To: Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger
Tell Kroger: Stop selling food grown with toxic pesticides NOW!
Dear Mr. McMullen,
I’m deeply concerned that Kroger has not made a commitment to eliminate toxic pesticides, including neonicotinoids, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate, in your company’s supply chain. These pesticides are highly toxic and I urge you to take these actions for the sake of my health, the health of your customers and the environment. 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.
Bees and other pollinators are essential to the production of one out of every three bites of food we eat, and without them your store would run short of many of the products it sells including nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy, and more. Globally, between $235 billion and $577 billion worth of annual global food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators. Pesticides are key drivers in the decline of invertebrate pollinating species, 40 percent of which are on the brink of extinction. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated over 80 pesticides as toxic to pollinators.
A new report by Friends of the Earth, Swarming the Aisles II: Rating top retailers on bee-friendly and organic food, grades 25 of the largest food retailers in the U.S on their policies and practices regarding pesticides, organic offerings and transparency. Of the top food retailers, 20 received an “F” for failing to have a publicly available policy to reduce or eliminate pesticide use to protect pollinators. Kroger received an F in this category too.
Kroger faces both supply chain and reputational risks for failing to reduce the use of pollinator-toxic pesticides in its supply chain and phase out neonicotinoids, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. Pesticides have “catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole,” according to a recent UN report.
At the end of February, the European Food Safety Authority updated its 2013 risk assessments of neonics, which examined impacts on wild bees, bumblebees, solitary bees and honeybees and concluded neonics pose risks to bees. Further, the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, a global body of independent scientists, recently published a new report which analyzed thousands of studies and concluded that neonicotinoids represent a major worldwide threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. The report called for an immediate stop to agricultural uses of systemic pesticides. Additionally, the Task Force just released another new study which reviewed 200 studies to assess mass use of systemic insecticides in agriculture, focusing on their effects on crop yields and the development of pest resistance to these compounds after two decades. The study notes an overreliance on insecticides including neonicotinoids and the authors identified a diverse range of alternative pest-management strategies available for large-scale crop production.
Chlorpyrifos is a toxic, nerve agent pesticide proven to cause brain damage in children and known to harm the environment and wildlife. It is found in air, water and people’s bodies. People come in contact with the chemical through residues on food, drinking water contamination and toxic drift from pesticide application. In 2015, after extensive study, EPA scientists recommended that the pesticide be banned for all uses. Despite EPA scientists' recommendation to ban this toxic pesticide, Scott Pruitt -- the head of the EPA appointed by President Trump -- overrode the recommendations and reversed the decision to ban chlorpyrifos. The science is clear that chlorpyrifos is unsafe and food retailers should stop selling food grown with this pesticide.
Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world. It is leading to the decline of monarch butterflies. Plus, glyphosate is linked to adverse health impacts. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared glyphosate a probable human carcinogen.
Organic farms -- farms that have eliminated all synthetic pesticides -- have been shown to support 50 percent more pollinator species than conventional farms, while also protecting and regenerating the water, soil and other resources that we need to produce healthy food for generations to come.
As the second largest food retailer in the U.S., I urge Kroger to be a leader on this issue to protect human health and the environment. I call on your company to adopt formal policies to stop selling food grown with neonicotinoids, glyphosate, chlorpyrifos and other pollinator-toxic pesticides and significantly increase your USDA organic offerings, prioritizing local, regional and domestic suppliers.
Thank you,
I’m deeply concerned that Kroger has not made a commitment to eliminate toxic pesticides, including neonicotinoids, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate, in your company’s supply chain. These pesticides are highly toxic and I urge you to take these actions for the sake of my health, the health of your customers and the environment. 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.
Bees and other pollinators are essential to the production of one out of every three bites of food we eat, and without them your store would run short of many of the products it sells including nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy, and more. Globally, between $235 billion and $577 billion worth of annual global food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators. Pesticides are key drivers in the decline of invertebrate pollinating species, 40 percent of which are on the brink of extinction. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated over 80 pesticides as toxic to pollinators.
A new report by Friends of the Earth, Swarming the Aisles II: Rating top retailers on bee-friendly and organic food, grades 25 of the largest food retailers in the U.S on their policies and practices regarding pesticides, organic offerings and transparency. Of the top food retailers, 20 received an “F” for failing to have a publicly available policy to reduce or eliminate pesticide use to protect pollinators. Kroger received an F in this category too.
Kroger faces both supply chain and reputational risks for failing to reduce the use of pollinator-toxic pesticides in its supply chain and phase out neonicotinoids, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. Pesticides have “catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole,” according to a recent UN report.
At the end of February, the European Food Safety Authority updated its 2013 risk assessments of neonics, which examined impacts on wild bees, bumblebees, solitary bees and honeybees and concluded neonics pose risks to bees. Further, the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, a global body of independent scientists, recently published a new report which analyzed thousands of studies and concluded that neonicotinoids represent a major worldwide threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. The report called for an immediate stop to agricultural uses of systemic pesticides. Additionally, the Task Force just released another new study which reviewed 200 studies to assess mass use of systemic insecticides in agriculture, focusing on their effects on crop yields and the development of pest resistance to these compounds after two decades. The study notes an overreliance on insecticides including neonicotinoids and the authors identified a diverse range of alternative pest-management strategies available for large-scale crop production.
Chlorpyrifos is a toxic, nerve agent pesticide proven to cause brain damage in children and known to harm the environment and wildlife. It is found in air, water and people’s bodies. People come in contact with the chemical through residues on food, drinking water contamination and toxic drift from pesticide application. In 2015, after extensive study, EPA scientists recommended that the pesticide be banned for all uses. Despite EPA scientists' recommendation to ban this toxic pesticide, Scott Pruitt -- the head of the EPA appointed by President Trump -- overrode the recommendations and reversed the decision to ban chlorpyrifos. The science is clear that chlorpyrifos is unsafe and food retailers should stop selling food grown with this pesticide.
Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world. It is leading to the decline of monarch butterflies. Plus, glyphosate is linked to adverse health impacts. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared glyphosate a probable human carcinogen.
Organic farms -- farms that have eliminated all synthetic pesticides -- have been shown to support 50 percent more pollinator species than conventional farms, while also protecting and regenerating the water, soil and other resources that we need to produce healthy food for generations to come.
As the second largest food retailer in the U.S., I urge Kroger to be a leader on this issue to protect human health and the environment. I call on your company to adopt formal policies to stop selling food grown with neonicotinoids, glyphosate, chlorpyrifos and other pollinator-toxic pesticides and significantly increase your USDA organic offerings, prioritizing local, regional and domestic suppliers.
Thank you,
Why is this important?
Kroger is still selling food grown with bee-killing neonicotinoids and other pesticides. These chemicals are linked to unsustainable bee die-offs that threaten our entire food system.
The first step to shifting the entire grocery sector away from killing bees is convincing Kroger, the second largest food retailer in the US, to stop selling food grown with toxic pesticides. We need YOU to help make that happen!
The first step to shifting the entire grocery sector away from killing bees is convincing Kroger, the second largest food retailer in the US, to stop selling food grown with toxic pesticides. We need YOU to help make that happen!