Food & Agriculture
We work to rapidly transition our food system to one that is sustainable, healthy, and just. For decades, United States food and farming policy, corporate power and agricultural science have been directed toward a narrow goal: producing as many calories as possible as cheaply as possible. The confluence of these forces has created a powerful river of toxic, energy-intensive factory farming. We are eroding public health, worker safety, local economies, animal welfare, and the resilience of the ecosystems we depend on. Solutions are available — if policymakers, people and businesses make vitally needed changes. We must farm in a way that protects the health of people and the planet. We seek three fundamental shifts in our food system: from toxic and chemical intensive to healthy and ecologically regenerative; from corporate controlled to democratically governed; and from a system that embodies the deepest inequities in our society to one that advances justice and fulfills the needs of all eaters now and in the future.
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Food & Agriculture Tell Congress: Help farmers grow sustainable, healthy foodTAKE ACTION
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Food & Agriculture Tell Amazon and grocery stores to say NO to GMO applesTAKE ACTION
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Food & Agriculture Tell Congress to save the bees!TAKE ACTION
Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) today directed the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to take action to ban the use of chlorpyrifos. With the governor’s action, New York has joined Hawai’i and California in outlawing the use of the neurotoxic pesticide.
Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) has released a pollinator health policy aimed at encouraging its suppliers to phase out the use of pollinator-toxic pesticides: glyphosate, neonicotinoids and organophosphates, including chlorpyrifos.
Public health, environmental and consumer organizations today rallied outside Governor Cuomo’s office to urge him to sign S.5343, which would ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos in the state of New York.
While the federal government prioritizes donations over decades of science, it’s more important than ever for states like New York to step up to protect public health and environment.
Friends of the Earth members successfully pressured unqualified, anti-science USDA nominee Sam Clovis to withdraw from consideration.
Thanks to Friends of the Earth, three-quarters of the garden industry has moved away from neonics, and many major retailers have committed to stop selling plants and products treated with these bee-killing pesticides.
Thanks to pressure from Friends of the Earth and thousands of our members who highlighted the many sustainability and health concerns surrounding genetically engineered salmon and the lack of consumer demand, 80 food retailers have made commitments to not sell GE salmon, including Walmart, Costco, Albertson’s, Kroger, Trader Joe’s and…
Instead of altering the animal, we need to fix the farm. Instead of creating GMO pigs that are resistant to diseases, we should focus on the root cause of the problem: industrial agriculture and horrendous factory farm conditions.
Including pesticide reduction as a vital part of the regenerative agriculture conversation ensures that Monsanto and its ilk do not define the path forward.
Our agricultural system is so intertwined with the economic system that is causing the climate crisis that any Green New Deal will need to address how we produce and consume what we eat. That will require actions from combatting corporate consolidation to ensuring fair prices for farmers to supporting growers…
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Learn MoreGenetically Engineered Animals: From Lab to Factory Farm
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DownloadPesticides and Soil Health
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DownloadToxic Acres