Tell School Boards: Stop poisoning our kids! No more Roundup on school grounds

Children play where Roundup is sprayed. 

In the U.S., more than 26 million pounds of Roundup are sprayed every year on school grounds, public playgrounds, and gardens. Recent testing reveals that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, is present in a multitude of common conventionally grown foods, including those served in school cafeterias.¹ Glyphosate has been labeled a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization, and it has no place in our schools.²

As the organization representing the top decision-makers in U.S. school districts, the National School Boards Association has a responsibility to millions of parents and school children to protect children from harm. Keep toxic pesticides out of our schools. 

On August 10, a jury awarded $289.2 million to Dewayne "Lee" Johnson, a former school groundskeeper whose job required him to spray Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller on school properties. Mr. Johnson is terminally ill with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer linked to the use of Monsanto's Roundup and other glyphosate-based weedkillers.³

On August 15, California's Supreme Court rejected Monsanto's challenge to the state's decision to list glyphosate as a potential carcinogen under the California's Proposition 65, a law requiring the state to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects.⁴

Tucson landscaper follows city's example

Tell the National School Boards Association to keep Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller away from schools.

In light of the latest evidence that Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, the National School Board Association must do these two things:

• Issue a formal policy statement advising all school districts to end the use of Roundup and all toxic agrochemicals on school grounds.
• Issue a formal policy statement advising all school districts to revamp their school lunch programs by transitioning to certified organic foods, in order to avoid serving foods contaminated with glyphosate and other pesticides.

Toxic poisons have no place in U.S. schools, either on playgrounds or in cafeteria food. Please act immediately to rid schools of Roundup and other toxic chemicals. Tell the National School Boards Association: Monsanto's Roundup and other toxic agro-chemicals must be banned on school grounds, and school lunch programs should stop serving foods contaminated with glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Katherine Paul, Organic Consumers Association

Sources:

1. "Thriving Communities Guide," U.S. Public Interest Research Group, accessed September 4, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49496?t=17&akid=216029%2E6090523%2EjuDkQe

2. "IARC Monograph on Glyphosate," World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer, accessed September 4, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49497?t=19&akid=216029%2E6090523%2EjuDkQe

3. "Jury rules Monsanto liable in weed killer case," ABC 7, August 10, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49498?t=21&akid=216029%2E6090523%2EjuDkQe

4. "Monsanto loses another court case over its widely used weed killer," San Francisco Chronicle, August 15, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49499?t=23&akid=216029%2E6090523%2EjuDkQe

One more action: 

Also, consider forwarding the links above to the Mayor and City Council. Urge them to tell the landscape adviser committee and City Maintenance to stop spraying Roundup all over Tucson. 

Read: City Council, Stop allowing City Maintenance to poison Tucson

Information on how to contact Tucson Mayor and City Council in upper right hand column.