A global transition to organic agriculture and land care is necessary if we are to seriously take on the challenges of the public health crisis, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency. Approximately every five years, Congress passes a Farm Bill, a comprehensive omnibus bill setting policy and funding for agricultural and food programs. The Farm Bill offers an opportunity to grow organic agriculture; however, this cannot be done at the expense of attacking the rights of states and local governments to restrict pesticides and protect public health and the environment.
The attack on local and state authority to restrict pesticides is a bottom-line issue. As momentum builds for local restrictions on pesticide use in the face of ongoing poisoning and contamination, it is clear that effective land management does not require toxic pesticide use. Historically, local municipalities have exercised their democratic right to protect public health and safety where state and federal standards are not adequately protective of their residents. Congress should not be stepping into states to tell local governments that they cannot exercise this right, as they have done with smoking, recycling, dog waste, and other standards. The House Republican bill states boldly that, “A political subdivision of a state shall not impose any requirement relating to the sale, distribution, labeling, application, or use of any pesticide or device,” challenging the right of states and localities to exercise local governance and the democratic process. This language, at this point, is not in the Senate Democrats' bill.
While Farm Bill negotiations have been stalled for months, the Democrat-led Senate and Republican-led House of Representatives presented their respective visions to amend the 2024 Farm Bill. The office of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, released an initial Senate framework for the (now 2024) Farm Bill. At the same time, U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson (R-PA), chair of the House Agriculture Committee, released an outline of the House version, then followed up with more details and legislative language ("Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024").
While the anti-democratic Republican language in the House makes the overall bill unacceptable, the Senate Democrats' proposal includes robust support for expanding and strengthening organic product supply chains and domestic production, recognizing their economic, ecological, and public health benefits. House Republican language in support of organic is undermined by a framework that preempts local restrictions of pesticides.
“This legislation is a complete nonstarter for the millions of people who want stronger pesticide restrictions, democratic decision making on toxic chemicals in communities, and the right to sue manufacturers and pesticide users when harmed and misled on the hazards of pesticides,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. “We vehemently oppose this Republican legislation with the understanding and experience—bridging farmers, medical practitioners, land managers, local policy makers, and families—that we can and must transition to safe practices and products that protect our health, biodiversity, and climate."
With the chemical industry and allied companies pushing for the preemption of state authority over local democratic decision making, contained in the House Republican bill, advocates are concerned that the same industry lobby will seek to shield the producers and users of toxic pesticides from liability lawsuits associated with the harm that their products cause. This would block lawsuits like those successfully advanced against Bayer/Monsanto for adverse health effects, like cancer, associated with exposure to their products and companies' failure to warn about these effects.
Advocates are seeking to eliminate provisions in the House Republican bill that preempt a state and local government's right to restrict pesticides, while supporting the following elements in the Senate and House framework that nurtures the growth of organic agriculture by:
- Addressing organic certification costs;
- Funding organic oversight and enforcement;
- Supporting organic transition;
- Addressing bottlenecks in organic regulatory actions;
- Providing mandatory funding for organic research and data collection;
- Making organic programs work for organic farmers; and
- Establishing an Organic Agriculture Research Coordinator to coordinate and establish annual strategic priorities.
The bipartisan consensus that organic supply chains and markets must continue to be nurtured as recognition of their importance to sustainability, rather than put on the legislative chopping block, is welcomed. Certified organic agriculture has grown over the past four decades from a voluntary standard—organized by farmers and grassroots consumers and organizations representing farmers, environmentalists, community leaders, physicians, and rural and urban communities—to a $70 billion industry. In the same period, considerable scientific literature continues to underscore the significance of a wholesale transition to organic from chemical-intensive food systems to adequately address the cascading crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and public health.
With the chemical industry and those who use their products in agriculture and land management increasing their lobbying efforts, the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act (ALUA) and Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act (EATS Act) have effectively been included in the 2024 House Republican Farm Bill provisions that inevitably undermine local and state authority to enact more stringent agricultural and land management policies that would support public health, biodiversity, and climate action. The EATS Act's stated purpose is to “prevent States and local jurisdictions from interfering with the production and distribution of agricultural products,” effectively preempting local and state health and environmental concerns regarding agricultural land use. Meanwhile, ALUA threatens to undermine local and state authority to protect the health of their residents from toxic pesticide use on public land—effectively overturning decades of Supreme Court precedent.
>>Tell your U.S. Congressional Representative and Senators to support organic agriculture in the Farm Bill, but not at the expense of undermining local and state authority to enact more stringent restrictions of pesticides.
The target for this Action is the U.S. Congress.
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