Protest LBAM eradication program

The next phase of the LBAM eradication program is heading to Sonoma with irradiated, dyed, "sterile" moth releases and field studies in the coming weeks.

Come to the

Sonoma Farmers' Market
Plaza on the Square, intersection of Broadway and E. Napa Street

Tuesday October 20, from 5:00 pm to 6:15 pm

to demonstrate against the LBAM eradication program and show support for farmers. Tabling and leafleting throughout the Plaza will also be going on then and after 6:15pm...

Signs and banners will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. Please RSVP if you need a sign at yphillips [at] comcast.net



More details:


Hello all,

This action letter is going out to a few diverse groups. Please pass along or adapt for your area/county.

Yannick

Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) Update + Local Action

Many of you have followed the LBAM issue closely or from a distance. Here's an update and actions to take, if you wish to have this program redirected on a correct and appropriate path (see action below).


Although aerial pesticide spraying is "off the table" for urban/residential areas, aerial pesticide spraying is STILL in the plan for forested, agricultural, rural and inaccessible areas, places where people live, work and hike. The LBAM eradication program, as a whole, remains on track for most of the state of California, excluding only a few areas like Death Valley.

Aside from the aerial spray component, the LBAM eradication program includes ground treatments which are known to be harmful to people, pets, wildlife, pollinators, and waterways. These pesticides will be used on people's properties and in parks and not just on farms. In addition, millions of irradiated dyed moths are to be released in Napa and Sonoma this October as part of an LBAM eradication program pilot project. These moths will then be released all over California, regardless of what their impact turns out to have been in Napa and Sonoma. Well respected entomologists have said an irradiated moth program is "massively expensive' and "will not work".

Almost $100 million of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Ca. Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) money was spent in 2008 on the program; the program is on track to keep spending millions more in 2009 and beyond.

The moth has caused no documented crop or environmental damage in California.

The LBAM eradication program is particularly hard on small farmers, growers, and nurseries, because it inflicts harsh and destructive quarantines (along with onerous record-keeping and forced compliance measures) on them.

USDA/CDFA's LBAM eradication program has tried to place a wedge between farmers and growers and those who benefit from what farmers and growers produce. This is wrong.

Since June 2008, many people have continued to dedicate themselves to stopping the program altogether --- and there are signs of progress. For one, California Senator Dean Florez, the Senate Majority Leader and Chair of the Senate Food and Agriculture Committee, is an outspoken opponent of the program. For another, the National Academy of Science basically has said the USDA has no sound science to justify its program.

So while progress is being made, there is still work to be done. The good news is we have you!


What you can do:


- Come to the Tuesday's Sonoma Farmers' Market (Plaza on the Square, intersection of Broadway and E. Napa Street) on October 20, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:15 pm. to demonstrate against the LBAM eradication program and show support for farmers. Tabling and leafleting throughout the Plaza will also be going on then and after 6:15pm...

Signs and banners will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. Please RSVP if you need a sign at yphillips [at] comcast.net

As an added incentive for making the trip to Sonoma, world-famous sustainable agriculture advocate, Vandana Shiva, will be speaking that evening nearby at 8:00 pm., as part of the Economics of Peace conference. http://www.praxispeace.org/events.php


Lastly.....

- Call these members of the government to tell them you want 1) funding for LBAM eradication program to be cut, 2) quarantines lifted, and 3) LBAM-associated trade agreements to be worked out:

* Cathy Neville, Sonoma County, Agriculture Commissioner
(707) 565-2371 in Sonoma
* Congressman Mike Thompson (St. Helena), member of the House Ways and Means
Committee (international trade policy)
(707) 226-9898 in his Napa district office
* Congressman Sam Farr (Carmel), member of both the House Appropriations
Committee and the Subcommittee on Agriculture
(202) 225-2861 in Washington D.C.


For more information on the LBAM eradication program, check out http://www.stopthespray.org
Contact Yannick A. Phillips at yphillips [at] comcast.net