(November 18, 2020; Washington, D.C.) Today, Center for Food Safety (CFS) publicly released a list of urgent agricultural, food, public health, and environmental policy recommendations submitted to the incoming Biden Administration and transition team. CFS is urging the Biden Administration to act swiftly during its first 180 days and overturn or reverse the Trump administration's systematic gutting of federal rules and policies vital to protect the environment, public health, and our food supply.
Among other topline priorities, CFS is calling on the Biden Administration to reverse the Trump Executive Orders that promote pesticide-promoting crops; weaken protections for food and agricultural workers; authorize polluting industrial open ocean aquaculture; and force agencies to gut vital rules that protect health and the environment.
"During the past four years, many federal agencies have been forced by this administration to take dangerous actions that are damaging our environment, food, workers, and public health," said Jaydee Hanson, policy director at Center for Food Safety. "These actions can and must be swiftly overturned. We strongly urge the Biden Administration to show its commitment to these issues and act right away to better protect our health and the environment."
As laid out in CFS's list of recommendations, the Biden Administration should prioritize:
— Halting or revoking the Environmental Protection Agency's unlawful re-approvals of the toxic pesticides glyphosate, dicamba, sulfloxaflor, atrazine, and isoxaflutole;
— Revoking the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) legally inadequate "Bioengineered Food Disclosure" rules for GMO food labeling;
— Restoring animal welfare standards in organic food production that Trump USDA illegally withdrew; and more.
Additionally, CFS is urging the incoming administration to reinstate basic environmental protections gutted by the Trump administration, protections put in place to safeguard America's ecosystems and communities, including:
— Restoring National Environmental Policy Act protections, analysis, and consideration of environmental and social impacts when approving large infrastructure and other projects.
— Restoring several Endangered Species Act rules essential to protecting wildlife from long-term threats posed by climate change.
"The food movement needs to speak loudly and tell the Biden administration that corporate Ag politics as usual is unacceptable," said George Kimbrell, legal director at CFS. "The most urgent need is to undo the past administration's unlawful and irresponsible throwaways of the public trust. Our recommendations outline how to do exactly that. The second thing is meaningful progressive steps forward, including no longer exempting agriculture from urgently needed climate regulation."
View the full list of policy recommendations here >>
