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The purpose of this website is to share information about pesticide use in Tulare and Monterey counties and specifically in the three Poder Popular communities in each. The communities include: Cutler-Orosi, Lindsay and Woodlake in Tulare County and Gonzales, Greenfield and Salinas in Monterey County.
The website allows visitors to download a variety of maps of commonly used pesticides in each county as well as comparisons between the counties and detailed community maps. The website also contains the final project report which details the methods and findings from the research project along with providing some policy recommendations. A comprehensive pesticide atlas is also available, compiling over 80 maps and quotes from community members. Information about data sources and analysis are also provided in the atlas.
We hope you will find the information presented to be useful and would appreciate your feedback about how you are using this information provided here by sending us email using the contact button.
Project Description
This project employed a mixed-method sociospatial approach to studying agricultural worker health issues in two rural California counties, Monterey and Tulare. A sociospatial approach considers space, place and social indicators in a holistic and integrated fashion (Steinberg and Steinberg 2008). This project relied upon the combined efforts of the California Center for Rural Policy, the Institute for Spatial Analysis, and support from the California Endowment in partnership with Poder Popular and its community partners to assist farmworker communities.
The project equally involves both environmental mapping of pesticide use and application rates as they relate to farmworker communities and health concerns. It also examines organization and group networks of non-profits, coalitions and groups working to improve pesticides and farmworker issues in California. Methods used included key-informant interviews, field research, and participatory mapping.
Via a combination of these data we highlight how community knowledge can be incorporated to enhance research by grounding it in the reality of on the ground constituents. This integrated approach provides a means to better understand the realities and concerns of the broader community in relation to pesticides.
The outcomes of this process include a detailed report and atlas of sociospatial maps highlighting the interplay between environmental and social issues for farmworkers in the region along with a series of community presentations.
Steinberg, S.L. and S.J. Steinberg, A Sociospatial Approach to Globalization: Mapping Ecologies of Inequality, in: "Understanding the Global Environment," pp 99-117. Samir Dasgupta, Editor. Pearson Longman, Delhi, India, 2009. ISBN: 9788131717028.
