There’s much to dislike about the House Republican farm bill – like taking food out of hungry childrens’ mouths while potentially exposing their bodies to more pesticides and supporting companies that use child labor.
How would the House farm bill do this?
First, it would put children at greater risk of pesticide exposure by blocking state and local laws and regulations that prevent the use of harmful chemicals on fields near schools or public parks. States with these protective measures for kids would see them dismantled.
Second, by diverting billions in much-needed funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the Department of Agriculture program that leads U.S. anti-hunger efforts and is funded in the farm bill.
Third, when given an opportunity to address child labor at meatpacking facilities, House Republicans shirked their responsibility. Instead, they voted to include language in the farm bill to initiate a Government Accountability Office, or GAO, study on child labor – even though the GAO conducted and published such a study in 2018.
These developments show that the House farm bill as proposed promises nothing but bad news for children across the U.S.
Blocking pesticide laws
Thousands of children attend school just a few yards from areas where pesticides could be sprayed. To protect kids, more than 40 states restrict pesticide use near schools, because kids are particularly susceptible to exposure-related health harms such as cancer, neurotoxicity and harm to development and reproduction.
EWG found that 4,028 elementary schools are located within 200 feet of a crop field where pesticides may be applied. Some pesticides can drift miles from the intended crop target, studies show, creating risks for children at additional schools, not just the thousands EWG identified.
This says nothing of the thousands of middle schools, private schools, parks, playgrounds, neighborhoods and farms where kids may be exposed to pesticides.
But the House farm bill would block any jurisdiction, such as duly elected state and local governments, from passing laws related to pesticides or requiring additional information on pesticide labels. This would undo the original intent of the landmark U.S. pesticide laws, which were intended to be the floor for pesticide regulations, allowing states and localities to pass additional regulations meant to protect their citizens and account for local circumstances.
State and local pesticide ordinances
Enter your ZIP code or look up your local elementary school to see whether its students are in danger
California and Texas lawmakers require school officials to use low-risk pesticides. Alabama and North Carolina ban crop dusting near schools.
Some states – including Arizona, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan and New Hampshire – have also set up buffer zones for pesticide spraying around schools.
Other states, including Iowa and Kansas, have also adopted laws that restrict pesticides from being sprayed in public parks used by children. And dozens of communities have adopted local ordinances to limit pesticide use in these parks.
If pesticide manufacturers like Bayer’s Monsanto and China National Chemical Corporation’s Syngenta get their way, these laws, which are intended to protect kids, could get thrown out. By blocking state and local protections that prevent pesticide spraying near schools, the House farm bill would boost pesticide sales and limit legal judgments for workers and families exposed to these chemicals.
Harming kids’ nutrition
The bill would also divert billions of dollars meant for millions of hungry kids whose families rely on food assistance.
It would hamstring the USDA's ability to increase benefits from SNAP and redirect $30 billion in funding that would be used to feed hungry people. More than one in eight Americans – 41 million – rely on SNAP to put food on the table.
The proposed SNAP cuts could not come at a worse time for participants in the program. Food inflation remains high and an increase in SNAP benefits to offset the Covid-19 pandemic just ended in 2023.
The bill also proposes to outsource SNAP administration to the private sector, ignoring previous similar attempts by states, which led to years of administrative chaos, bureaucratic hurdles and losses in benefits for people experiencing poverty.
Child labor language
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, introduced an amendment to the farm bill to state that the USDA will not contract with meat packing facilities that engage in “serious, repeated, or pervasive” illegal child labor.
But House Republicans rejected this amendment, despite knowing that these violations are happening across the country.
Today, many children are forced to work unsafe, dangerous, and overnight jobs by some of the biggest corporations in the country. Since 2018, the Department of Labor has seen a 69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies. Major companies like Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods are under federal inquiry over reports of illegal child labor, but are still allowed to contract with the federal government.
A better farm bill is possible
These attacks on kids should be rejected.
Over 140 mayors, lawmakers and other officials from more than 30 states are standing together to urge Congress to reject legislation that would limit longstanding state and local pesticide safety rules. They’re joined by hundreds of members of Congress and 185 environmental, health and agricultural organizations, including EWG.
EWG has also joined with anti-hunger, environmental, nutrition, public health and workers advocates to protect anti-hunger programs.
Congress should heed these calls and reject any effort to cut SNAP funding. Lawmakers should also refuse legislative proposals to block state and local laws designed to safeguard communities.
