Tell Kroger: Stop selling food grown with toxic pesticides!

Chlorpyrifos is so hazardous that even the smallest amounts lower kids’ IQs, cause arm tremors in children, and structurally change the parts of the brain that control language and memory. But it’s still widely used on our food.

Supermarkets like Kroger could turn this around. But we need your help to push them to act!

Mr.

Rodney

McMullen

Kroger

Dear Rodney McMullen,

I urge Kroger to help protect bees, butterflies and other pollinators by committing to establish a pollinator protection policy that includes the phase out of pollinator-toxic pesticides, including neonicotinoids, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate, in your company’s supply chain and encourage suppliers to employ alternative, least-toxic pest management strategies. It’s important that Kroger take this step as quickly as possible and not wait for direction from the EPA. I also urge your company to increase USDA certified organic food and beverages to 15 percent of overall offerings by 2025, prioritizing domestic, regional and local producers. Organic agriculture is the healthiest option for bees and people.

Evidence continues to mount that chlorpyrifos and neonicotinoid pesticides use must be phased out of agriculture as quickly as possible. At the beginning of the month, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment moved to add chlorpyrifos to its Prop 65 list of substances known to cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm. The chemical has been banned for all home use since 2001. EPA proposed to revoke all uses of chlorpyrifos in agriculture, but the Trump administration reversed the decision to keep the pesticide on the market. This pesticide is extremely toxic. Childhood and prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos can lead to changes in brain structure, loss of IQ, ADHD, developmental and behavioral disorders and reduced lung function and other harms.

U.S. EPA scientists concluded at the end of last year that:
 
    - All chlorpyrifos food exposures exceed safe levels, with children 1-2 years of age exposed to levels 14,000% higher than what U.S. EPA scientists consider safe.
    
    - Infants face levels 9,300% higher than what the agency’s scientists consider safe, with youth 11,000% higher and women of childbearing age 6,200% higher.
    
    - U.S. EPA scientists also concluded that levels of chlorpyrifos in the air pose a risk to children and women of childbearing age -- also far exceeding U.S. EPA safety levels.
    
    - All workers who mix and apply chlorpyrifos are exposed to levels U.S. EPA scientists consider unsafe, regardless of protective equipment and other safety measures.

In addition to chlorpyrifos, science continues to mount that neonicotinoids and other pesticides are a leading cause of pollinator decline and ecological collapse. In October, a new study was released that found populations of flying insects have fallen by around 80 percent in the last three decades in western Germany. Samples were gathered from protected areas and nature preserves, indicating that insect decline could be even greater in agricultural areas. This decline points to a potential ecological disaster.

Further, a study was published that found neonicotinoids in 75 percent of honey samples from across the world. In one-third of the honey, the amount of the chemical found was enough to be detrimental to bees. In September 2017, the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides released a follow-up meta-study on neonicotinoids and other systemic insecticides. The new assessment found even broader impacts and reinforced their 2015 conclusions. The scientists concluded that neonicotinoids represent a major worldwide threat to biodiversity and ecosystems and called for an immediate stop to agricultural uses of systemic pesticides.

In response to this news, the secretary of the environment at in the UK announced the country would back a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides. This signals that other governments around the world are taking the latest science very seriously.

The science is clear that these pesticides are harmful for people, pollinators and the planet. I urge Kroger take immediate action given the latest science and commit to phase out bee-toxic pesticides using safer alternatives and increase offerings of bee and people-friendly organic food, giving preference to food grown by America’s farmers.

Thank you,

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