ABOUT
US
Moms
and Dads in the Trenches
Because
of children's health legislation in Minnesota, going "back
to school" now means going back to school facilities where
administrators better understand the negatives of using
pesticides on school property. It also means that parents,
if they wish, must be notified when the school is using
the most dangerous pesticides. As MNCHEC "Moms in the Trenches"
in Minnesota, we took the first steps to launch this legislation
to protect children.
It took "squeaky wheels" and lots
of phone calls. There was letter writing and visiting with
state legislators. The Moms of Minnesota's Children's Health
Environmental Coalition (MNCHEC) are all very busy people
- raising kids and working. But the health of chil-dren
is important enough to all of us to fit children's environmental
health activism into our lives. "We all believe that taking
'good care' of our children must include protecting them
from illness caused by environmental hazards," explains
Robin Blair, a founding MNCHEC member and children's entertainer.
MNCHEC was formed when several of
us met at a Beyond Pesticides meeting in Minnesota. The
coalition members have varied talents and lots of commitment,
like Judy Chavie, a nurse who is chemically sensitive and
has worked with children whose learning abilities improved
dramatically when placed in a chemical-free environment.
Then there is Susan Berkson, a public relations director.
Susan had the good sense to become active about this issue
before her child could become ill from the pesticides sprayed
in his preschool. She wrote an article for a local "parenting"
magazine that alerted many people, including state Senator
Janet Johnson, to the dangers of pesticides in schools.
Flo Sandok helped educate the citizens of Rochester by inviting
Dr. Phil Landrigan, who was to speak to Mayo Clinic pediatricians,
also to address a town forum while he was in the area. And,
of course, there were Kay, Pat, Mary Ann, Sylvia, Francie
and Betty. (Betty has been battling pesticide misuse for
40 years.) I'm a member because I lost my 11-year-old son
and my husband to cancer. I'm also on the Beyond Pesticides
Board, the CHEC Board, and I'm President of the organization
my son founded before he died - Kids for Saving Earth.
By our second meeting, we
decided to call our group MNCHEC and to affiliate with CHEC
because we wanted to emphasize children's health issues.
Our first goal was to pass state legislation to help protect
children from pesticides in schools. We were joined by more
moms like Kathleen Schuler, a public health educator, who
worked with Judy and Pat in a pilot project to reduce pesticides
in four schools. Julie Evans, an activist/writer mom who
has worked hard on several environmental health issues including
the hazards of standard lice medications and school indoor
air pollution, joined. Jessica Roe, daughter of the late
Senator Janet Johnson and an activist attorney with young
children, helped inform Governor Jesse Ventura about the
legislation. Also, thankfully, many other organizations
joined with us to support this legislation.
Step by step, we began to lay the ground work. We:
Met
with legislators.
Helped
provide research information to write "The Right to Know"
legislation. (Parents, if they so desire, have the right
to know when the worst levels of pesticides are being sprayed
at their child's school.)
Asked
more legislators to support the legislation.
Met
with the Minnesota Department of Health to encourage their
support of children's health issues.
Testified
at committee hearings.
Wrote
editorials and articles for local newspapers.
Requested
much needed help from other environmental organizations.
MNCHEC began this effort in 1998,
and by 2000, with the help of Senator Janet Johnson, Rep.
Jean Waginius, Rep. Peggy Leppik and several other legislators,
the "Right to Know Law" was passed. In 2001, the Minnesota
Department of Health held a major Children's Environmental
Health Conference. We celebrate our success, but we are
not content. To get started in your state try the action
steps above and go to www.checnet.org/national_campaign/partners.shtml
for more information.
MNCHEC
HOME
Back
