Casillas Pesticide Action Project

Colorado Legal Services -  030100

Abstract Number:

June 2003030100

Colorado Legal Services (CLS) implemented the Casillas Pesticide Action Project (CPAP) to educate migrant farm workers about the dangers posed by pesticide exposure. This project was named after Jose Casillas, a seventeen year old farm worker who died after two direct pesticide exposures within a one-week period. A NAPIL (now Equal Justice Works) fellow worked with CLS to establish this project and to begin to survey farm workers to determine how much of a threat pesticides posed to the health and safety of the migrant farm worker community. CLS migrant division staff conducted interviews with farm workers to determine workers' knowledge about pesticide safety and their histories of past exposure. After completing the survey, CLS published the findings in a report in 2002 entitled Hidden Costs: Farm Workers Sacrifice their Health to Put Food on Our Tables.

Through CPAP, CLS launched a campaign to educate both the farm worker population about the dangers of pesticide exposure as well to provide information to local health care providers on common signs and symptoms resulting from exposure. Since pesticide use varies for each type of fruit or vegetable grown, CLS created crop-specific community legal education materials which provide basic safety information about the pesticides used on particular crops, enabling workers to be alert to the specific symptoms (see materials for onions below). CLS also worked with a Spanish-speaking undergraduate public health major who, as part of an internship, put together a primary and secondary migrant education curriculum to provide children with basic steps to avoid pesticides exposure and to minimize adverse effects from exposure. CLS also provided education materials and held trainings for migrant health clinic and emergency room staff on recognizing symptoms of pesticide exposure. Binders containing information on symptoms were compiled and distributed to health care providers in locations near agricultural areas in Colorado where workers would likely seek treatment in the event of exposure or related health problem. Finally, CLS partnered with a local organization to offer an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded training-the-trainers program which trains leaders in the migrant farm worker community to conduct outreach to migrant camps about pesticide health and safety issues. This training of trainers sought to promote education and activism within the farm worker community in order to protect workers' rights and to train other farm workers about the health and safety issues stemming from pesticide exposure. To learn more about this project, access the PDF documents below.

Contact Information:

Patricia Medige
Colorado Legal Services
Migrant Farm Worker Division
1905 Sherman Street, Suite 400
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303) 866-9366
Fax: (303) 830-7860
Email

Additional Information:

• Kimi Jackson and Patricia Medige, Hidden Costs: Farm Workers Sacrifice their Health to Put Food on Our Tables, 2002. (PDF, 60kb)
• Protocol for Pesticides Intake (PDF, 90kb)
• Farm Workers' Rights Related to Pesticides (PDF, 92kb)
• Pesticide Incident Report (PDF, 155kb)
• Clinic Presentation Flyer (PDF, 160kb)
• Interview Questions for Pesticides Intakes [Spanish] (PDF, 95kb)
• CPAP Introductory Flyer (PDF, 186kb)
• CLE materials for Onion Workers (PDF, 98kb)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Press Release, "EPA Cites Five Colorado Growers for Failing to Comply with Agricultural Worker Protection Regulation," 5 June 2003. Click here for the Spanish Version.
• Symptoms Material by Geographic Area
  • Southeastern Colorado [pesticides used on onions, cabbage, and cantaloupes] (PDF, 60kb)
  • Western Slope [pesticides used on onions, lettuce, pears, cherries, apples, and peaches] (PDF, 67kb)
  • San Luis Valley [pesticides used on potatoes, carrots, spinach, lettuce] (PDF, 63kb)

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