Press Releases: Agricultural Policy

“Today, the state of Maryland became the first state in the nation to ban arsenical drugs in chicken production and took a significant step in addressing one of many issues associated with industrial agriculture.

“It is a testament to the power of grassroots organizing that this arsenic prohibition bill passed at all given the formidable opponents who fought for three years against removing the carcinogen from our food.

“Governor O’Malley’s cozy relationship with the poultry industry hasn’t helped, either. The poultry industry continues to push agricultural policy in Annapolis that pads their profits at the expense of Marylanders and the Chesapeake Bay—even though Maryland’s entire agricultural sector contributes only .35 % of the state’s GDP. We will continue to fight the industry’s attempts to block environmental regulations and reforms that would benefit the state’s farmers.”

Media Alert: Food & Water Watch received photographs from an import house in Niagara Falls, New York, showing 22 drums of toxic chemicals in the same shipping container as meat products. The shipment was refused entry by USDA inspectors and sent back to Canada. However, the Obama administration is seeking to reduce this type of border inspection as indicated by a January meeting hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Press Release: From domestication of the blueberry to tools to combat soil erosion, land-grant universities have revolutionized American agriculture for general public benefit almost entirely through public investments from state and federal governments. However, a report released by Food & Water Watch today finds that by 2010, nearly a quarter of funding for agricultural research at land-grant universities came from private and corporate donations.

“The original intent that public research should benefit the public has been completely lost and this conflict of interest between public good and private profits remains largely unchallenged by both academia and policymakers,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “Sound agricultural policy requires impartial and unbiased scientific inquiry, but like nearly every aspect of our modern food system, land-grant school funding has been overrun by narrow private interests.”

Today on the steps of New York City Hall, national, community, food, urban and labor group leaders hosted a press conference to address Walmart’s negative impact on the food system. Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter and Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), spoke at the event, which also marked the release of the new Food & Water Watch report, “Why Walmart Can’t Fix the Food System,” an analysis of the rift between Walmart’s marketing claims and the true impact the company has on the food system.

Media Statement: “Yesterday, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) sent a proposed rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget that would privatize some of the inspection functions currently performed by Federal government inspectors in poultry slaughter facilities. Food & Water Watch vehemently opposes this proposed rule because we believe it will compromise consumer safety.”

Media Statement: “We are alarmed that the U.S. House Representatives may pass three so-called regulatory reform bills that will undermine the ability of our food safety and environmental protection agencies from doing their jobs to protect American consumers. Food & Water Watch has sent a letter to every Member of the House urging them to reject all three bills when they come up for consideration later this week.”

Media Statement: “With a recent public letter to the dean of the Maryland School of Law’s Environmental Clinic, Governor Martin O’Malley has clearly taken a stand: he’s for polluters and against the Bay.

Media Statement: “Today’s announcement by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that part of the United States’ requirement for mandatory country of origin labeling of food is a violation of international trade law illustrates, once again, that the WTO does not want U.S. consumers to know where their food comes from.”

Media Statement: Yesterday the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that they sent part of the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA) rule to the White House for final approval.

Press Release: A white paper released today by Food & Water Watch and the Public Health Institute challenges the common assumption that government subsidies to farmers growing corn, soybeans and other commodity crops is a primary factor in increasing rates of obesity.