Climate and Food Justice Wins Across the Country: How Did They Do It?

When other governments are faltering on climate solutions, cutting back on renewable energy goals or putting up roadblocks that slow the growth of renewable energy, it is impressive and inspiring that states like Hawaii are still forging the way. Over the past few years, the Hawaiian state’s governor, legislature, public utilities commission and local utilities have been enacting some of the most progressive energy, environmental and climate policies in the United States.

For example, in just the past few weeks, Hawaii has passed laws and enacted legislation for complete carbon neutrality by 2045 and greenhouse gas emissions reductions that align beautifully with the Paris treaty. They have even launched a process which could overhaul ratemaking to reward electric utilities for increasing their production of renewable energy. And for my farmer friends, you’ll be happy to hear they’ve established a state Carbon Farming Task Force to promote “the capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide to mitigate climate change.” Truly a remarkable effort as public interest advocates, environmentalists, farmers, activists and many more, continue to paint a bigger, brighter picture of the important role that farming plays in the fight to remediate climate change.

Finally, I would list at the top of Hawaii’s achievements, their success as the first state in the U.S. to ban the  Chlorpyrifos—a highly toxic neurotoxin/pesticide which has been listed by the EPA as a restricted use pesticide (RUP), not available for public purchase, although still widely used in industrial farming throughout our nation. 

Chlorpyrifos is known to cause significant damage to brain development in children, reportedly linked to reduced IQ and attention deficit disorder. Not to mention the many cases which demonstrate how exactly this pesticide is toxic to farmworkers. Nevertheless, last year, the EPA refused to ban chlorpyrifos, claiming the science is “unresolved” and decided it would wait and study the issue until 2022. 

What Must You Know about Chlorpyrifos? Again, this toxic pesticide is especially harmful to children and the environment. Yet it is promulgated without shame by big conglomerate companies (such as Monsanto-Bayer!), so it’s up to individuals like you and I to begin and endure (and win!) this struggle for common sense regulation of pesticides in our food system. Upcoming, on Thursday, July 12th, Anna Lappé will host a conversation about “how Hawaii is now leading the way in both resisting the agrochemical industry and envisioning a food future rooted in indigenous wisdom and aloha ʻāina (love for the land).”  Please share and register for the event here by July 10th. 

Monsanto: What is their deal?

Last month, the dreaded Bayer-Monsanto Merger was given the green light, and now, the mega-conglomerate is going to be dropping the Monsanto name, though it remains a pesticide (and pharmaceutical) powerhouse. Their focused revenue stream and sales of seeds and pesticides will continue, and much to the surprise of some fifth-generation farmers, the prices of these consumer products (which feed the monocrop industry of canola, corn, cotton, as well as our industrialized, animal-meat production system) will not actually get cheaper.

In a report by the Washington Post, the US Department of Justice has ruled the merger OK, but required $9 billion dollars worth of assets; such “targeted spinoffs” intended to prevent the company’s combined control. But still, last year regulators signed off on mergers between DuPont and Dow Chemical, as well as ChemChina and Syngenta, concentrating global agrochemical research and sales in the hands of merely five companies!

Bayer has defended this sick deal as the surest way to increase agricultural productivity as the world’s population grows, citing Monsanto’s advantage in plant genetics and Bayer’s portfolio of pesticides and other chemicals.

“Farmers will benefit from a range of new, superior solutions aimed at helping to advance the next generation of farming, and to address some of society’s most pressing challenges,” the company says on a website advocating for the settlement.

So, we can be thankful that people are turning against Trump.  

‘Bipartisan’ Senate Farm Bill More Likely to Pass Than House Bill Earlier This Month

Officially known as the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the Senate version of the Farm Bill was publicly unveiled today in advance of its Agriculture Committee markup on June 13. You can access the 1,006-page bill here.

Andrew Walmsley, congressional relations director for American Farm Bureau Federation, is in support of the subsidies; suggesting that they are an important safety net for producers, as well as a means to boost rural economy. Though conservatives still want more reform, including Purdue University agricultural economist, Chris Hurt, citing a report which shows “net farm incomes similar to what they were 15 years ago on a dollar basis (not adjusted for inflation).” How would you feel if you were making the same? 

According to CNBC, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) has indicated he wants to get the farm bill through the upper chamber before the July 4th recess. Read Senator Pat Roberts letter, in review of the current Farm Bill 2018 draft here on the Hill. 

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Civil Eats Roundup:

Carbon Farming Works. Can It Scale Up in Time? BY TWILIGHT GREENAWAY  |  6.12.18 The knowledge and tools to sequester carbon on farmland have blossomed rapidly in California; now farmers and ranchers just need funding to make it happen.

The Movement to Turn Church Land into Farmland BY LEILANI CLARK   |  6.11.18 A nascent movement of faith leaders, conservation experts, and food advocates are joining forces to connect young farmers to the vast quantity of land owned by churches.

PastureMap Brings a High-Tech Approach to Sustainable Grazing BY SHANA LYNCH  |  6.8.18 The startup company co-founded by entrepreneur Christine Su hopes to improve grazing practices while helping ranchers increase their bottom line.