Regressive GOP Farm Bill a Disaster for Environment

Today the Republican-controlled House voted to pass the 2018 Farm Bill.

Lisa Archer, Food and Agriculture Program Director at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement in response:

The GOP Farm Bill is a disaster for people and the planet. Any member of Congress that voted for this bill is prioritizing the interests of corporations over the health of the American people. The bill is a massive handout to corporate agriculture and factory farms that pollute our air, water and soil. This shameful bill will slash nutrition and conservation programs and weaken essential protections that safeguard public health and our environment and regulate toxic pesticides.

This GOP Farm Bill props up pesticide industry profits at the expense of children's health, farmworkers and the environment. It slashes conservation programs that help farmers shift away from pesticide-intensive farming, weakens the organic program, and stops state and local governments from protecting their communities from harmful pesticides. It allows the chemical industry to bypass important environmental protection laws and spray toxic pesticides without regard for our waterways or for endangered and threatened species.

We applaud House Democrats for uniting against this disastrous bill. The Senate must reject attacks on environmental and public health safeguards, including preemption of local and state authority, and misguided cuts to conservation, nutrition and local and organic food. We need a Farm Bill that ensures our food system is equitable and sustainable for all Americans.