Current Actions

• Tell the FDA: Don’t appeal the ruling that removes antibiotics from animal feed

  The stakes have never been higher. Antibiotics are ever-declining in effectiveness. Everyone from the American Medical Association to the Center for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization agrees that the overuse use of antibiotics in agriculture is contributing to the increase in drug resistant infections in humans. FDA data on pharmaceutical sales shows 80 percent of all antibiotics in the U.S. are sold for use in food animals—about three-quarters of which are added to animal feed for healthy animals to promote growth or control disease among flocks or herds under confinement conditions.

  Over decades, the FDA has never taken an approved feed antibiotic off the market. It proposed withdrawing penicillins and tetracyclines from animal feed in 1977, but never followed through. In late March, a court decision directed the FDA to finally do so, if the Big Pharma manufacturers of these feed drugs cannot show their use to be safe for humans.

  In 1977, penicillins and tetracyclines constituted the bulk of medically important antibiotics put into feed; today, industry data provided to FDA show more than 14.2 million pounds per year of the two drugs are given to food animals. Another 15 million pounds of other antimicrobials, including erythromycins and sulfa antibiotics, are also given to food animals. By contrast, only about 7 million pounds of antibiotics of any kind are sold for use in humans each year.

  Write FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg and tell her NOT to appeal this ruling. In this case, the FDA can do right by not doing anything and keeping tetracycline and penicillin banned from use in animal feed.

• Tell FDA: No Legal Appeal to get Penicillin and Tetracycline out of Animal Feed

  

  The stakes have never been higher. Antibiotics are ever-declining in effectiveness, and everyone from the American Medical Association to the CDC, USDA and the World Health Organization agrees that the huge use in agriculture is at least partly at fault for the increase in drug resistant infections in humans. FDA data on pharmaceutical sales shows 80 percent of all antibiotics in the US are sold for use in food animals – about three-quarters of which are added to animal feed for healthy animals to promote growth or control disease among flocks or herds under confinement conditions. 

  Over decades, the FDA has never taken an approved feed antibiotic off the market. It proposed withdrawing penicillins and tetracyclines from animal feed in 1977, but never followed through. In late March, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) won a court decision that directs the FDA to finally do so, if the Big Pharma manufacturers of these feed drugs cannot show their use to be safe for humans. 

  In 1977, penicillins and tetracyclines constituted the bulk of medically important antibiotics put into feed; today, industry data provided to FDA show more than 14.2 million lbs / year of the two drugs are given to food animals. Another 15 million pounds of other antimicrobials, including erythromycins and sulfa antibiotics, are also given to food animals. By contrast, only about 7 million pounds of antibiotics of any kind are sold for use in humans each year.

  Write Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the physician who heads FDA, and tell her NOT to appeal this ruling. In this case, the FDA can do right by not doing anything - so that at least tetracycline and penicillin will be banned for use in animal feed.  That would be the best possible result for public health.
• ACT TODAY to Ensure Senate's Farm Bill Supports Healthy Food for All

  The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has finally issued its draft of the 2012 Farm Bill. Despite some good provisions supporting the growing and consumption of healthy food, the Senate’s draft doesn’t level the playing field for small and midsize family farmers who produce fruits and vegetables and makes significant cuts to food stamp (SNAP) benefits for low income people. The Senate’s draft incentivizes large farms to grow a few commodity crops (primarily corn and soybeans) through a revamped crop insurance program, without taking any steps to manage the overproduction of these crops.  The bill does not go nearly far enough in supporting farmers who grow healthy food for local and regional food systems. 

  It’s URGENT that you contact committee members TODAY about the key healthy food provisions that are still missing, because the Senate Agriculture Committee will begin work on the draft bill in the next few days and they need to hear from you before they do. Write or call members of the Senate Agriculture Committee today and ask them to include the following key provisions:

  - Full funding for the SNAP program (food stamps) that protects against hunger and improves nutrition by providing critical resources to vulnerable people. Cuts to SNAP will only make it harder for millions of families to afford a nutritious diet.

  - Better, more affordable crop insurance for organic farmers that helps reduce the increase financial risk of growing organic crops, which reduce the use of harmful chemicals that endanger human health and the environment.

  - Support for Senator Leahy’s public health reporting amendment which would require USDA to report on the public health impacts of federal agricultural policies.

  - Restore funding for outreach to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The funding provides assistance in successfully acquiring, owning, operating, and retaining farms and ranches and helps ensure they can equitably participate in all USDA programs. The program has been important in addressing historic discrimination against farmers of color by USDA and also supports domestic production of healthy food, as 18 to 20 percent of farms that grow vegetables, melons, fruits and tree nuts are operated by farmers of color

  - Authorize schools and other service institutions to use federal program dollars to purchase food from local agricultural producers.

  Please ACT NOW to call or write members of the Senate Agriculture Committee about any or all of these provisions TODAY. You can use the letter below for talking points when you make your call. Or, if you prefer, you can send the letter, but it’s important you act TODAY!  Mark-up of the bill starts this week and now is a critical window to positively influence the health of the Farm Bill. 

  NOTE: If when you enter your zip code below, you get the message “THIS ACTION IS NOT AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE IN YOUR AREA” please use the contact information below to any or all members of the Senate Agriculture Committee.   
• FDA: Get BPA out of our food!

  Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration settled a lawsuit filed by our friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council and agreed to rule by March 31 on the safety of BPA in food packaging. NRDC filed the lawsuit after the FDA failed to respond to a petition it had filed over three and a half years ago asking the agency to ban BPA from food packaging.

  It is critical that the FDA hear from you today.

  Help us send a clear message to the FDA that it’s time to stop dragging its feet on BPA. Eleven states have banned BPA in certain uses, and even the chemical industry has called on the FDA to ban BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. It’s time to get this toxic chemical linked to breast cancer out of all food packaging.

  Make your voice heard today and tell the FDA to declare BPA in food packaging unsafe once and for all.

  Because a personalized letter is always best, here are some points you can include:

  • - I am concerned that there is BPA in food products that I purchase as a consumer.
  • - My health and the health of my family is important to me, so I don't want BPA in my food packaging
• Support reporting for toxic chemicals in kids products!

  Do you want toxic chemicals out of children’s products? Help us protect the health of children by sending your state senator and representative a letter asking him or her to make Minnesota products safer by requiring manufacturers to report the use of harmful chemicals in children's products (SF 1766/HF 2543)!

  No one should need a PhD in Chemistry to keep their children safe. We think that making safe purchases at the checkout counter is a reasonable request and that’s why getting toxic chemicals out of our products is just common sense. 

  Send your legislators an email right now asking them to be your Toxic-Free hero! A personalized letter is always best, so please take a moment to edit the text of the letter that appears after you enter your zip code with your own personal story. Here are some suggested talking points:

  • Not wanting to have to do a research project before you buy a product to make sure it doesn't contain harmful chemicals
  • You want to protect your kids and help them lead healthy lives
  • A personal story about how you become concerned about toxic chemicals in consumer products

  (Note: if our form below can't recognize your street addres, you may need to look up your full nine-digit zipcode)

• Support the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act

  Congress is at work right now on the next Farm Bill. Next week, the Senate will hold a hearing on Healthy Food Initiatives, Local Production, and Nutrition – crucial parts of the bill for public health.
  

  It is important that the health community speak out and urge Congress to include the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act in the larger Farm Bill package. Will you speak up today?
  
  Wherever there’s local food, there are farmers feeding communities and creating jobs, children learning to love fresh produce, and multiple public health benefits. Supporting our local farmers, farmers markets, CSAs and food coops and having fresh, local food for our children’s school meals is essential. And the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act creates jobs and spurs economic growth through food and farms – something everyone can get behind.
  

  IATP and Healthy Food Action join the National Farmers Union, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Community Food Security Coalition and other organizations in supporting this legislation to strengthen local and regional food systems. The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 1773 and H.R. 3286) has been introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine in the Senate and House, respectively.
  
  Send a message to your Senators and Representative today - the bill needs support from both Democrats and Republicans - and ask them to co-sponsor this important legislation that will benefit our health and the economy.

• Support the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act

  With the failure of the Super Committee last fall, the Farm Bill will most likely get done between now and June. It is important that the health community speak out and urge Congress to include the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act in the larger farm bill package.

  Supporting our local farmers, farmers markets, CSAs and food coops and having fresh, local food for our children’s school meals is essential.
  
  IATP and Healthy Food Action join the National Farmers Union, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Community Food Security Coalition and other organizations in supporting new legislation to strengthen local and regional food systems. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine have introduced the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 1773 and H.R. 3286) in the Senate and House, respectively.
  
  The bill will advance the development of local and regional farm and food systems from farm to table. Local food systems can connect consumers with where their food comes from, boost income for farmers, stimulate job creation and economic development, and meet public health and nutrition goals.
  
  Send a message to your Senators and Representative today - the bill needs support from both Democrats and Republicans - and ask them to co-sponsor this important legislation that will benefit our health and the economy.

• Send Your Holiday Wishes for BPA-free Food

   An uninvited guest at the Thanksgiving table?  Check the pumpkin pie and green bean casserole: if those recipes include a can, they likely contain BPA. 

  A product-testing report from our colleagues the Breast Cancer Fund shows that many canned Thanksgiving staples— including Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup and Turkey Gravy, Carnation Evaporated Milk (made by Nestle), Del Monte Fresh Cut Sweet Corn Cream Style, Green Giant Cut Green Beans (made by General Mills) and Libby’s Pumpkin (also made by Nestle) —contain BPA. Lab studies link this estrogenic chemical to breast cancer and a laundry list of other health problems, yet it's still used in the lining of food cans.

  Add the pumpkin pie to the gravy and the green bean casserole, and the amount of BPA delivered to each holiday diner adds up to a concerning chemical dose. Of course, none of these products is labeled "contains BPA."

  Our holiday wish is for BPA-free canned food by next Thanksgiving. Join us in sending your own holiday wish for safe food to these manufacturers!

  It’s not enough to bring attention to concerns about BPA; we need to push companies to get BPA out of their cans and replace it with a safer alternative.  While some companies are moving away from BPA, it isn’t happening fast enough and not enough companies are disclosing the alternatives they're using.  That’s why your message this holiday season is so important.

  Write a short holiday wish to canned food makers and we’ll compile all the letters, wrap them in a red bow and deliver your holiday wishes to all four companies whose products we tested. 
• Tell Johnson & Johnson: Get carcinogens out of baby shampoo!

  Why are babies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, China and Indonesia being exposed to carcinogens in Johnson's Baby Shampoo when safer alternatives are available in other countries?
  
  After the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found chemicals linked to cancer in popular kids' bath products – including Johnson's Baby Shampoo – in 2009, they asked Johnson & Johnson to reformulate its iconic baby shampoo and specifically to remove the formaldehyde-releasing chemical quaternium-15.
  
  Fast-forward to now. At present, the company is still exposing babies in the U.S. and other countries to formaldehyde (a known carcinogen), and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently discovered that J&J is selling versions of the shampoo in Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and the U.K. that DON'T contain formaldehyde-releasing chemicals. Read the new report from the Campaign, Baby's Tub Is Still Toxic, for details.
  
  We know J&J can do better. Every baby – regardless of where she or he lives – should be protected from unnecessary exposure to carcinogens and other toxic chemicals.
  
  Fortunately, the company is making a big step in the right direction: in response to the Campaign’s new report and letter to J&J, the company issued statement saying it is no longer introducing new products with formaldehyde-releasing preservatives and it is phasing out these types of preservatives in baby products worldwide, along with the carcinogen 1,4-dioxane.
  
  Please send your own letter to J&J using the form below and tell J&J you’re glad it made this commitment, but there’s still more to do to ensure that its products are safe for babies and all of us.

  Your letter is even more effective if you personalize it.

• FDA: Require Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods

  Have you been eating genetically engineered food? Most of us have without knowing it.

  Genetically engineered (GE) foods, also called "genetically modified," come from plants or animals that have had their genetic makeup altered for traits that could not occur in them naturally. We don’t know if these organisms are safe for human consumption because no long-term studies have been conducted. Even so, there are reasons for concern about the potential hazards GE foods pose to human health:

  •    GE peas have been found to provoke allergenic reactions in mice. Eating GE peas also made the mice more sensitive to other food allergies.*
  
  •    Fully digested proteins are less likely to survive in the gut to produce harm (either via direct toxicity or by provoking an allergic reaction), but digestive function is compromised in many hospital patients, making them more vulnerable to the potential adverse health effects from eating GE foods than the general public.**
  
  •   Finally, antibiotic-resistant genes (or other determinants of resistance) could transfer from GE plants to bacteria living in the animal or human gut, where they might be further transferred to unrelated bacteria. People eating GE foods while taking prescribed antibiotics could find the therapeutic effectiveness blunted. Transfer of antibiotic resistance can also occur in the environment, from GE plants to pathogenic bacteria carrying that resistance to humans.**

  Despite valid concerns about their threat to public health there is currently no labeling requirement for GE foods, which are appearing on supermarket shelves with increasing frequency. Consumers might choose to avoid some of these foods if they had all the information.

  •   Right now 94 percent of all U.S.-grown soybeans and at least 73 percent of U.S.-grown corn are genetically engineered.*** 

  •   From 60 to 70 percent of processed foods available in American grocery stores likely contain some genetically engineered ingredients, according to the Congressional Research Service. These ingredients are prevalent in many everyday products like breakfast cereals, cookies, chips, sweetened soda, frozen meals and more.

  Without labeling, there is no way for researchers to track potential adverse health effects from consuming GE foods. We have a right to know what we are eating, and to purchase foods we have no doubt will be healthy. We should all have the right to decide to participate -- or not -- in this sweeping experiment with our bodies and our environment.

  And it’s not just us. Many other countries, including Japan, Australia, the European Union and even China require labeling of genetically engineered foods. Several polls and surveys have found that the vast majority of Americans also want genetically engineered foods to be labeled. The U.S. shouldn't be left behind.

  Sign the petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calling for products that use ingredients produced with genetic engineering to disclose this information on the label.

  We have the right to know if we're eating genetically engineered food. Let’s make sure the FDA hears loud and clear that Americans want GE foods labeled.

  * From the April 2008 Green Peace Briefing "Environmental Health Impacts of GMOs: the Evidence"
  

  ** From Health Care Without Harm's "Position Statement on Genetically Engineered Food"
  

  *** From ERS/USDA Data

• Support America's Beginning Farmers

  Providing a healthier diet for all Americans, and stemming the tide of “diabesity” and other diet-related disease, will necessitate recruiting more men and women to become farmers. Feeding all Americans under current dietary guidelines from U.S. farms would require more than 10 million new acres of fruit and vegetable production. New farmers are needed to lead the way in this new, health-driven market.
  
  Farming is among the most difficult professions to enter because of the enormous uncertainties in the market and the weather, not to mention the access to land and technical expertise required.
  
  This Act will support new farmers by providing:
  •    Better access to land, capital and credit through government-backed loans.
  •    Greater access to conservation dollars so that new farmers can farm organically and in a way that fosters clean air, soil and water by
  •    Helping to reduce barriers to entry to farming at the local level by providing access to technical assistance and training.

  The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act will help ensure a healthy, safe food supply for future generations and help create jobs in America now. For more on the need for a new generation of farmers, watch this video from our partners at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

  Support a healthier food system. Edit the sample letter below and write your U.S. Representatives asking them to co-sponsor The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011. 

• End Our Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors

  The Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Exposure Elimination Act of 2011

  In mid-July, The Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Exposure Elimination Act of 2011 was introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 1361.) This legislation addresses a serious threat to the health and well-being of our children who face mounting odds of developing an endocrine-related disorder such as ADHD, asthma, diabetes, learning disability or obesity.

  Americans of all ages are exposed on a daily basis to endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in plastic containers and the linings of canned food. This new bill facilitates cooperation between government regulatory agencies to reduce exposure to chemicals – like BPA – that have been identified as endocrine disruptors. It also strengthens current chemical legislation such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act, as well as new legislation such as the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Enhancement Act of 2010, and others.

  Please send a message to your Senators and ask them to cosponsor the bill – with every cosponsor who adds his/her name directly to the bill the likelihood of being passed increases. Personalize the sample letter below and then submit your message.

• End Overuse of Cephalosporin Antibiotics in the Food Chain

  Urge FDA to Ban Unapproved Uses in Food Animals

  As penicillins have waned in their effectiveness, doctors (and veterinarians) have come to rely strongly on cephalosporins for treating critical bacteria-caused infections.

  But since 1994, the FDA has allowed vets to use cephalosporins in food animals for a number of other unapproved purposes -- so-called extralabel uses -- once there was an FDA approved use of the drug.

  Over the past decade, Salmonella bacteria in the food supply have become more resistant to cephalosporin antibiotics. And we now know continuing unapproved use of cephalosporins in livestock threatens their effectiveness in treating serious Salmonella infections, including in children where they are the treatment of choice. 

  Cephalosporin antibiotics must remain effective for treating people who need them. Write FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg today as a health professional, making the following template letter into your own plea for her to ban these extralabel uses in food animals.

• Ask your Representative to vote "Yes" on the Senate version of the Food Safety Bill

  Contact Your U.S. Representatives Immediately
  to Support the Senate version of the Food Safety Bill (S. 510)
  
  
  According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5,000 Americans die annually from a foodborne illness. That’s why it is critical you contact your Representatives to vote “yes” on the Senate version of The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510).
  

  The bill takes important steps to improve food safety rules benefitting consumer health and without harming small producers and local farmers. This bill would finally give the FDA the authority to:

  • test widely for dangerous pathogens;
  • recall contaminated food;
  • provide the needed resources for more frequent inspections of large-scale, high-risk food production plants;
  • subject imported foods to the same standards created in the Unites States.

  *** Please fax your Representives asking them to Support S. 510 - the Senate version of the Food Safety Modernization Act***

  
  

• Stand Up To Big Meat!

  Tell the Department of Agriculture that you don't want the big meat processors controlling our food supply and driving farmers and ranchers off the land.

  The USDA has proposed rules to put a halt to unfair and deceptive practices in the marketplace that hurt independent livestock ranchers and poultry and pork farmers. A handful of companies like Tyson, Cargill and JBS/Swift use their enormous economic power to manipulate the market and push prices down for farmers and ranchers. The results have been devastating. Since 1980, the U.S. has lost nearly 600,000 hog farms, and more than half a million cattle farms. To build a more sustainable and resilient food system - we need more farmers and ranchers – not fewer.

   

  The USDA is taking comments from the public on the new rules until November 22. Stand up for independent ranchers and farmers - and your food system. Tell the USDA you support their new rules on fair competition in beef, poultry and pork markets. You can comment on the new rules by directly typing into the below box.

   

  The letter is most effective if you use your own words – and tell your own story.

  Thank you for submitting a comment!

  
  

• Charter for a Healthy Farm Bill
• Charter for a Healthy Farm Bill
• Urge Congress to Safeguard Antibiotics Now!

  Ask Your Representative to Co-sponsor PAMTA Legislation

  Bacteria are outsmarting us. Bacterial infections that resist treatment with antibiotics are epidemic. More and more people are getting sick and even dying – especially children, the elderly and others more vulnerable to infection. Newer, more effective antibiotics aren’t being created.

  
  Overusing the antibiotics we have is a big reason for this huge and costly problem. Overuse occurs both in human medicine, but also in animal agriculture. But while hospitals are aggressively tackling the problem, our farm and food policies continue to allow the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in livestock and poultry. There, operators of industrialized meat factories continue to routinely add antibiotics to the feed and water of animals that are not even sick. Why? Human antibiotics are added to animal feed to accelerate animal growth and prevent diseases common in overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions. The best available estimates are that 70 percent of all the antibiotics produced in this country—nearly 13 million pounds per year—are used in animal agriculture for these nontherapeutic purposes.

  
  As health professionals, we can change this situation. Write your representative today and urge them to co-sponsor PAMTA (the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act). The American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association and hundreds of other health, consumer, environmental, agricultural, and humane organizations already support this legislation.

  
  Let’s outsmart the bacteria for a change. Help preserve our precious antibiotics for the sick people (and sick animals) that most need them.

• Protect children from toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA)!

  This month, the US Senate is expected to decide critical legislation that will affect the safety of the food supply in our nation.  Unfortunately, Senators still need to be convinced that getting the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) out of our food and beverage containers is an urgent food safety issue that MUST be addressed in the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010. 
  
  Take a minute and send this urgent letter asking your Senators to support an amendment proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein that would get BPA out of baby bottles, sippy cups, infant formula and baby food as part of the Food Safety legislation. Health professionals need to weigh in so that Senators take the health consequences of BPA seriously.
  
  BPA leaches from food packaging into food and then into babies. The CDC found BPA in 93 percent of all Americans and the scientific literature points to food as being a major route of exposure. More than 2 billion pounds of BPA are produced in the United States each year and used in thousands of consumer products, including food packaging. BPA is so toxic that parts per billion or even parts per trillion have been shown to cross the placenta and disrupt normal prenatal development. More than 200 studies have linked BPA exposures at very low levels to breast and prostate cancer, cardiac disease, obesity, diabetes, altered development of the brain and immune systems, lowered sperm counts and early puberty.  
  
  Americans expect and believe that our government is safeguarding our health–and the health of our families–from dangerous chemical exposures, and including BPA protections in the Food Safety Modernization Act is an important step in that direction.  After you’ve sent your letter, please forward this message to other health professionals and ask them to send letters too.

• President Obama - Stop the addition of arsenic to America's water and food supplies

  
  

  Sign your name to the following letter to President Obama asking him

  to urge the FDA to end the voluntary addition

  of arsenic to the American food and water supplies.