balance after exposure to pesticides and should take care to avoid falls and accidents.

Fatigue, Listlessness and Lethargy - Just as it would in trying to cope with a virus, the body can become extremely fatigued when exposed to toxins. People who have been poisoned by pesticides may feel disoriented and listless, and may want to just go to sleep. This can be counterproductive to safety in that it may cause us to stay put rather than fleeing from the source of the poison, if possible.

Heart Trouble - Several people on the Central Coast documented rapid or irregular heartbeats. Some feared they were having a heart attack.

Mentrual Irregularities - Many women reported severe menstrual irregularities following the spraying including the recommencement of menstruation in post-menopausal women. Others experienced extreme menstrual discomfort.

Aggressive, Violent Feelings and Behavior - People who have been poisoned by pesticides may experience racing thoughts, the jitters, and impulses to act out violently because of the toxic attack on the brain and nervous system. Be prepared for potential violent behavior in spouses and children who have been poisoned, and if you, yourself, find yourself yelling and screaming without real provocation and beginning to feel ‘crazy’, ‘out of control’, it is so important for you to remember that exposure to certain pesticides are documented to cause just these kinds of adverse reactions in human beings.

Shaking, Tremors, Involuntary Twitching - Pesticides can damage the human nervous system and cause all kinds of involuntary movements.

Death - Exposure to certain pesticides can be fatal to humans.

You will find further documentation and first-person reports of pesticide poisoning at Hope For Truth.

It is also important to remember that some pesticide poisoning symptoms happen immediately upon contact with the substance sprayed, but others may not appear for 12, 24, 48, etc. hours after exposure.

What Should You Do If You Are Poisoned By Aerial Spraying or Ground Applications of Pesticides?

*Seek immediate medical attention
*Insist that your doctor file a pesticide illness report

However, having read the experiences of so many Central Coast poison victims, we need to prepared for several possibilities in seeking medical aid:

1) Doctors may not be able to see you promptly
2) Doctors may be unaware of the aerial/ground pesticide spraying
3) Doctors may simply not know how to treat pesticide poisoning
4) Doctors may be unwilling to acknowledge pesticide poisoning as a fact of pesticide spraying
5) Doctors may be unwilling to fill out pesticide poisoning reports
6) Doctors may refuse to see patients who claim to have been injured by the spraying, or may attempt to discredit patients who claim to have been poisoned
7) Because doctors, nurses, firemen, paramedics and other medical health practitioners are also susceptible to pesticide poisoning, offices, hospitals and emergency services may become critically understaffed when urban populations are sprayed. You may not be able to get prompt medical attention because of this.

I have read the incredibly disturbing reports from people who were unable to find responsible medical care after the 2007 spraying and who were illegally prohibited from filing official complaints of pesticide poisoning. Though OEHHA announced this week that they intend to begin communicating with medical providers, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we may fall ill when we are sprayed and not be able to obtain medical treatment.

Where I live, there is only one small hospital serving some 200,000 citizens in addition to all of the residents of outlying regions. A question I want answered is whether the Bay Area’s hospitals and doctors are physically capable of handling a potential epidemic of illness. Clearly, almost no one was informed or ready to deal with patients who had been poisoned on the Central Coast. If you can discover someone who can answer this question, please share what you know.

It is the case with pesticides that some residents will become severely ill while others may feel only mildly unwell or experience no symptoms at all. We have been told by CDFA that our children, elders and people with chronic illnesses are in greatest danger. To me, this means that parents, teachers, day care workers, elder care providers and medical professionals need to be the most alert for symptoms of pesticide poisoning in the people they take care of.

My personal word to you, as a woman who has suffered pesticide poisoning, is not to let anyone, be they a family member, a doctor, or a government agent, tell you that your symptoms are imaginary. Pesticide poisoning is a documented reality. I have found the most helpful information about the short term effects of pesticide poisoning at East Bay Pesticide Alert.

Please, if you have any helpful information to add to this topic, use the comments section to do so.

On March 16th, I sent this email letter to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, but I have yet to hear back from them. I’m hoping my letter was received.

I made a call today to one of their PR people, Rebecca Gibson, and left a message inquiring if my letter was received. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has done such amazing work educating and unifying women in the fight against breast cancer, I believe they will be sincerely concerned to learn that 3.5 million Californian women are going to be exposed to a xenochemical in the LBAM aerial spray substance which causes breast cancer. It’s an unbelievable risk for all of we women.

I am sure that this foundation must have so many supporters and members in California. If it seems good to you, why not give their PR rep a call yourself, at 1 (972)855-4319 and share with them what is happening to us here in California? Publicity and protest are so needed here and this foundation has done such praiseworthy work in the past. You might like to mention that the Breast Cancer Fund has already come out in strong opposition to the spraying.

One of the things that has been so hard for me to face in this crisis has been the dismissal of whole groups of society as apparently unworthy of consideration. Children…the elderly…people with illnesses….women, all of whom are susceptible to breast cancer - these are not ’small minorities’ who might be adversely affected by pesticide exposure. These people are our society, and it is the hallmark of any good civilization that the most at-risk groups receive the most protection, not the least. It is so hurtful to listen to CDFA write off all of these millions of people as expendable. They must be told that this is completely uncivilized.

Hopefully, I will hear back from Rebecca Gibson soon, and I’ll surely post about the outcome of that.

I want to take a moment to sing heartfelt praises for some of those individuals I have seen taking heroic action over the past 8 months in the public health crisis that the California Department of Food and Agriculture has created with their aerial spraying of the Light Brown Apple Moth. These are the faces that appear again and again on the YouTube videos, the voices on the radio, the minds behind some of the most brilliant documents and articles created in the midst of our calamity. I know that not one of these men or women are giving of themselves so fully with any thought to public praise, but they deserve it, nonetheless.

Maxina Ventura of East Bay Pesticide Alert
Maxina has been working for pesticide reform since the 90s. She began to educate herself when her family began falling ill living in the polluted Sonoma County Wine Country. Maxina and her children lost their health and discovered multiple cancer clusters rooted in the neighborhoods that are sandwiched between the ag wasteland that has been created by alcohol growers. She was a leader in achieving protection for public health in the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter campaign and is now spending countless hours of her time attending and holding conferences, and making radio appearances regarding LBAM.

Maxina’s proposals for pesticide reform are the most thorough, sound and far-reaching you will encounter anywhere in this crisis. Zero tolerance for pesticide exposure is the platform she is urging people to support. It’s not just the aerial spraying. It’s the traps, the twist ties, the permethrin-coated trees and telephone poles that will poison us and our dear ones. No other person I have spoken to in this situation has a better hands-on education about the true risks of pesticide poisoning, its short and long-term health effects.

Mayor Robert Lieber of Albany
You can ask my husband - when I first read Mayor Lieber’s forthright public letter confronting the truth of the abuse of the people of California and calling for the immediate resignation of Ag. Sec. A.G. Kawamura if the spraying wasn’t halted - I stood up and shouted for joy!

What is it that keeps so many civic leaders silent? Fear of professional punishment…they’ll be snubbed at the next gala dinner, out of the running for a posh new position, maybe fired. That is why we must praise our public servants when they go with their ethics in opposition to the corruption which is so baldly evident now in our state. I have had the pleasure of hearing Mayor Lieber speak several times now, and his insistence that the health of his town is worth more than trade profits is like a breath of fresh air in the rotten environment of California politics.

Michael Lynberg and HOPE
Thanks to Michael, we have the documents of the hundreds of reported pesticide-induced illnesses from 2007 in the Monterey/Santa Cruz region. Good Samaritin ethics have since impelled Mike not only to speak at conferences and hearings, but really, to become one of the most eloquent and humane voices in this whole fiasco. When Michael says our health is important, it astonishes me that ‘officials’ don’t just automatically agree with the obvious reason of his statement.

Like so many of the good people who have stepped forward in this crisis, Michal’s family was sickened by the spray - a major violation of his family’s right to safety. The actions of CDFA are further infringing on Michael’s private life by calling him away from his already-busy schedule as a writer in Silicon Valley in order to make public and radio appearances and do interviews. He doesn’t have any more free time than the rest of us do, and he is making this sacrifice of his private time and life in order to keep working to protect all of us. It is a pleasure to listen to him whenever he speaks.

Nan Wishner, Chairperson of the Albany Integrated Pest Management Task Force
When I hear Ms. Wishner speak, it’s a relief to my soul - listening to her voice of reason. I first experienced this sensation when I watched her tell a packed-house in Marin that we could not trust the Ag. Department this time around. Her concern for short and long-term human health is so evident and she does such a good job of narrowing information down to the essential snippets that stick in people’s minds - that’s a talent! She has been at so many of the meetings and, like the others on my list, is making a praiseworthy sacrifice of her private time in order to defend public health.

John Russo of Stop The Spray
We may all think of him as that man in the hat but John Russo is striking us as a super-powered individual. He has made so many personal appearances at civic and governmental meetings, you’d begin to suspect he’s learned how to be in two places at once! StoptheSpray.org is responsible for the petition to stop the spray which I expect to see reaching 20,000 signatures soon. John’s energy and dedication to defending our health are incredibly meritorious. He has been through the horrors of the 2007 spraying, and if there is any justice left in the world, the organizational and feet-on-the-street work that John and his friends at StoptheSpray.org are so tirelessly undertaking will prevent the people of the Central Coast region from being poisoned again.

Roy Upton
Roy Upton’s journey on the LBAM path began when he discovered more than a score of dead Cormorants the day after the first 2007 spraying. An herbalist by trade, Roy has gone on to create crucial documents such as this one on the health damages caused by permethrin. You can hear Roy’s heartfelt concern about the poisoning of wildlife and water when he speaks, and like the others on this list, he is giving freely of his time to attend meetings, speak on the radio and give interviews. Roy is a concerned citizen, just like you and me, and the care and grounded reasoning he brings into this situation are so vital.

Dr. Daniel Harder
UCSC Arboretum director and botanist, Daniel Harder, has given a kind of credibility to our protest against this violation of human rights that we could only receive from a scientist. When Dr. Harder insists, point blank, that the moth is not a problem and that the eradication efforts are doomed to fail, you are hearing his years of professional study behind every syllable. As Dr. Harder has mentioned on the radio and in several of the numerous legal and civic meetings he has attended, the majority of his colleagues agree that the ‘voracious moth’ is a complete myth, but as he says, these men are afraid to speak up. Doubtless, fear of professional punishment is making them choose personal comfort over public safety, and this is all the more reason why Dr. Harder’s brave and informed stance is so commendable. I also want to praise Jeff Rosendale for his work in New Zealand which made it possible for us to ascertain that this moth is a negligible insect.

Senator Carol Migden
So far as I understand, it is only Sen. Migden’s measure requesting a moratorium on the aerial spraying that has the potential to be acted upon quickly enough to protect the public before the bombardment begins this summer. The senator has a long history of standing up for environmental protection, and I want to praise her for attempting to defend us from the government and its agencies. These are dark days in which to be a politician.

Many, many more individuals belong on our list. The city council members, representatives and senators who have asked the tough questions, trying to pin down the slippery A.G. Kawamura and his cohorts. The members of CASSonline.org and LBAMspray.com who are working so tirelessly in this effort. The doctors and nurses who have stepped forward to declare that the actions of the government threaten public health. And all of the un-named individuals who are devoting hours every day to educating their communities about the jeopardy in which we are all being held.

I know that, like me, every one of you has a job, daily duties, a family to care for, so much of the business of life that demands your time and attention every day. But as I have heard from countless people now, understanding what the spraying will do to us and our home has a way of taking precedence in the lives of people who are frankly, already very busy. We want to win this fight against corruption and abuse. We all want to get back to the day when we feel reasonably confident that we can take a walk tomorrow, drink our cup of tea, prepare food for our dear ones, make plans for our futures without this terrifying threat of chemical assault being held over our heads by CDFA.

If you want to see this day come, if you want to find a road back to reasonable peace but you have yet to make your voice heard in this crisis, please, join us. It isn’t enough to let others protect you. You need to start acting today to protect your own life. You have talents and I believe you will find the time, somehow, to demand a halt to the spraying now so that there is a more hopeful tomorrow for all of us.

Know Someone Who Should Be On This List? Please Feel Free To Mention Them In the Comments

I almost hesitate to post the following pdf file because of the terrible insult it represents to the 643 families who were sickened by aerial spraying of toxic pesticides in the Monterey/Santa Cruz area in 2007. But, for the sake of letting everyone see just how negligent the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has determined to be, here is their report finding no connection between the spraying and the illnesses:

OEHHA’s Report.

I’d like to see them say to baby Jack Wilcox’s father’s face that there is no link between his child becoming delirious, eyes rolled back in his head, going into respiratory failure and the fact that pesticides known to cause respiratory failure were dumped on the baby’s home.

I’d like to see them tell Mike Lynberg’s family who fell ill the minute they stepped out of their homes that the spray didn’t cause this.

I’d like them to tell the doctor of one of our readers whose daughter was ordered to leave college to get away from the spray that aerial spraying doesn’t damage human health.

OEHHA has proved today that they, too, put the profits of special interests groups and the arrogant actions of governmental agencies ahead of public health.

We have known for decades and decades that exposure to pesticides causes illness.

We have all witnessed that the registered adverse health effects of the chemicals in the product sprayed match, point for point, the symptoms experienced by hundreds and hundreds of residents in 2007.

We also know that prolonged, chronic exposure to toxins leads to serious, potentially fatal harm, yet OEHHA is negligent to the point that they don’t even acknowledge this in their ludicrous report.

I am especially overawed by their nerve in stating that, “We want to assure the public that we are responding to their safety concerns.”

This report was OEHHA’s chance to respond. They have failed miserably and have made it abundantly clear that they have abandoned the innocent people of California in order to protect special interests. Shame. Shame. Shame.

If you’re like us, you are so stressed about the aerial spraying of California, night and day have started to roll into one long extravaganza of research, research, work, work. Exhale deeply for a moment, and listen to this:

Rep. Sam Farr went to a subcommittee hearing in Washington D.C. and asked for 2 things:

1) He wants Ag Sec. Ed Schaefer to start working with other agencies, including the Surgeon General, to evaluate the effects of the spraying.

2) He wants to get to the bottom of why the Light Brown Apple Moth was classified as a class A pest in the first place.

I have to say, this sounds pretty good to me.

Read the whole article in the Monterey Herald.

Maybe I’ve got the flu. Maybe it’s being up at 2:30 in the morning. I can’t help feeling that something amazingly reasonable happened in Washington DC today.

In the midst of the chaos being created by the enforced aerial spraying of California, my mind has been sifting through history, looking for parallels to our present situation, looking for wisdom in the words of those wise and humble ones; humanitarians like Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Mohandas K. Gandhi.

Who but Gandhi could have better understood the evil and challenge we Californians are currently facing in our own lands? Under the governance of corrupt politicians and greedy official agencies, we are working to obtain our freedom while the Constitutional laws that these officials are duty-bound to serve are mocked each time they open their mouths, telling us the authority to poison millions lies with them and that there will be no vote on the matter. Every fiber of our beings, yearning to be free to breathe plastic-free air, eat carginogen-free food, drink pesticide-free water, revolts at the arrogance of statements like these and the dismissive reception our justified outrage receives.

What Would Gandhi Say?

Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the State becomes lawless or corrupt.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has cleverly orchestrated an emergency in order to bypass every law and measure put in place to protect human and environmental health. Moreover, the monetary contributions to our present governor made by both the secretary of the CDFA and the manufacturer of the poisonous spray have been openly documented in the news. Gandhi, it seems, would tell us it is our duty not to go along with the actions of men like these.

Democracy is not a state in which people act like sheep.

Ag. Sec. Kawamura has announced that people should just tolerate the spraying. He and his allies would like for us to be apathetic sheep. It would make their jobs a great deal easier if not one of us stood up and said ‘no’ to poisoning. It seems that Gandhi would not want us to fear being squeaky wheels or down-right pains in the neck if we prize the promised freedom of democracy and feel it is our patriotic duty to protect it.

No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom.

It isn’t just our freedom that is being the denied by the enforced aerial spraying of California. It is your brother’s freedom, your grandmother’s freedom, your child’s freedom, your freedom. Each one of us has a guaranteed right to individual liberty, and each person sprayed without consent represents an individual violation of that constitutional guarantee. We are estimating, then, that some 7 million violations of freedom will occur, and a society that permits this type of governmental activity against the people seems doomed to ultimate failure.

Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good.

As Gandhi understood so well, it isn’t enough in this world to merely go along with what you feel is good. You’ve got to stand up when you know something is wrong. How can non-violent, non-cooperation happen in this LBAM public health crisis? A mass walkout in the financial districts that are set to be sprayed? This would reach all the way to Wall Street. A march? Not too long ago, a group of oppressed citizens in a third world country managed to win freedom by standing in the streets night and day banging pots and pans until their oppressors withdrew. What methods do you believe Gandhi would have suggested for not cooperating with the people who would abuse us in this horrible way?

Sorrow and suffering make for character if they are voluntarily borne, but not if they are imposed.

Often times, the grievous and grave experiences in our lives make us wiser and stronger, but, as Gandhi says, I do not see how having to leave my cherished home will build my character. How will it build the character of small children who will be terrified by the airplanes passing a few feet above their homes at night, again and again and again? How will it build character for parents if their children are born with birth defects? How will it build character for women to die of breast cancer? How will we become stronger by breathing plastic pollution and eating and drinking carcinogens? This suffering is being imposed on us by a government agency, against our will, and it will not build character. It will create terrible anger, bitterness and hatred for the government. It will not make us better people, nor will it make our country strong.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.

This is the quote I take to bed with me at night, in hopes that I will get some sleep. Our discernment has shown us that we are facing evil in men like A.G. Kawamura, Stewart Resnick and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - men who would band together to make a profit off of the abuse of California’s children, women and men. It is horrific to encounter violence and immorality of this kind in people who share our species. But, in order to avoid despair, in order to remain strong and unswayed in the work that is ahead of us, we must believe that good will triumph over evil. That truth and love are lights that will continue to burn if we keep them lit.

Gandhi walked his long hard road when he set out to win freedom for India. This time, it is up to us.

What: East Bay Pesticide Alert & Don’t Spray California are presenting on the LBAM public health crisis.

When and Where: April 10th, 7-9 PM at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, California.

Who: The presenters include Mayor Robert Lieber of Albany, medical professionals, a UC scientist and biodynamic farmers. It’s quite a line-up!

Get complete details by Downloading this printable flier. You might like to print and distribute this flier amongst your friends and neighbors. This presentation offers a really great opportunity to hear from experts and to talk with people who care as much as you do about halting the spraying.

For more information, you can also phone East Bay Pesticide alert at: 510-895-2312

Thousands and thousands of business conferences, seminars, expos and conventions are held in the San Francisco Bay Area every year.

As the word gets out that the California Department of Food and Agriculture will be turning the famous region into a carcinogenic waste zone with their monthly aerial spraying of toxins, everyone is asking, “who is going to want to come here to do business, to participate in events, to build a life?”

Another important question is, “who will be liable for damages when conference attendees fall ill from the spraying?”

The simple answer, of course, is to host business and organizational events elsewhere. No event planner is going to want to walk into an empty symposium because all of his guests fled in the night when the spray planes started flying past their hotel room windows.

A recent San Francisco chronicle article evoked this quote from a reader:

“Lower property values. I went to an open house yesterday and the majority of people I spoke with said they are waiting to see what happens with the spraying. If they spray, they won’t buy in the area. Makes sense.”

It makes sense to us, too.

Millions of lives are being put on hold while we work to stop the spray, desperately determined to protect the humans, livelihoods, commerce and living and working environments of the 9 California counties set to be aerially sprayed starting June 11th. People are already suffering terrible financial losses as they sell their homes and flee, and for those who choose to stay and be sprayed, the economic damage is only just beginning.

Remember - California is the nation’s #1 tourist destination, and the tourism industry employs nearly 1 million residents. San Francisco, in particular, is a world-famous location for some of the globe’s largest and most profitable business events. Tourists and financiers alike are going to need to book elsewhere for the sake of their health, and as for buying a home, the spray stands to give the housing scandal the last shove it needs to turn into a full-blown crisis.

If you’re changing your life and business plans to stay out of the toxic spray zone, don’t just walk away. Be sure to let the conference centers, the hotels and the tourist board why you won’t be visiting the spray area. Your voice matters hugely in this movement to stop the spray.

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Permission to use the above image is granted to any and all persons or organizations attempting to stop the spray. Please credit veganreader.com with an on-line link or offline citation if you would like to use this or any of our other LBAM spray graphics.

I came across a new anti-spray website today, PlayNotSpray.org

They intend to hold a ‘play-in’ protest on the steps of SF City Hall, April 28th at 10 AM and Sen. Migden will be speaking there. Sounds like a great idea!

The grassroots groups are springing up like, well, grass, in a valiant effort to fight this horrific abuse of children, men and women. We are sending a very loud message to our government that we are not expendable, we are not pawns in their moneyed war games. This is our country and they are our servants and we say ‘no’ to exposing human beings to carcinogenic pesticides!

Best wishes to the members of PlayNotSpray.

I’ve been up all night waiting to see if any news would break about the hearing that happened tonight in San Francisco:

Here is a CBS article for you to read

I wish it had provided a bit more detail, and I am so hoping someone may have filmed the event.

It sounds like Mirkarimi was very upfront in his opposition to the spray, and from what I hear, Sandoval asked many pointed questions. In sum, it looks like Mirkarimi introduced his resolution against aerial spraying and added an amendment requesting that the SF City Attorney begin investigating legal action. I hope this is a roundabout way of saying that San Francisco is going to sue the state.

I am eagerly waiting to hear from a friend who was at the hearing. From the above article, it doesn’t look like the much stronger and better resolution was considered - the one banning all toxic assaults on the Bay Area, be they aerial spraying, permethrin on telephone poles, twist ties or sticky traps. The truth remains, this moth does no meaningful harm to anything in the state of California…not one drop of poison is needed. We can simply ignore it and life will go on as it was the day before they found the first moth.

It is ag practices that have gotten us into this mess to begin with. Less than 100 years ago, most farms were organic, and California needs to turn back to the time-honored methods of small farms, poly-culture, crop rotation and the creation of diverse environment rich in insects, birds, bats, wild creatures and lush, mixed vegetation. We could be living in paradise here…but the chemical corporations would be out of business.

Please if anyone can share any other details about the SF hearing, I would so appreciate it! Thank you.