The federal farm bill recently signed into law contains a provision that overrides an Environmental Protection Agency ruling to phase out the toxic pesticide sulfuryl fluoride because it leaves unsafe levels of residue on our food. The EPA decision was intended to protect the health of food consumers, especially infants and children. Lobbyists for Dow AgroSciences succeeded in getting their pesticide protection provision inserted into the bill to reverse the EPA decision, undermining needed health protections for infants and children. That we are taking known health risks to satisfy Dow’s thirst for profit is unacceptable. Ask your U.S. representatives to remove this ill-conceived pesticide protection clause from the farm bill.
Roger Burt
Portland
