October, 25 2016, 09:45am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Tiffany Finck-Haynes, Friends of the Earth, tfinckhaynes@foe.org
Kendra Klein, Friends of the Earth, KKlein@foe.org
Kate Colwell, Friends of the Earth, kcolwell@foe.org
Report: Most Top Grocery Chains Fail on Pollinator Protection
Poll shows 80 percent of Americans support eliminating bee-killing pesticides from agriculture
WASHINGTON
A new report and scorecard grades 20 of the largest food retailers in the U.S on their policies and practices regarding pollinator protection, organic offerings and pesticide reduction. Of the top food retailers, 17 received an "F" for failing to have a publicly available policy to reduce or eliminate pesticide use to protect pollinators. Only Aldi, Costco (COST) and Whole Foods (WFM) received passing grades in this category.
"U.S. food retailers must take responsibility for how the products they sell are contributing to the bee crisis," said Tiffany Finck-Haynes, food futures campaigner with Friends of the Earth. "The majority of the food sold at top U.S. food retailers is produced with pollinator-toxic pesticides. We urge all major retailers to work with their suppliers to eliminate pollinator-toxic pesticides and to expand domestic organic offerings that protect pollinators, people and the planet."
Today's report, Swarming the Aisles: Rating top retailers on bee-friendly and organic food, comes amid mounting consumer pressure on food retailers to adopt more environmentally-friendly sourcing policies. A coalition led by Friends of the Earth and more than 50 farmer, beekeeper, farmworker, environmental and public interest organizations sent a letter urging the food retailers to eliminate pollinator-toxic pesticides and increase USDA certified organic food and beverages to 15 percent of overall offerings by 2025, prioritizing domestic, regional and local producers. This effort follows a campaign by Friends of the Earth and allies that convinced more than 65 garden retailers, including Lowe's and Home Depot, to commit to eliminate bee-toxic neonicotinoid pesticides.
Bees and other pollinators are essential for one in three bites of food we eat and without them grocery stores would run short of strawberries, almonds, apples, broccoli and more. A growing body of science points to the world's most widely-used insecticides, neonicotinoids, as a leading factor in pollinator declines, and glyphosate, the most widely-used herbicide worldwide, as a key culprit in monarch butterfly declines.
New data from a YouGov Poll released today by Friends of the Earth and SumOfUs found that 80 percent of Americans believe it is important to eliminate neonicotinoids from agriculture. Among Americans who grocery shop for their household, 65 percent would be more likely to shop at a grocery store that has formally committed to eliminating neonicotinoids. The poll also revealed that 59 percent of American grocery shoppers believe it is important for grocery stores to sell organic food, and 43 percent would be more likely to shop at a grocery store that sells more organic food than their current grocery store. The full poll results are available on request.
"Over 750,000 SumOfUs members have spoken out advocating that U.S. Hardware stores take action to protect our pollinators. And after years of pressure, Home Depot and Lowe's have finally enacted more bee-friendly policies," said Angus Wong, lead campaign strategist at SumOfUs, a consumer watchdog with ten million members. "And the findings of this poll show that a vast majority of consumers want to eliminate neonicotinoids from their grocery stores too. This is why food retailers must commit policies that protect our bees immediately."
The report found that while consumer demand for organic and pesticide-free food continues to show double-digit growth, only four of the top food retailers, Albertsons, Costco, Target (TGT) and Whole Foods, have adopted a publicly available company commitment to increase offerings of certified organic food or to disclose data on the current percentage of organic offerings or organic sales. In addition to these retailers, Aldi, Food Lion, part of the Delhaize Group (DEG), and Kroger (KR) disclosed data on the current percentage of organic offerings or organic sales. None of the retailers have made a publicly available commitment to source organic from American farmers.
"To protect pollinators, we must eliminate pollinator-toxic pesticides from our farming systems and expand pollinator-friendly organic agriculture," said Dr. Kendra Klein, staff scientist at Friends of the Earth. "Organic farms support 50 percent more pollinator species than conventional farms. This is a huge opportunity for American farmers. Less than one percent of total U.S. farmland is in organic production -- farmers need the support of food retailers to help them transition dramatically more acreage to organic."
Sixteen of the top 20 food retailers were predominately unresponsive to Friends of the Earth's requests for information via surveys, calls and letters. Primary sources of information for this scorecard include publicly available information, including company websites, company annual reports, SEC filings, corporate social responsibility and sustainability reports, press coverage and industry analyses.
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
(202) 783-7400LATEST NEWS
Sanders Raises Alarm Over GOP Crypto Bill Designed to 'Enrich Trump and His Billionaire Backers'
"Congress is moving quickly to pass the GENIUS Act, which may make a bad situation much worse," said Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
May 06, 2025
As the Republican Senate majority leader plows ahead with a plan to hold a vote on a cryptocurrency bill, Sen. Bernie Sanders is planning a Wednesday conversation with industry experts regarding the proposed legislation, which his office warns would "enrich Trump and his billionaire backers."
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act would create a regulatory framework for a type of cryptocurrency called stablecoins. Sanders' (I-Vt.) office said in a Tuesday statement that the bill "threatens the stability of our financial system" and "makes it easier for President [Donald] Trump and his family to continue to engage in corrupt dealmaking enabled through their cryptocurrency, to the great benefit of themselves and their tech oligarch backers."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), another critic of the GENIUS Act, has argued it could facilitate illicit activity and provide little protection for consumer funds.
In February, the advocacy group Consumer Reports warned that the bill lacked consumer protections and could inadvertently allow large tech companies to enter the banking space, as in create currencies, without being subject to the same scrutiny that is applied to traditional banks.
"Under the Trump administration, we have seen a coordinated effort to boost the cryptocurrency industry to directly benefit President Trump and his oligarch allies," said Sanders on Tuesday. He also highlighted that Trump this week promoted a scheduled private dinner for the top holders of the $TRUMP meme coin, effectively soliciting purchases of the crypto token that now accounts for a substantial portion of his net worth.
Also, a stablecoin launched by Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto venture is going to be used by an investment firm backed by the government of Abu Dhabi to complete a $2 billion business deal, according to The New York Times.
"If that's not a troubling form of corruption, I don't know what is," said Sanders of the two cases.
The latest revelations regarding Trump and cryptocurrency appear to have diminished the GENIUS Act's chances of passage, according to The American Prospect.
The GENIUS Act had enjoyed support from a handful of Democratic senators, but a number of them backed off from supporting the bill in its current form over the weekend, writing in a statement that they wanted to see stronger provisions on anti-money laundering, national security, and other issues. "But reading between the lines, it was clearly the Trump corruption that soured them," the Prospect reported.
Sanders said that "in the face of this corruption, you might hope that Congress would step in to clamp down on corruption. Instead, Congress is moving quickly to pass the GENIUS Act, which may make a bad situation much worse."
Axiosreported Tuesday afternoon that Warren and another GENIUS Act critic, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), will introduce the End Crypto Corruption Act on Tuesday. The proposal would bar the president, vice president, members of Congress, and their immediate families from issuing digital assets, like stablecoins, perAxios.
Sanders' conversation will be with Sacha Haworth, the executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, a group aimed at reining in Big Tech, and Corey Frayer, the director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America, a consumer research and advocacy organization.
The conversation will be livestreamed on his Facebook, X, and YouTube, and through Act.tv.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Trump: 'Never Say Never' to Canada Becoming 51st State. Canadian PM: 'Never. Never. Never.'
"Canada is not for sale and is never going to be for sale," said Prime Minister Mark Carney.
May 06, 2025
In an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was diplomatic toward U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to take over the United States' northern neighbor and whom Carney excoriated in his victory speech after being elected in March.
But at one point, Carney resorted to speaking to the cameras in the room to push back against the president's repeated claim that Canada could become "the 51st state."
After Carney reiterated that Canada "is not for sale," Trump told the press assembled in the room, "Never say never."
Carney responded by saying under his breath, "Never. Never. Never," to several of the reporters.
Carney later told reporters at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. that he views Trump's persistent talk about taking control of one of the United States' top allies and trade partners as "a wish," and said he has "been careful always to distinguish between wish and reality."
"We're very clear, I've been very clear publicly consistently," said Carney. "I've been clear in private. I was very clear again in the Oval Office, have been clear throughout."
"Canada is not for sale and is never going to be for sale," he added.
In his remarks in the Oval Office, the Canadian prime minister, who represents the center-left Labour Party, seemed to appeal to Trump's self-image as a successful businessman at one point, reminding him that "as you know, from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale."
He also complimented Trump, saying he has "revitalized" international security.
But in his remarks after the meeting, Carney said he had pushed Trump to stop referring to Canada as the "51st state," and regarding a trade deal, he said the president "understands that we're having a negotiation between sovereign nations and that we will only pursue and accept a deal that is in the best interest of Canada."
The Trump administration has imposed 25% tariffs on goods from Canada, with some imports exempt under a trade deal signed in 2020.
Carney reported that Trump was willing to discuss lowering the tariffs and said he planned to have further discussions with the president "in the coming weeks" about a new trade agreement.
Trump appeared to soften his stance on eliminating the border between the U.S. and Canada and taking over the country in the meeting, allowing that "it takes two to tango."
Trump spoke about what he believes would be "a massive tax cut for the Canadian citizens" as well as healthcare benefits, but suggested he won't continue pushing Canada to make a deal.
"We're not going to be discussing that unless somebody wants to discuss it," he said.
Keep ReadingShow Less
By Confirming Bisignano, Senate GOP Greenlights 'DOGE Destruction of Social Security'
"Their playbook is clearly to break Social Security so they can justify further cuts and privatization," one labor leader warned.
May 06, 2025
Defenders of the Social Security Administration sounded the alarm on Tuesday after U.S. Senate Republicans banded together to confirm President Donald Trump's pick to lead the federal agency, former financial services executive Frank Bisignano.
The new SSA commissioner—confirmed with a 53-47 vote along party lines—has described himself as a "DOGE person," referring to Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk.
"Elon Musk and Donald Trump, with the quiet help of Frank Bisignano, have spent the last few months taking a chainsaw to Social Security," said Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works. "This vote was an opportunity for the Senate to reject the decimation of Social Security, and demand that Trump nominate a commissioner who will stop the bleeding. Instead, every Senate Republican just signed off on the DOGE destruction of Social Security."
Bisignano "is a Wall Street CEO with a long history of slashing the companies he runs to the bone, including massive layoffs," she noted. "He is also a liar. He claims he was not involved in all the chaotic and destructive changes at the Social Security Administration: the hollowing out of the agency, the stealing of our most sensitive data, the harmful and poorly rolled out policy changes, their sudden reversals, and more. However, there are well over a dozen long-serving civil servants, identified by a brave whistleblower, who can validate that he is lying."
Altman warned that "with Bisignano's increased power as a confirmed commissioner, he will accelerate the destruction of our Social Security system. One ray of hope is that the DOGE henchmen running Social Security have reversed course on some of the biggest cuts in the face of massive public outrage. They know how popular Social Security is with voters of all parties."
"Together, we can save Social Security from Trump, Musk, and Bisignano," she added. "It's going to take millions of people in the street raising our voices together, saying hands off our Social Security."
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) president Lee Saunders similarly said that "the Senate just escalated threats to Social Security" by confirming a billionaire CEO who "has spent his career catering to Wall Street elites."
"Bisignano could have stood up for working families and retirees by opposing efforts to roll back Social Security services, shut down offices, and lay off thousands of workers. Instead, he promises to provide more of the same failed, destructive leadership we have seen so far at Social Security," Saunders pointed out, also flagging his "DOGE person" remarks.
"Their playbook is clearly to break Social Security so they can justify further cuts and privatization," the labor leader stressed, vowing that AFSCME members "are keeping up the fight to protect our freedom to retire with dignity."
Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, called the confirmation vote "deeply troubling to millions of current and future retirees who rely on the guaranteed benefits they paid for and earned through a lifetime of work."
"Mr. Bisignano's testimony before the Senate, along with his long career in the finance and tech sectors, provides no reassurance that he understands—let alone prioritizes—the needs of older and disabled Americans," said Fiesta. "We remain alarmed by the risk that he will support privatization schemes or replace essential SSA workers with AI systems, which could undermine the quality and accessibility of services."
Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin also blasted the Senate GOP for confirming "a Wall Street stooge and self-proclaimed 'DOGE person' who wants to help Donald Trump and his shadow president Elon Musk gut the program."
"Just like Trump and Musk, Bisignano will gladly put Social Security on the chopping block to line the pockets of billionaires and special interests," Martin added, arguing that the men put the benefits of 73 million people at risk.
Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), also warned of the danger posed by the new commissioner. In Schumer's words, "The nomination of Mr. Slash-and-Burn Bisignano is DOGE by another name."
"Donald Trump and Republicans know they can't admit they want to kill Social Security outright, so instead they're choosing another method: strangulation. Office closures, delays, mass layoffs, trouble over the phone, trouble over email. Bisignano would bring even more strangulation," Schumer said before the vote. "If Mr. Bisignano is confirmed, Senate Republicans will own all of the chaos he creates at the Social Security Administration."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular