letter we are sending out

Dear____________

Pineapple, that delicious, tangy, yellow fruit is all too often taken for granted. Few know where it is grown, how land, rivers and aquifers are changed as a result, which pesticides are used and how these affect agricultural workers and communities. And there are many other unknowns involved with planting, harvesting and packaging. As numerous articles and TV programs appearing in Costa Rica, the US and Europe indicate, questions are being raised about the long-term effects of pineapple on its tropical host countries.
As part of this growing international campaign to increase awareness of the crop, we students of University of Wisconsin write to you, with respect, to express a few concerns we have, and to ask you for your advice about how we can collaborate in projects to protect ecosystems and communities dependent on pineapple. We’re also writing to share word that we plan to circulate this letter widely: among international media; students at other universities; conservation leaders, including Nobel-Prize winners; NGOs; supermarkets and other entities. Ultimately, we’re looking to form a group - Global Citizens Concerned about Pineapple.
Our four main concerns, as documented in recent articles, are:
• Contamination of both people and nature: All chemicals used in the production process, such as bromacil, should be evaluated and controlled if scientific data suggests they might be harmful. Additionally, aquifers where pineapple is planted should be rigorously tested for toxicity. Contaminated aquifers in Costa Rica have been found to create serious health problems for local communities.
• Depletion of aquatic systems: Rivers, aquifers, and wetlands – the source of all life – should be evaluated by teams of qualified water experts in areas where heavy irrigation takes place, and where natural springs and flow patterns of rivers have been altered in the course of planting. Experts, together with producers and affected communities, should establish open, scientifically-based dialogue about how proposed changes to aquatic systems will affect biodiversity, and future generations.
• Violation of worker’s rights: Questions raised in numerous articles about worker salaries, workplace conditions, rights to organize, health and other labor issues, need to be fully addressed through public forums involving all stakeholders, and when necessary, research..
• Pineapple farms lack certification through the sustainable agriculture network: The Rainforest Alliance certification program can help verify that pineapple farms meet internationally accepted environmental and social standards, and answer the increasing demand for fruits and foods to come from certified sustainably managed farms.

As we mentioned, we’re also writing to ask for your advice about how we might support projects which protect aquatic systems, land, and communities where pineapple is grown. As consumers of pineapple, we want to continue enjoying this delicious fruit and supporting the creation of jobs in developing countries, but we must be clear in asking that Costa Rican pineapples be produced in an eco-friendly and sustainable manner.
At your earliest convenience, would it be possible for one of our student representatives to speak briefly with you, or with one of your colleagues, about how, indeed, we might support communities and ecosystems where pineapple is grown?
Above all, we are writing to help create compassionate dialogue about the crop at a moment when it is becoming highly visible. We bring to your attention the concerns we’ve listed here, and the questions, after observing how in Costa Rica, conflicts related to pineapple cast a shadow on a country well known worldwide as an example of peace, social justice and conservation of natural resources. Open dialogue and shared visions for the future can avoid divisiveness. As young people, looking to become positive forces in a divided world, we turn to Mahatma Gandhi:

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”


References and Resources
www.rainforest-alliance.org and www.isealalliance.org
http://www.sa-intl.org/
Nacion article http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/septiembre/12/opinion1698461.html
For the Tico Times article by Leland Baxter-Neal, and the Miami Herald article by David Sherwood, these can be found on our blog spot http://pineactivist.blogspot.com/
http://www.iisd.org/trade/commodities/


Recipients
Freshwater Action Network
CIRCLE OF BLUE
United Nations Division for Sustainable Development Water Natural
Resources and Small Island Developing States Branch
President Arias (President of Costa Rica)
La Nacion: Director of Information: Alejandro Urbina
Al Gore
Wangari Maathai
Nature Conservancy-Costa Rica
Nature Conservancy-USA
Freshwater Action Network
Miami Herald
New York Times
La Times
IUCN media relations
Rainforest Alliance
Conservation international
Food and Fairness, pesticide action network UK
Del Monte
Dole
Chiquita
Mario Ugalde
Jorge Araya
Various local grocery stores and co-ops
European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology
IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science
International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM)
International Centre on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures (ICQHHS)
International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES)
International Research and Training Centre on Urban Drainage (IRTCUD)
Regional Centre on Urban Water Management (RCUWM)
Regional Centre on Urban Water Management for Latin America and the Caribbean
Regional Centre for Shared Aquifer Resources Management (RCSARM)
Regional Centre for Training and Water Studies of Arid and Semi-arid Zones (RCTWS)
Regional Humid Tropics Hydrology and Water Resources Centre for South-East Asia and the Pacific (HTC Kuala Lumpur)

Water Centre for Arid and Semi-arid Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAZALAC)
And more....



Correspondence: rkrause@wisc.edu,
http://pineactivist.blogspot.com/