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feature April 9, 2024

What You Need To Know About Chlorpyrifos

The neurotoxic pesticide harms children and the environment. There are no safe uses for chlorpyrifos.

In the News: The Guardian April 5, 2024

New York is suing the world’s biggest meat company. It might be a tipping point for greenwashing

Peter Lehner, Managing Attorney, Sustainable Food & Farming Program: “Consumers are beginning to be aware of the fact that meat, and particularly beef, has a very, very high climate impact. JBS is fully aware of this, and trying to get ahead of that by telling consumers, ‘Oh, don’t worry, we’ve got it under control.’ But…

Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette collects water samples in the Cape Fear River near the Smithfield slaughter house in Tar Heel, N.C. (Justin Cook for Earthjustice)
Press Release March 26, 2024

Community, Environmental, and Animal Welfare Organizations Press EPA to Strengthen Water Pollution Control Standards for Slaughterhouses and Animal Rendering Facilities

Stronger standards would prevent hundreds of millions of pounds of pollution from reaching rivers and streams, helping to protect more than 22 million people

document March 26, 2024

EPA Comments: Slaughterhouse Clean Water Act Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for MPP Point Source Category

Inadequately controlled water pollution from slaughterhouses and rendering facilities can make water unsafe for drinking, unfit for outdoor recreation, and uninhabitable for aquatic life, posing serious risks to human health and the environment, especially in vulnerable and under-resourced communities. After more than two decades, EPA finally has begun the process of strengthening water pollution control standards for these facilities, and the Agency now proposes to adopt the weakest of three regulatory options. EPA’s preferred option is inconsistent with the CWA and other federal laws.

In the News: Vox March 8, 2024

Why New York is suing the world’s biggest meat company

Peter Lehner, Managing Attorney, Sustainable Food & Farming Program: “A big potential indirect impact is a bit of education of policymakers. Congress gives special exemptions to animal ag in part because they don’t know, or don’t want to believe, the real climate and pollution impact. So I hope this will get a few more policymakers…

Farmworkers and their families, who are predominantly low-income and majority Latino, bear the brunt of poisonings from pesticides and pesticide drift.
(Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
From the Experts February 29, 2024

Harvesting Equality: Addressing Historical Injustices to Foster a Resilient Agricultural Future

Black farmers resiliently confront legacies of bias amid contemporary climate challenges.

An industrial hog facility in North Carolina. Hog feces and urine are flushed into open, unlined pits and then sprayed onto nearby fields. The practice leads to waste contaminating nearby waters, and drifting as "mist" onto neighboring properties. (Friends of Family Farmers)
Press Release February 15, 2024

Coalition of Groups Submits Comments Urging EPA to Require Industrial Animal Feeding Operations to Report their Dangerous Air Pollution

Requiring animal feeding operations to report their toxic emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide will help community members better protect their health

A farmworker harvests strawberries in Salinas, California. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release February 2, 2024

130 Agriculture Researchers and Academics Urge Congressional Leadership to Support Robust Climate Research Funding in the 2024 Farm Bill

The joint letter calls for secured support of the vital USDA Climate Hubs

document January 16, 2024

Academic Letter: Climate Hubs to Ag Congress Leadership

We, the 130 undersigned academics and researchers, implore Congress to prioritize the codification of this program under the Farm Bill and ensure its consistent annual appropriations.

Press Release December 19, 2023

Clorpirifos, Pesticida Neurotóxico Previamente Prohibido, Nuevamente Permitido en Nuestros Alimentos

Se permitirá a Gharda y a la agricultura industrial vender y utilizar clorpirifos para la temporada de cultivo de 2024

More than half of all apples in the U.S. were sprayed with chlorpyrifos, a pesticide considered too toxic for residential use. (Lance Cheung / USDA)
Press Release December 19, 2023

Chlorpyrifos, Previously Banned Neurotoxic Pesticide, Again Allowed on Our Food, Despite Known Harms

Gharda and industrial agriculture will be allowed to sell and use chlorpyrifos for the 2024 growing season

A honey bee alights on a cherry blossom in Stockton, California. Bees and other insects face a global extinction crisis.
(Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release: Victory December 13, 2023

Federal Appeals Court Rules Use of Antibiotic as Citrus Pesticide Is Unlawful, Vacates EPA Approval

The decision protects the health of farmworkers who would otherwise face heightened risk of antibiotic-resistant infections, pollinators, and imperiled species

From the Experts November 29, 2023

Feds Can Fight Climate Change by Buying the Right Food

President Biden’s new directive is an exciting opportunity to leverage the federal government’s tremendous purchasing power to help curb dangerous climate change. It is imperative that food procurement be included.

The Rockaway Youth Task Force community garden in Queens, NYC. (Jeenah Moon for Earthjustice)
Press Release November 22, 2023

Earthjustice Statement: NY Governor Hochul Vetoes Community Gardens Protection Bill

New York’s community gardens continue to lack legal protections, despite the benefits they provide to communities

The FDA received an outpouring of comments from the public voicing concern about phthalates, harmful chemicals used in food packaging and processing equipment.
(pirtuss/Shutterstock)
Update November 6, 2023

It’s Time to Ban These Toxic Chemicals from Our Food

Phthalates have no place in our homes or bodies.

More than half of all apples in the U.S. were sprayed with chlorpyrifos, a pesticide considered too toxic for residential use. (Lance Cheung / USDA)
Press Release November 2, 2023

In Shocking Decision, 8th Circuit Sends Chlorpyrifos Food Use Ban Back to EPA

Children will yet again be in harm’s way as EPA reconsiders the food ban

document November 2, 2023

8th Circuit Chlorpyrifos Decision (Nov 2023)

The 8th Circuit’s decision vacates the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule that revoked all tolerances for chlorpyrifos, thereby banning the use and presence of the neurotoxic pesticide on the foods we eat.

document October 27, 2023

NMSU Letter to USDA Climate Hubs

The USDA Climate Hubs advance industry research and development, bridging the gap between scientific discovery and practical application. We implore the codification of this program under the Farm Bill.