Mission Statement
The focus of the Napa County Chapter of MOMS Advocating Sustainability (MOMAS) is aligned with the mission of MOMAS. We are committed to reducing the amount of environmental toxins that children in Napa County are exposed to, in their homes, and in their communities.
Credible scientific data emerges daily linking childhood cancers, asthma, severe allergies, learning disabilities and long-term health issues to common toxins found in our air, water, fields, and homes.
MOMAS believes that every child deserves a healthy future and the chance to reach his or her full potential. Exposure to environmental pollution and common household toxins make this goal unattainable for many.
How We Do it
We support this mission by advocating for pesticide*-free policies and the use of non-toxic or safer alternatives at home as well as at the school district, town, county and state level.
We work primarily through education and outreach to mothers and families, and also to policy makers, helping them to make better choices by providing information about effective alternatives.
History of the MOMAS Organization
MOMAS was founded in May of 2008 by four Marin County moms to fight California’s plan to aerially spray the surrounding nine Bay Area counties with a pesticide to fight off an innocuous moth (the Light Brown Apple Moth or LBAM). Our name at our founding was Mothers of Marin Against the Spray (MOMAS). We had witnessed hundreds of people sickened, hundreds of birds die, and a thick greenish foam develop along the coast when the state sprayed Monterey and Santa Cruz counties for this harmless moth in the fall of 2007.
Through extensive organizing, outreach to press, and coalition building, MOMAS and other groups were able to halt the aerial spraying, a tremendous and important victory for the citizens (especially children and wildlife) of both the Bay Area and the State of California.
Once plans to aerial spray our community were defeated in July of 2008, MOMAS expanded our mission to broadly protect children’s health in light of increasing scientific evidence linking the rise in chronic illness in children to their exposures to environmental toxins. We changed our name to MOMS Advocating Sustainability to reflect this broader mission.
We worked tirelessly to help strengthen Marin County’s pesticide* laws. Due largely to MOMAS’ advocacy work, Marin County now has some of the greenest and most child protective laws in the country. MOMAS was instrumental in creating “pesticide free zones” for Marin County playgrounds, picnic areas and playing fields/turf.* Our work helped remove possible, probable and known carcinogens from the “allowed pesticides” list and nearly eliminated all endocrine (hormone) disrupters. Neighboring San Mateo County recently enacted a program inspired by the Marin County program.
Our Current Goals
Initially, the Napa County Chapter will focus on educating local city and county leaders, including school district personnel, about data showing the harmful health effects of pesticides* on our children, helping them to identify alternative healthier solutions.
We also hope to educate parents so that they may incorporate healthier solutions to pesticide usage in and around their homes. MOMAS has laid the groundwork for other cities, counties and school districts. We will use this model to make Napa County a healthier environment for our children to excel and to thrive.
*The term “pesticides” includes herbicides and insecticides.