Target: Tom Vilsack, Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture
Goal: Create more robust protections against pesticides used on crops.
An organic tea brand recently had nearly one million of its tea bags recalled. Makers of Yogi tea apparently discovered notable levels of pesticide within the product. The brand’s leaders claim that while they do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, nearby entities do.
If troubling pesticide amounts are found in a product whose manufacturer disavows such practices, then one can only imagine the levels of pesticide the average consumer is exposed to on a daily basis from producers that do not place a value on curtailing use of these methods. What is the nation’s top agricultural regulator doing to prevent this type of widespread exposure?
Sign the petition below to demand the Department of Agriculture enact tougher safeguards on products generating from industrial agriculture.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Vilsack,
Pesticides are a known and recognized threat to not only environmental health but public health as well. They can cause a wide range of both short-term and chronic medical effects. Yet on farms across America, usage of pesticides and chemical fertilizers remains largely unchecked. And as a consequence, product recalls like the FDA recall recently associated with organic tea manufacturer Yogi are rising.
Industrial agriculture’s broad imprint on consumer goods in various sectors cannot be overstated. Consumers deserve maximum protection from potentially dangerous byproducts. In the agricultural world, the buck stops with you. Please make reining in rampant pesticide use a top and urgent priority.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Sundaram
