
Ag-Mart, Farmworkers
and Birth Defects
Take Action Today! Write a Letter to the Editor.
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Recent news stories about the staggering pesticide violations at Ag-Mart, Inc.'s tomato farms in NC and FL have drawn outrage from around the country over the plight of farmworkers and the continued use of highly toxic pesticides like methyl bromide. It has also exposed many flaws in NC's system of pesticide regulation and enforcement. |
You may have seen some of the recent news coverage of the staggering pesticide violations at Ag-Mart's farms in NC and FL, and about serious birth defects among farmworkers employed there. Today, we're writing with an update on this serious health and justice issue in our state, and an invitation to take action.
Update, May 24: Toxic Free NC responds to NC report on Ag-Mart, pesticides and birth defects
Below, you'll find more background information and a corporate profile of Ag-Mart, Inc., links to recent news stories about this issue, and instructions for submitting a letter to the editor in response to the recent news coverage.
Please take action today: Write a letter to the editor to express your views and help Toxic Free NC press for a system that better protects farmworkers and everyone in North Carolina from exposure to hazardous pesticides.
Background information
In North Carolina and Florida, tomato grower Ag-Mart is facing hundreds of charges for pesticide violations, mostly for failing to comply with the federal Worker Protection Standards that are designed to minimize pesticide hazards to farmworkers. At least one family contends that these unlawful exposures during a worker’s pregnancy resulted in the severe birth defects of her son. The case has drawn outrage, as well as renewed attention to the plight of farmworkers, from around the nation. Here in North Carolina, it has also exposed many of the flaws in our system of pesticide regulation and enforcement.
At Toxic Free NC we believe that the best solution to this problem is to implement alternatives to toxic pesticides. The US EPA should end the use highly toxic pesticides, such as methyl bromide, and other pesticides that can cause birth defects or other serious health problems, in order to protect the health of workers, consumers and the environment. The NC Department of Agriculture should exercise its responsibility for protecting public health & the environment from pesticides by allocating more resources to enforcement, putting Spanish-speaking investigators into the field, and protecting workers from retaliation by employers when they report problems. The NCDA should also increase fines for repeat violators, and go after big corporate growers who disregard our laws and regulations - not just the individuals holding the pesticide license.
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Santa
Sweets cherry tomatoes, grown and packaged by Ag-Mart,
Inc., and also available as "certified organic."
Ag-Mart, Inc. is accused of hundreds of pesticide and
labor violations at its NC and FL tomato farms. |
Based in Plant City, Florida
Owned by Procacci Brothers Sales Corp., a privately held Philadelphia produce conglomerate
President: Don Long
Ag-Mart is a large tomato grower with operations in Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey and Mexico, as well as packing facilities in NJ, PA and CA. One of the largest growers of grape tomatoes in the US, Ag-Mart sells its grape tomatoes under the label “Santa Sweets,” but also repacks tomatoes for many private labels and provides grape tomatoes to McDonalds, among other restaurant chains. Ag-Mart’s grape tomatoes are sold at almost every large grocery store chain in the US, and are also available as “certified organic.” Ag-Mart also sells organic heirloom tomatoes under the “Ugly Ripe” label.
While the company has only operated in North Carolina a few years, it has already racked up a serious record of abuses with respect to farmworkers, including record fines from the NC Department of Labor in 2003 for housing workers in squalid conditions. The company now faces the largest pesticide violation case in North Carolina history.
Stories from the Raleigh News & Observer
Stories from the Palm Beach Post
Take Action Today: Write a Letter to the Editor!
Please take a few moments to put your thoughts about this issue on paper, and submit it to the editor of your local paper. You'll be adding your voice to the growing numbers across North Carolina and the country urging justice, sustainability, and regulations that truly protect us and the people who grow our food.
You can submit your letter to the editor of your local paper, or (if you read them) to the Raleigh News & Observer, or Que Pasa (en español). (You can look up contact information for papers all across North Carolina on this website.)
Your letter to the editor should be short, compelling, and personal - keep it 250 words or less, and be sure to state why this issue is important to you personally. For a more extensive guide to writing letters to the editor, please see The ABCs of Writing Letters to the Editor, from the NC Conservation Network. Here is a version of the guide in Spanish.
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Please contact Toxic Free NC at (919) 833-1123 to let
us know you're taking action. Thank you!





