Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The manipulation of fat, sugar, and salt in processed food to make it addictive—and the deployment
of mind-controlling ads to drive people, especially children, to eat high-calorie, low-nutrition products—is
unconscionable. Marketing techniques should be called out as one of the causes of not only obesity but
diabetes, heart disease, and all of the diseases related to overeating junk food.
To stop obesity and the ravages of the diseases it causes, food advocates must begin organizing to regu-
late the advertising of food to children. Marion Nestle sums it up well: “The intent of the First Amendment
was to protect political and religious speech. I cannot believe that the intent of the First Amendment was
to protect the right of food companies to market junk foods to kids. Marketing to children is unethical. It
should be stopped. And it's the government's responsibility to do it.”
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Pursuing Legal Remedies
As a result of successful organizing and advocacy, we have already won many important public and envir-
onmental safety laws and regulations. When the industrial food producers seek to erode these protective
standards or take production shortcuts that bypass these safeguards, the courts play can play a pivotal role
in protecting our natural resources and citizens. Michele Merkel, co-director of Food & Water Watch's
justice program notes: “Often, the courts are the last line of defense when special interests and lobbyists
bankroll harmful legislation and strong-arm state and federal agencies. From ending segregation to pro-
moting freedom of speech to the recent California case striking down a ban on gay marriage, court victor-
ies have set the stage for greater equity and justice. The same holds true in the environmental arena, where
courts have the power to stop polluters and safeguard our communities.”
Today one of the biggest problems impacting our waterways is the excess loading of nutrients—nitrogen
and phosphorus—coming from the mega factory farms. These animal factories have been regulated as
sources of pollutants under the Clean Water Act for many years, but both the EPA and state environmental
agencies have struggled to properly implement the act in the effective ways they have used against other
industrial dischargers. That means that factory farms, though regulated on paper, are largely unregulated
by the federal and state regulatory authorities.
Yet while government has looked the other way, citizens continue to play a critical role in monitoring
and enforcing the CWA and other laws against CAFOs and holding the regulatory agencies feet to the fire
to force better laws and policies.
Legal actions against industrial agriculture can take many forms, from citizens' suits against factory
farms that discharge pollutants to our air and water under a host of environmental laws to nuisance actions
for the impacts on the surrounding home owners. Challenges can be brought against state agencies for the
issuance of permits to these facilities, while rule challenges can be brought against the EPA when unpro-
tective final rules are promulgated under the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, or other environmental
statutes. In addition, where no regulations exist, concerned citizens can petition the EPA to fill the gap
through a rule making. We can use all of these legal tools in the future to hold industry accountable for
their production systems and to remedy harms to our public trust resources and communities when industry
acts irresponsibly.
Creating a New Paradigm: The Global Commons
Food—basic to the human experience, culture, and health—provides an opening to redefining how the
world is viewed. We need a new paradigm based on perceiving the world as a global commons with col-
lectively shared assets, from air, water, soil, and genetics to taxpayer-funded research, libraries, roads, and
all of the other resources we share.
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