The Center for Biological Diversity is pushing the recently confirmed heads of EPA and the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture to commit to pesticide bans and stricter enforcement mechanisms and rules.
“Our petition offers the new administration a blueprint of common-sense actions it can take right now to decontaminate our pesticide-drenched food supply,” Lori Ann Burd, the center’s environmental health director, said in a statement.
The petition filed Tuesday morning makes four asks: the Food and Drug Administration create a mandatory enforcement framework for pesticide tolerances, EPA ban use of the most notorious pesticides, USDA offer subsidies for farmers opting away from pesticides on food crops, and HHS and USDA update language in dietary guidelines to avoid foods contaminated by harmful pesticides.
Limiting toxic chemical exposures is in line with the vision espoused by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who kick-started the movement dubbed “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA, after dropping his own independent campaign for president last August to endorse President Donald Trump.
