Stop the EPA’s Disregard of Pesticide Risk

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With consumer explosion in demand for food that’s organic, local and non-GMO, it shocks Americans to learn that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation of pesticides and herbicides still allows 85 of such products banned in the European Union.  And while local communities have banned chemical fertilizers in parks and public lands, politicians are seeking in the 2023 Farm Bill to preempt local governments from protecting themselves from such toxins. We need, then, U.S. Senator Cory Booker’s “Protect America’s Children From Toxic Pesticides Act,” to limit some pesticides and protect local communities’ power to replace pesticides with organic land management and pest preventive building management practices.  

Limiting food pesticide residues is something that the National Health Federation (NHF) – the World’s oldest health-freedom organization (going back to 1955) – has promoted in the United Nation’s Codex Alimentarius meetings for standardizing the international food trade whose standards are “harmonized” by national regulators and enforced, at least internationally, by the World Trade Organization.  

Mr. Booker’s bill would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to ban organophosphate pesticides like chlorpyrifos and malathion, linked to brain-development and cancer issues in children. The bill would also ban neonicotinoid insecticides, which have collapsed pollinator colonies, as well as the weed killer paraquat, which is known to cause Parkinson’s disease and lung fibrosis. It also closes loopholes that the pesticide industry has historically exploited to keep dangerous products in use and requires the EPA to prioritize reassessing dozens of hazardous products banned in the European Union or Canada. The bill does not, however, address all problems with pesticides. 

Herbicide use is skyrocketing in the U.S., up 30 percent from 2005 to 2012, mainly to facilitate the use of genetically engineered crops. The unavoidable truth is that it's only a matter of time before plants will develop resistance to any approved pesticide  as they have already done for glyphosate and dicamba. And glyphosate represents one pesticide not directly targeted in the Booker bill. As award-winning journalist Sharyl Attkison has reported, over 90% of school lunches are contaminated with glyphosate. Indeed, in this report, over 3/4ths of children’s meals had almost 30 pesticides – including veterinarian drugs injected into farm animals. Nevertheless, we support Mr. Booker’s bill as a necessary first step towards closing the most egregious EPA loopholes, respecting European Union pesticide bans, and empowering local communities to protect citizens.

As the widespread success of natural, organic land care practices has shown, toxic pesticides are not needed to maintain agricultural productivity, beautiful landscapes, or quality of life.  Let’s act to protect farmworkers, the families buying produce, and the environment from these dangerous pesticides.

Just a quick note that if you struggle with the zip code finder at the bottom of this page, just copy the below text, find your U.S. Rep and both Senators and paste into an email to all 3 politicians.