The Pesticide-Free Soil Project was born out of the EFC’s commitment to ways young people can learn about environmental justice, not only through focused workshops and research, but by participating directly in community events to address social justice issues.
In 2019, the Ventura County Pesticide-Free Soil Project (PFSP) evolved from a collaboration with EFC alums, local schools, and community-based organizations shining a light on the issue of pesticide use at school sites and its impact on people in the surrounding neighborhoods. Statistics showed that the Oxnard Plain had one of the highest pollution levels in the state due to pesticide use, affecting the health not only of the soil but the children and staff of local schools.
Listening to their concerns, Florencia Ramirez, who later became the project director, had the idea to take the first step in the process of moving an elementary school from toxic pesticide use on the grounds to healthier methods. EFC alum and board member Maria Hernandez, and former executive director Margot Gibney were part of the initial group who came together to make this happen. Veronica Raushenberger, who was at that time an elementary school principal, hosted the first “Compost Tea Party” (CTP).
This CTP took place in 2019 as part of the Encampment summer program in Ventura County. Encampers helped to apply a “tea” made from compost to the grounds of the school. The value of having a locally based project addressing this crucial environmental issue was apparent. From there, the program blossomed with seed funding from the New Tudor Foundation. Click for a video of the early CTPs.
Later CTPs brought in local organizations working in related areas, creating an even greater educational experience for the schools’ students and staff. Several off-shoots, including an online nature-based climate solutions curriculum project in the Rio School District and the “Heal the Earth” initiative launched by third-graders, are also the result of the PFSP initiative.
As the project evolved, so did collaborations with local organizations working on related issues, particularly farmworker environmental and economic justice. These include the Pesticide Action Network (PAN), Californians for Pesticide Reform, El Rio School District, Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), Public Health Institute, and Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE). Later collaborations included organizations focused on regenerative agriculture such as The Abundant Table, Community Roots Garden, and Rio Regenerative Farm.
Despite the difficulties encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic, the program continued to evolve into a stipended, year-round internship program under the direction of former Intern Director Juna Rosales Muller (pictured with Florencia). Recent EFC alums and other youth from Ventura County received education about pesticides, their health effects, and their alternatives. They also received participated in hands-on experience in organizing, engaging other youth, and deepening and expanding their leadership skills. Visit PFSP’s EFC webpage to learn more about their experiences in their words.
As the program evolved, we received funding from the McCune Foundation, individual donors, and a Cal EPA grant, which allowed us to begin spreading the word about compost tea parties. Out of that came a video, created collaboratively, that gives step-by-step guidance about how to create a Compost Tea Party at a school, workplace, or park.
The Other Strawberry Festival, an outgrowth of the Compost Tea Parties, evolved from a local community event that was originally virtual to an in-person event this past Spring. The festival, hosted by Community Roots Garden this year, included a youth-created and performed participatory play that tells the story of a local student attending a school surrounded by conventional agricultural fields. The aim of this play is to discuss the impacts of pesticides on our communities and imagine working toward pesticide-free zones on and around school campuses, reducing toxic pesticide exposure for students. Click here for words, pictures, and video of this special event where community members learned about the health effects of pesticide use and took action.
Far more has been accomplished in these six years than we have room for in this brief history. You can find out more on PFSP’s EFC webpage.
Looking back, it is clear that the organizers grew the PFSP into a vital organization, rooted in the Ventura County community, through hard work and vision. We asked Florencia to talk about the exciting news about the direction the PFSP is taking as it branches out from the EFC.
“I’m really excited about this next chapter for the Pesticide Free Soil Project, and incredibly grateful for the years we spent growing within the Encampment for Citizenship.
“The EFC seeded this project and gave us the time and space to grow the root system we needed to become our own organization, strong enough to stand on our own. Our first youth interns came through the EFC, and several of them remain at the heart of PFSP today. The EFC believes deeply in young people as leaders, and that belief has become part of the DNA of the PFSP.
“Today, one of the PFSP’s greatest strengths is that young people from the Oxnard Plain aren’t simply participating in our work. They have real agency in shaping it and in addressing environmental justice and food insecurity issues that affect their own communities.
“You can see that growth quite literally at Rio Regenerative Farm, where our collaboration with the Rio School District has given young people the opportunity to help build a healthier food system from the soil up. Veronica Rauschenberger, who was recently named superintendent for the Rio School District, has been instrumental in growing this collaboration. We’re also growing the Other Strawberry Festival and deepening our policy work about pesticide buffer zones near schools, an issue our young people feel especially strongly about because it directly affects them and their peers.
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EFC Executive Director Faith Kares, PFSP Director Florencia Ramirez and former EFC Executive Director Margot Gibney at Rio Regenerative Farm.
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Shyla, a PFSP intern at Rio Farm.
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A carrot-y Brisia, intern at Rio Farm.
“The PFSP would not exist as it does today without the vision, trust, and support of the Encampment for Citizenship. I’m incredibly grateful for that foundation and excited to see where these roots take us next. You can learn more about what we are doing at our new website: http://www.pesticidefreesoilproject.org.”
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