Toxic Taters meetings at Detroit Lakes library

Location: Calloway, MN

Link:

Toxic Taters is a grassroots organization.  That means that we are led by the people affected and staff are really just there to support the work of the community.  Everyone is welcome to take part in our monthly meetings which take place on the 4th Monday of the month at 10am at the Detroit Lakes public library.

Leadership Team

Robert Shimek: Executive Director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, has devoted his life to the protection and revitalization of the Anishanabe people, land and their life ways.

Norma & Don Smith: moved their family to a small farm in Otter Tail County in 1976. They bought their first sheep the next year and for 18 years sold enough lambs to make their farm payment. In 1995, 11 irrigation systems were installed in a 4 square mile area and potatoes planted all around them. The fields were sprayed every week by an airplane. They soon experienced hundreds of dead birds. Frogs disappeared and the bee population declined.  Their lambs began to die.  With effort, they finally got someone to respond to their calls at the MN Agriculture Dept. and were told that a million dollar potato crop was worth more than their little flock of sheep.

Carol Ashley: lived near potato fields by Park Rapids, MN for about 18 years and suffered from pesticide drift most of those years.

Holly Ward: Holly is a resident of the Perham area who became involved in work of Toxic Taters after experiencing a direct hit of fungicides when the field next door to her home was being sprayed in summer of 2015.

Lex Horan: Lex supports the Toxic Taters coalition in his role as an Organizer with Pesticide Action Network North America.