A report released Tuesday by the environmental group Friends of the Earth finds that the U.S. food retail industry uses pesticides on just four crops: almonds, apples, soybeans and corn, and has financial and climate implications. , it was found that it could cause more than $200 billion worth of damage to biodiversity. Pollinators, including honey bees, form an important link between pesticide use and these risks.
The report, released alongside the group’s annual Retail Scorecard, calls for the nation’s largest grocers to “address the use of toxic pesticides in their supply chains and promote organic farming and other ecological practices.” and the measures they are taking to support the expansion of global solutions. . ”
While the scorecard authors highlight some industry leadership on this issue, they say that overall, retailers are not doing enough to curb the impact of pesticides. The following retailers earned an “F” grade from Friends of the Earth: Wakefern, Publix, Dollar General, 7-Eleven Inc., Hy-Vee, Walgreens, HEB, BJ’s, Amazon, and Wegmans.
Owner Amazon received an F rating, while Whole Foods grocer was the only retailer given an A rating.
A small number of companies, including Whole Foods, have made time-limited commitments to address pesticide use by requiring fresh food suppliers to use environmentally friendly farming practices and verify their practices through third-party verification. are. According to the scorecard, eight companies have developed policies to encourage suppliers to reduce their use of “pesticides of concern, including neonicotinoids, organophosphates, and glyphosate” and move to least toxic approaches. .
Friends of the Earth’s report on the risks associated with pesticide use explains why surveillance of pesticide use by retailers is warranted, and why retailers themselves should be incentivized to reduce these risks. It explains why.
First of all, “under the incoming Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency is likely to do even less to reduce pesticide harm, and the burden on companies to deal with increased risks will be even greater.” ” said Kendra Klein, Deputy Director of Science. Friends of the Earth.
“Food retailers need to urgently reduce their use of pesticides and promote organic and other ecologically regenerative approaches. “We have an opportunity to lead the way and help ensure Americans have access to healthy food,” she said. statement.
An estimated one-third of the world’s crops depend on pollination, and just under three-quarters of fruit and vegetable crops require pollination by insects or other organisms, according to the report. Pollinators are often studied as indicators of biodiversity risk and general environmental health, and experts cite pesticides as one of the reasons why pollinators are declining. Research also shows that pesticides pose a threat to healthy soil ecosystems.
An estimated one-third of the world’s crops depend on pollination, and just under three-quarters of fruit and vegetable crops require pollination by insects or other organisms, according to the report. Pollinators are often studied as indicators of biodiversity risk and general environmental health, and the report notes that experts cite pesticides as one of the reasons pollinators are declining. are. Research also shows that pesticides pose a threat to healthy soil ecosystems, the report said.
The report found that 89% of almond acreage, 72% of apples, 100% of corn and 40% of soybeans received at least one “lethal dose” of pesticides considered toxic to bees. . This “quantification of pesticide risks to pollinators” for four crops “provides value for performing financial analysis in this study.”
This document details how the use of pesticides by the food retail industry results in direct costs to the industry. For example, the cost of purchasing and applying pesticides, the CO2 emissions associated with pesticide use or production, and the impact on crop yields. indirect costs.
Regarding climate change costs, the report estimates that U.S. food retailers’ sales of products containing soybeans, corn, apples, and almonds will suffer a loss of $4.5 billion over the period 2024 to 2050. . Biodiversity risks arising from the use of pollinator-harming pesticides on these four crops were even higher over the same period at $34.3 billion.
