Pesticides and the Right to Know

August 5th 1982, farmworker Sacharias Ruiz awoke at dawn in Bryan, Texas.  He would not live to see the sun set.  Mr. Ruiz’s job that day was to spray Dinitro-3, a highly toxic pesticide, on cotton plants in Bryan, Texas. The pesticide canister had a leak, just a small leak, but, nonetheless, a fatal leak.  Soon, Mr. Ruiz was too […]

Pesticides are Hell on Bugs and Not Much Better on People

Pesticides are Hell on Bugs and Not Much Better on People

People’s History in Texas is in the middle of a in-depth project collecting oral history and archives on the Jim Hightower tenure as Commissioner of Texas Department of Agriculture from 1983-1991.  In those eight years, an amazing legacy of support for family farmers and sustainable rural agriculture was implemented.  That legacy of positive programs is still making its impact on […]