Research

The federal government has promised Central Valley agribusinesses it will increase the amount of taxpayer-subsidized irrigation water by 43 percent over the next 25 years, well beyond what the state's...

For decades taxpayers have provided subsidized water to California farmers at rates far below fair market value. When the amount of cheap water delivered to farmers was reduced during the severe...

A new investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the National Black Farmers' Association (NBFA) finds that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) willfully obstructed justice...

Claims that corn ethanol is making a major contribution to America's security and energy independence by reducing oil imports are wildly exaggerated, an analysis by Environmental Working Group (EWG)...

Independent scientific monitoring by the Environmental Working Group found dangerously high concentrations of a partially banned pesticide in the air San Joaquin Valley residents breath. One-third of...

Congress is now considering giving a handful of the largest farms in the country an enormous “bumper crop” in farm subsidies right before the election. The only farms that will be eligible for the...

Taxpayers may not realize it, but the money they send to Washington is hastening the demise of family farms through the agricultural subsidy pro- grams that purport to save them.

Laboratory tests of apples grown in Washington State and purchased in Seattle supermarkets over the past five months found widespread insecticide contamination. Eight percent of apple samples had...

The government tried to put the best possible face on the two announcements it issued about organic farming in March, 2000. First, USDA released a long-awaited proposal to define uniform, national...

The first analysis of Freedom to Farm payments in Iowa shows that the program provided the vast majority of recipients with financially meaningless amounts of aid, often just a few hundred dollars per...

Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act allows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant "emergency" and "crisis" exemptions from pesticide health and safety...

State and private laboratory tests show that fertilizer manufacturers routinely add undisclosed amounts of toxic waste to farm and home fertilizers sold in California. These companies buy toxic waste...

Most Washington insiders are familiar with the concept of the revolving door— former government officials leave their respective agencies to work as lawyers, lobbyists and consultants, offering easy...

In January 1998, the Environmental Working Group called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the insecticide methyl parathion in all foods consumed by children. We supported our...

For decades, U.S. and foreign pesticide manufacturers have been feeding their products to rats, rabbits, mice, and guinea pigs in thousands of controlled laboratory studies, all designed to satisfy...

In December, 1997, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed draft national standards for organic agriculture. As part of this proposal, the department invited the public to comment on the...

Every year, polluting industries send millions of pounds of waste materials to fertilizer companies, presumably for use as raw materials in fertilizer production. Even though these wastes are often...

On Aug. 21, 1997, owners of the Nakama Ranch began fumigating a 90-acre strawberry field in Camarillo, Calif., with methyl bromide. The field is next to the Lamplighter Mobile Home Estates, whose...

Although farming contributes little to the problem of airborne toxic particles, farmers suddenly find themselves in the middle of a heated battle over an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal...

Family farmers and rural areas will be much harder hit than most sectors and regions by the deep, abrupt budget cuts and new parliamentary procedures that will come about with adoption of a...

The "Freedom to Farm" legislation, approved by a partisan vote of the House Agriculture Committee, will be taken up by the House of Representatives soon after it reconvenes on Tuesday, February 27...