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REGENERATE
VENTURA COUNTY

OUR GOAL?

 20% of farmland in transition to Regenerative Organic Agriculture by 2026

Petition

WE ARE

2000 plus local residents committed to promoting and supporting regenerative farming in Ventura County. We are business owners, farmers, teachers, parents, doctors, and concerned citizens from all walks of life who want to see our county thrive as a leader in the global regenerative agriculture movement. Our initiatives include providing resources and support to farmers looking to integrate regenerative farming practices, creating a farm to school pipeline so that locally grown food can be sold and served directly to our students, campaigning to implement a law that requires farms to notify adjacent residents before they spray toxic pesticides, and promoting community awareness about the benefits of regenerative agriculture to our landscape, our economy, our health, our future. 

2106 SIGNATURES AND COUNTING...

We request a county-wide pesticide spraying notification system.

I WANT TO BE NOTIFIED!

Thank you! Your form has been submitted.

HEALTHY SOIL

HEALTHY PEOPLE
HEALTHY PLANET

WHAT IS REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE?

Regenerative agriculture is about reviving our soil, encouraging biodiversity, and ultimately creating a thriving farming ecosystem. Unlike conventional farming, which often depletes soil health and contributes to climate change, regenerative practices aim to restore and enhance natural resources. It’s about working with nature, within the context of nature.

 

This way of farming is better for our soil, our farmers, our food, our health, and our economy.

 NO TILLING

Tillage is the process of breaking the soil with a disc or plow to eliminate weeds and plant seeds. Regenerative agriculture does not till to preserve mycorrhizal networks.

NO TOXIC CHEMICALS

This vastly reduces the use of chemicals, herbicides or fungicides or insecticides. Instead, relies on making plants and soil healthy so they can resist pests. 

COVER CROPS

Planting different species of cover crops protects the soil so it is never exposed to the elements. Later, the dead cover crop will protect against weeds, AND becomes food for the microbes.

PLANNED GRAZING

Just like in nature herds of animals are used to eat weeds and fertilize the soil. Cows and other ruminants break apart the top soil, and their grazing promote biodiversity and more resilient crops. 

OUR PARTNERS

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PROTECT
OUR
KIDS

REGENERATE
OJAI

WATCH OUR AWARD WINNING FILM:
REGENERATE OJAI

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WINNER

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WINNER

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WINNER

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WINNER

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WINNER

"VENTURA COUNTY’S
DIRTY LITTLE
SECRET 
IS THE SUBJECT OF
REGENERATE OJAI"

-  MICHELE STUEVEN 
LA WEEKLY

"VITAL
AND
POWERFUL"

-  MATT FAGERHOLM 
ROGEREBERT.COM

"'REGENERATE OJAI' 
FILM HIGHLIGHTS
THE RISK FROM PESTICIDE SPRAYING"

-  KIMBERLY RIVERS
OJAI VALLEY NEWS

OVER 5 MILLION LBS OF PESTICIDES ARE USED PER YEAR IN VENTURA COUNTY.THAT'S THE HIGHEST PER ACRE AND PER CAPITA IN THE ENTIRE STATE.WE HAVE THE MOST KIDS EXPOSED TO THE WORST CHEMICALS OF ANY COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA.

FIND OUT IF YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED
VIEW THE MAP

OUR PARTNERS EWG HAVE GATHERED THE DATA.

FIND OUT WHAT CHEMICALS YOU

HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO HERE:

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WATCH FILM

The residents of Ojai have been asking for notification prior to the application of pesticides. Governor Newsom heard our concerns and "strongly encourages" growers to notify residents prior to spraying these neurotoxins. Sign below to join this movement to protect ourselves and our children, and to be a part of this transition to a healthy future. 

Get Informed
I WANT TO BE NOTIFIED!

Thank you! Your form has been submitted.

REGENERATE OJAI IN THE NEWS

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TEST

5 LBS/PERSON

OF PESTICIDES ARE USED IN OJAI EACH YEAR.

Our hope is to do a study to see if our kids are being affected.


I WANT TO TEST MYSELF/CHILD FOR PESTICIDES
There is funding available to test a limited number of children.

Thank you! Your form has been submitted.

About Last Chance

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Support Transition to 

Organics

Patty Pagaling has been working for almost two decades to transition Ojai away from these toxic chemicals. Support her non-profit and get involved.

REPORT PESTICIDE DRIFT & OVERSPRAY

It is critical to report any pesticide related incidents immediately on the CASPIR app. Download the app now:

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TAKE ACTION

WHAT CAN I DO?

This is a starting place for how we can work together to Regenerate Ventura County:

Bee

Become a
Beekeeper

Become a registered beekeeper with the county, it's currently the only way to get notification of spraying near you.

CLICK HERE

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Report Drift
or Overspray

If you see overspray or drift or irresponsible pesticide activity call Ventura County Ag commissioner and register a complaint - you can register anonymously (805) 388-4222.

Handshake

Get To Know
Your Neighbors

Talk to your farmer neighbors and ask them to go regenerative 

organic.  Ask them to personally notify you prior to applying chemicals.

Hands in the Soil

Practice Nature Based Climate Solutions

Let's use healthy soil practices! Increasing Soil Organic Matter can increase water storage capacity and drawdown carbon. Through carbon fixing, composting, ruminants and supporting farmers to transition, we can regenerate Ojai.

CLICK HERE

Window Installation

Stay
Safe

If you suspect that your home and/or children are breathing overspray or drift, stay inside, close windows and doors and turn on your home HVAC (make sure to install HEPA filters available at the hardware store). Ideally turn on air purifiers.

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Sign the
Petition

The Department of Pesticide Regulation "strongly encourages" County Agriculture Commissioners to set up a notification program to provide notice to nearby residents. Sign the petition above to join us to make this happen.

Organic Farmer's Market

Eat Regenerative
Organic Food

Eat local regenerative foods that were grown without toxic synthetic pesticides and herbicides. Support the organic farmers making this transition.

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Request Notification
From Your School

Talk to your schools and request that you be notified at least 72 hours in advance of any pesticides or herbicides sprayed nearby, and also what the chemicals are and how much was sprayed.

Kids Gardening

Restructure the
Food System

Let's fix the food system with school supported agriculture! When schools buy directly from Regenerative Organic farmers, they save money and get local nutrient dense food.

LEARN MORE

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SUPPORT OUR FRIENDS

References

ACCORDING TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP, PEOPLE ARE BEING EXPOSED TO PESTICIDES IN VENTURA COUNTY AT LEVELS THAT ARE A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION

HERE IS THE SCIENCE:

 

Peer-reviewed studies on Ventura:

Temkin AM, Uche UI, Evans S, Anderson KM, Perrone-Gray S, Campbell C, Naidenko OV. Racial and social disparities in Ventura County, California related to agricultural pesticide applications and toxicity. Sci Total Environ. 2022 Sep 3;853:158399

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722054985

 

EWG press release about the study, with quotes from advocates, talking about the injustices of pesticide exposure, and the importance of notifying the communities in advance

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2022/09/study-communities-color-greatest-risk-pesticide-exposure-ventura

 

In the paper, the Introduction secton lists a long list of studies, with the links to their references. Copying the paragraph here:

“Pesticide exposures on the job, residential proximity to pesticide applications, and elevated body burden of pesticides as detected by biomonitoring have been associated with harm to the nervous system in both adults and children, an elevated risk of Parkinson's disease (Caballero et al., 2018; Costello et al., 2009), traits of autism spectrum disorder (von Ehrenstein et al., 2019; Sagiv et al., 2018), a decline in cognitive function (Gunier et al., 2017; Rowe et al., 2016), and changes in behavior (Hyland et al., 2021). Pesticide exposures have been also linked to adverse impacts on fetal development during pregnancy (Larsen et al., 2017), a greater risk of preterm birth (Winchester et al., 2016), low birth weight (Gemmill et al., 2013), neural tube defects and hypospadias (Rappazzo et al., 2019), respiratory outcomes such as asthma (Raanan et al., 2017), and impacts on the reproductive system (Requena-Mullor et al., 2021). Biomonitoring studies indicated that children living in agricultural areas have higher exposure to pesticides than the general population (Fenske et al., 2000; Lu et al., 2000). Further, pesticide exposure has been associated with an elevated risk of adult and child cancers including breast cancer (Harnly et al., 2005; Wofford et al., 2014; Gunier et al., 2011), leukemia (Lombardi et al., 2021), and central nervous system tumors (Park et al., 2020).

 

Air monitoring conducted in California showed that pesticides can drift up to several miles from their application site (Harnly et al., 2005; Wofford et al., 2014) and pesticides detected in house dust have been correlated with pesticide applications nearly one mile away (Gunier et al., 2011). Recent investigations identified an elevated risk of health harm within 2.5 miles from pesticide application (Lombardi et al., 2021; Park et al., 2020).”

 

References cited in these paragraphs (more references in the article itself)

M. Caballero, et al. Estimated residential exposure to agricultural chemicals and premature mortality by Parkinson's disease in Washington State

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 15 (12) (2018), 2885.

 

S. Costello, et al. Parkinson's disease and residential exposure to maneb and paraquat from agricultural applications in the central valley of California

Am. J. Epidemiol., 169 (8) (2009), 919-926.

 

R.A. Fenske, et al. Biologically based pesticide dose estimates for children in an agricultural community. Environ. Health Perspect., 108 (6) (2000), 515-520.

 

A. Gemmill, et al. Residential proximity to methyl bromide use and birth outcomes in an agricultural population in California. Environ. Health Perspect., 121 (6) (2013), 737-743.

 

R.B. Gunier, et al. Determinants of agricultural pesticide concentrations in carpet dust. Environ. Health Perspect., 119 (7) (2011), 970-976.

 

R.B. Gunier, et al. Prenatal residential proximity to agricultural pesticide use and IQ in 7-year-old children. Environ. Health Perspect., 125 (5) (2017), 057002.

 

M. Harnly, et al. Correlating agricultural use of organophosphates with outdoor air concentrations: a particular concern for children. Environ. Health Perspect., 113 (9) (2005), 1184-1189.

 

C. Hyland, et al. Associations between pesticide mixtures applied near home during pregnancy and early childhood with adolescent behavioral and emotional problems in the CHAMACOS study. Environ. Epidemiol., 5 (3) (2021), e150.

 

A.E. Larsen, S.D. Gaines, O. Deschenes. Agricultural pesticide use and adverse birth outcomes in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Nat. Commun., 8 (1) (2017), 302.

 

C. Lombardi, et al. Residential proximity to pesticide application as a risk factor for childhood central nervous system tumors. Environ. Res., 197 (2021), 111078.

 

C. Lu, et al. Pesticide exposure of children in an agricultural community: evidence of household proximity to farmland and take home exposure pathways. Environ. Res., 84 (3) (2000), 290-302.

 

A.S. Park, et al. Prenatal pesticide exposure and childhood leukemia - a California statewide case-control study. Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health, 226 (2020), 113486.

 

R. Raanan, et al. Elemental sulfur use and associations with pediatric lung function and respiratory symptoms in an agricultural community (California, USA). Environ. Health Perspect., 125 (8) (2017), 087007.

 

K.M. Rappazzo, et al. Maternal residential exposure to specific agricultural pesticide active ingredients and birth defects in a 2003–2005 North Carolina birth cohort. Birth Defects Res., 111 (6) (2019), 312-323.

 

M. Requena-Mullor, et al. Evaluation of gonadal alterations in a population environmentally exposed to a mixture of endocrine active pesticides.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18 (5) (2021), 2355.

 

C. Rowe, et al. Residential proximity to organophosphate and carbamate pesticide use during pregnancy, poverty during childhood, and cognitive functioning in 10-year-old children. Environ. Res., 150 (2016), 128-137.

 

S.K. Sagiv, et al. Prenatal organophosphate pesticide exposure and traits related to autism spectrum disorders in a population living in proximity to agriculture. Environ. Health Perspect., 126 (4) (2018), 047012.

 

O.S. von Ehrenstein, et al. Prenatal and infant exposure to ambient pesticides and autism spectrum disorder in children: population based case-control study. BMJ, 364 (2019), l962.

 

P. Winchester, C. Proctor, J. Ying. County-level pesticide use and risk of shortened gestation and preterm birth. Acta Paediatr., 105 (3) (2016), e107-e115.

 

P. Wofford, et al. Community air monitoring for pesticides. Part 3: using health-based screening levels to evaluate results collected for a year. Environ. Monit. Assess., 186 (3) (2014), 1355-1370.

REFERENCES

Can Cover Crops Save Florida’s Citrus?

https://civileats.com/2020/01/22/can-cover-crops-save-floridas-citrus/

Saving Florida's Oranges Starts With Soil

https://nationswell.com/fighting-citrus-greening-florida-locus-ag/

Soil Health Matters! A Tale of 2 Florida Citrus Groves

https://www.growingproduce.com/citrus/soil-health-matters-a-tale-of-2-florida-citrus-groves/

Combatting Citrus Greening in Organic Systems

https://www.organic-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HLB_FarmerGuide.pdf

We Need a Green New Deal for Farmland

https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-farmland-2645649043.html

“COSTLY GAME” | Ojai Locals Confront Pesticide Spraying In Town Hall Meeting

https://vcreporter.com/2019/10/costly-game-ojai-locals-confront-pesticide-spraying-in-town-hall-meeting/

Fields of Toxic Pesticides Surround the Schools of Ventura County—Are They Poisoning the Students?

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/fields-toxic-pesticides-surround-schools-ventura-county-are-they-poisoning-students/

The "other" kind of drift

http://www.panna.org/blog/other-kind-drift

Agricultural Commissioner

https://www.ventura.org/agricultural-commissioner/public-data-requests/

Agricultural Pesticide Use
Near Public Schools in California

https://trackingcalifornia.org/cms/file/agricultural-pesticides-near-schools/report

UCLA pesticide study finds California, counties not doing enough to keep us safe

https://ufw.org/ventura-county-star-ca-ucla-pesticide-study-finds-california-counties-not-doing-enough-to-keep-us-safe/

Spraying For Hazardous Bug Not Mandatory

https://vcreporter.com/2019/12/spraying-for-hazardous-bug-not-mandatory/

Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/insect-apocalypse-under-way-toxic-pesticides-agriculture/

Neonicotinoid Pesticides Have Caused A Huge Surge in the Toxicity of U.S. Agriculture

https://therevelator.org/neonicotinoids-toxic-agriculture/

Pesticides Linked to Heart Disease 

https://www.consumerreports.org/pesticides-herbicides/common-pesticides-linked-to-heart-disease-risks-in-new-study/

Pyrethroid Exposure Increases Risk for Death

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/923256

Dozens of farm workers exposed to pesticides in South Valley. 3 sent to the hospital

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article231701243.html

Fenpropathrin, a Widely Used Pesticide, Causes Dopaminergic Degeneration

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333774/

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TO REGENERATE VENTURA COUNTY

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